An Instrument 4 His Glory

on my face

2012-01-24T21:50:00.000-06:00

On my face...

desperate for a Word.

Longing for a fresh anointing and a new revelation from God.

Anxiously desiring a touch from the

sweet Hand of my Lord.

I cry out with a deep hunger.

Expecting. Anticipating. Wanting...

Praise pours forth from my lips like a rushing wind.

Powerful words of praise and sweet thanksgiving rise from my heart to my Savior.

My spirit is full and overflows with streams of gratitude. I worship. From the depths of my thirsty soul, I worship a worthy God. He fills me with hope. He covers me with peace. He surrounds me with sweet comfort. I worship an everlasting, unchanging, mighty God.

My praise and my worship unite into one and I am overcome with love for my creator.

I can feel the tears building up in my eyes and soon I feel them cascading down my face. Tears of gratitude. Tears of repentance. Tears of longing and wanting...

And then... He whispers my name. He begins to speak. To minister. To move.

I feel renewal and restoration. As His sweet Spirit descends upon me, I am in awe of His power and His goodness. His presence is so thick I can hardly breathe. It overwhelms my senses and astounds me. It covers me like a warm blanket and delivers the sweetest peace to my spirit. My LORD wraps me up in a mighty but gentle embrace and then nothing else matters. All else fades away into yesterday.

If I could have only one thing in my life, it would be Him. His touch. His love. His mercy. His grace. His presence.

Without the precious, ministering Spirit of God, I would be lost and undone. Helpless and hopeless. Wandering and alone. Dying.

Instead, I am captivated by Him. He is unchanging, unlimited, ever-present, all-knowing, Almighty and eternal. He is King of kings and Lord of lords. He is everything to me.

I am fully captured by His grace. Enthralled with His beauty. Compelled by His Spirit. Astounded at His love for me.

I am His.

grace...grandkids...God's goodness

2012-01-17T22:29:00.000-06:00

"But unto every one of us is given grace, according

to the measure of the gift of Christ"

(Ephesians 4:7)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

What an awesome gift of grace this little girl is. God is so good. He has blessed me immeasurably and I will be forever grateful for his generous love.

~~~~~~~~~

"Now unto Him that is able to do

exceeding abundantly above all that

we ask or think, according to

the power that worketh in us."

(Ephesians 3:20)

~~~~~~~~~~

God has gifted me with the amazing title of 'Nana'. I absolutely love being a Nana. It is a huge joy to be a grandmother to my many blessings.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I love little girls who look so pretty in their dresses I bought them in Nicaragua.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I love little boys that always have a serious look on their face.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I love little boys with new haircuts.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And little boys who THINK they got a haircut... :)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I love little boys with dark hair that I don't think EVER needs a haircut.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I love the reception that Papa got when he arrived home from Nicaragua a day later than I did!

~~~~~~~~~~~

The grace of God is overwhelming. Astounding. So undeserved but so appreciated. It is immeasurable and it is indescribable. It fills me and it blesses me. His grace is amazing and I am so thankful that my God dispenses it so generously at just the right time. Grace moments sprinkled throughout my life that I can look back on and see the working power of His sweet Hand. Grace moments that I know will continue to be bestowed upon me by a loving God. Sweet grace and mercy from the Hand of a good God.

He thrills. He astounds. He blows me away with His touch. He ministers. He covers. He goes above and beyond what I could ever imagine.

Lord, you are so good and you are so loving. You are mighty and powerful and gracious and I love you from the depths of my soul. I will praise you and worship you with all that I am as long as I have breath.

"O LORD, our Lord, how
excellent is thy name in all the earth!
who hast set thy glory above the heavens"
(Psalm 8:1)

my heart is in Nicaragua - or at least a part of it is...

2012-01-12T22:16:00.000-06:00

We turned down the rocky and well beaten road that lead to the church in the small, remote village of La Union, Nicaragua. As our van pulled up, Pastor Felix and his associate Pastor Jose were waiting for us along with several precious familiar faces. Sweet children with huge smiles on their faces and excitement in their eyes. It felt like we had arrived home.

Ishmael and Ader - once enemies and now amigos (most of the time..). Esley, Kevin, Lesther, Gellson, Joan and Bilda. All these sweet faces were there to greet us and welcome us back to their village. To our village.

We stepped out of the van and scooped them up into our arms for great big hugs. As we looked at their little faces and felt their sweet embraces, I could scarcely believe that a whole year had passed since we had pulled away from that same church with tears streaming down our faces. A whole year since we had whispered 'Adios' and 'Te Quiero' to those same sweet children as we left that very spot headed back home. It didn't feel like that much time had passed since those same adorable faces had tears pouring down their cheeks as they followed our van yelling those sames things to us until we got to the end of the road in their village and their little faces became just a memory once again. A whole year since I left behind a piece of my heart...

We have formed such tight bonds with these sweet babies and each time we come, it gets that much harder to leave. Bittersweet moments at their best.

We spent 4 days teaching 140 kids in bible school and then we had worship each night as well. This year we were able to use their small school and had 3 different classrooms. I feel like we had a much more intense impact on the children and that we were able to spend more time interacting with them and forming deeper relationships with them. I feel like we really ministered in their little lives this year. We taught them about Jesus. Our Savior. Our God. We started with His birth and ended with His death and Resurrection. Over 25 of them accepted Jesus Christ into their hearts to be their Savior. We are investing our time and our hearts into trying to make a lasting impact on these little ones. To plant seeds of faith that will one day come to fruition as they become women and men after the heart of God.

These precious little children have become such a huge part of us. They have grown to trust us. They know that we love them and they love us too. Many of them hang out at the church all day even after bible school is over. We play ball with them or just sit around and visit with them despite some language barriers. We buy them tacos and enchiladas that the women make at a little concession stand in front of the church.. We pass out candy and gum to them and let them finish our cokes when they ask. They follow us wherever we go.

There is nothing that warms your heart like one of these sweet children walking beside you down the road and then all of the sudden you feel their little hand reach up and grab yours. Sweet moments like that fill my heart with such a longing to keep ministering His love to them always.The love of God is present in the innocent lives of these Nicaraguan children. His love is boundless. Endless.

These children have stolen a big piece of my heart. They have become such a big part of my life and even when I am home in Louisiana, I think of them often. I love the little village of La Union, Nicaragua. I love the sweet friendships that we have forged with so many of the people there. I desire for the women of this village to learn more about Jesus and to hunger for Him in a huge way. I pray that we will be able to continue to teach the children about the things of the Lord and that we will be diligent and obedient to what God commands us to do. It would be so amazing for this small village to be so on fire for God that it spreads like crazy to the surrounding villages in the mountain.

Join me in praying for the people of La Union. We have some big plans in the works for our continued ministry there. Our desire is to continue planting the seeds of a Christ centered life into their hearts and to continue to be part of molding and shaping these little lives to love Jesus like crazy! I pray that the sweet Holy Spirit of God will fall down like rain on them and draw them to His side and beckon to their hungry hearts. May God be glorified in all that we do for Him and through Him and because of Him. He is worthy.

(They loved to get in our van with us - this is Esley and Joan (pronounced Jo-Ahn)

(Melissa learning to cook what they call enchiladas)

(Sweet children in bible school)

(Jimbo preaching the Word and Joel translating)

~~~~~~~~~~~

"We love Him, because He first loved us"
(1 John 4:19)

just thinking...

2012-01-11T09:00:00.000-06:00

Are you seeking to have a more personal relationship with God? Are you seeking higher things in your spiritual life? Are you wanting more and more of your Savior?

Spend a week in a third world country and His grace and His majesty and His mercy and His power will be revealed to you in a new and bigger way. Spend a week without the 'conveniences' of America and you will find yourself more dependent upon the necessities of God. Spend a week with precious children that have a hunger for something more than food and you will have a much deeper appreciation of the abundance of our bibles and study books and availability of things that we can use to increase our knowledge of Him.

Our God has blessed us to the full. We have been given such a huge portion of His measure of Grace. He is so good and we are so lacking in our reverence and our trust and our fear of Him. We need to push all our worldly possessions to the side and take a real close look at what is really important in our lives.

When I boarded the plane in Managua, Nicaragua yesterday afternoon, I was ready to get home to a good HOT bath, clean running water, cell phones, computers and the modern conveniences of home. When I landed in Jackson, MS to begin the 2 hour drive home, I was saddened at the thought of hot water and all those modern conveniences that we think are necessities. I was ready to go back to the land of simplicity. The land of depending on God for your comfort. The land of communing with Him and being satisfied with just Him...

Are you seeking a higher and more intimate relationship with God? Get back to the basics. Quit striving for more things and strive for more of the Lord. He is everything. He is all we need. He is.....

headed to Nicaragua

2012-01-02T23:32:00.000-06:00

As I sit here tonight my heart is filled with several different emotions. In less than 6 hours, I will board a plane headed to La Union, Nicaragua, along with my husband, my daughter Melissa and 6 others. This will be my 3rd trip to that remote village and I can't wait to see all their precious faces again. We will land in Managua, Nicaragua around 12:30 tomorrow and drive about 6 hours to a town called Nueva Guinea where we will stay each night. Each day we drive about an hour or so into the very small village of La Union. Our mornings will be dedicated to doing bible school for many children. There are only about 30 children that actually attend the church where we go and minister so last year we had prepared for 50 and were totally blown away when 200 children showed up for bible school. They came down out of all the small mountain villages and it was unbelievable. I am anxious to see just what God has in store for this year. I know it's going to be amazing.

We love the people of La Union. They are such a sweet and giving people. They love it when we come each year and they do everything that they can to make us welcome and comfortable. We have a great time with the children in the village and we enjoy spending time with the people. Each time I leave there, a little piece of my heart stays behind. The children become so special to us and it is very hard to say good-bye. The church is filled with people who love God with all their heart and it is a joy to worship with them each night. God shows up in our midst and the fire falls!

I love being in Nicaragua with the people and having a chance to minister to them, pray with them and enjoy spending our days with them. My Spanish is limited, but thanks to my daughter and a few other interpreters, somehow we manage to communicate. The children don't care if we can't talk with them very well, they just love to hang around us and spend time with us. They are so adorable and so loving and it is such a blessing to be able to teach them about our Lord and to be able minister to them and their families.

(Me, Melissa and Jimbo on last years trip)

I absolutely hate to fly. I am terrified of being in an airplane. I don't even like to think about being in an airplane. Even now I can feel my anxiety level begin to rise and I can't believe that I will be boarding a plane again in a few hours and doing the thing that I am most afraid of. The only thing that gets me on the plane is the knowledge that God has called me there to minister. From the first time I heard His voice say, 'Go', I have depended upon Him to make it happen. He calms my nerves. He reassures my heart. He enables me and provides me with His strength to do what I can't do on my own. It would be so easy to stay home. But I know that He is bigger than my fears and bigger than my anxiety. He has called me to minister and so I know that He will equip me to be able to do what I can't do of my own volition. Because of Him, I can do all things. It's not about me, it's all about Him.

Please pray that the children that attend bible school will open their hearts to Jesus. Pray that we will be able to teach them and instill a new hunger in their little spirits to know Him more and more. Pray that we will be effective ministers of the gospel while we are there and that we will listen to God's prompting and be obedient in all things. May God be magnified and glorified in everything we do and say.

"Show me thy ways, O LORD; teach me thy paths.

Lead me in thy truth, and teach me; for thou

art the God of my salvation; on thee

do I wait all the day"

(Psalms 25:4,5)

grace and handfuls of purpose in our lives

2011-12-28T23:09:00.000-06:00

I sit in the quiet of my study with the precious Word of God open before me. His Word is so amazing. So rich. So powerful. Too many times I have picked it up and read it without much thought of just how precious it is. It is holy. It is pure. It is the voice of God in writing. As I begin my morning study time, I purpose in my heart to never pick it up nonchalantly again.

I open the holy scriptures and He begins speaking to me about grace. We are the object of God's amazing grace. Unmerited. Undeserved. Unending. Grace that is dispensed at just the right time. And in just the right amount. And in just the right way. Daily manna that is sent from heaven from the sweet Hands of our father. Handfuls of purpose dropped in our path for us to glean.

His Word alone is evidence of His grace in our lives. We can commune with Him at any time. He can speak to us through the scriptures each time we open the Word. Grace upon grace with each page we turn. Each word that we read. Amazing...

His provision is evidence of His grace in our lives. He provides in all things. For all things. Through all things. Whether He provides comfort during times of grief or bestows peace to our fearful hearts, His grace reigns. He provides rest for the weary. Healing for the wounded. New mercies for the repentant heart.

We find grace in the innermost essence of who God is. The rescuer. The preserver. The lover of our souls.

There is grace in the miraculous healing of a granddaughter. The whispered 'I love you's' while tucking in sweet grandchildren at night. A tearful phone call from a child needing prayer or a grandchild just needing her Nana.

There is grace in the emergency room as a grandmother cradles her oldest grandchild and softly petitions a loving God to reach down and minister peace and healing. And He does.

There is grace in the cleft of the rock where our Father has so loving placed us. In that cleft, He administers grace for the moment. Handfuls of purpose for the taking. In that cleft, we find the faithful and loving Hand of a compassionate God.

Deep in the Word of God, we tap into the ever flowing stream of grace. The knowledge of the Holy just waiting to captivate our hearts and minister to our spirits. To overwhelm and astound us. To draw us closer to the One who gives grace and who is grace.

His Word gives us life. His Word IS life. Let's treasure it. Revere it. Hide it in our hearts.

Thank you, Lord, for your amazing and precious Word. May we treat it with the respect and reverence that it so deserves. May we pick it up with trembling and excitement over what we will encounter in the pages we read. Thank you for your generous grace and your abundant Handfuls of purpose in our lives.

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-24T19:39:00.000-06:00

Merry Christmas!

May the sweetness of our Lord and the power of His presence overwhelm you this amazing Christmas season!

the past, present and future

2011-12-20T23:37:00.000-06:00

As I sit tonight and reflect about the past year, and think about the last 11 days that will bring 2011 to completion, I am filled with a heart of joy and thankfulness. This past year has brought many smiles and much laughter. We have celebrated new birth and another beginning of new life. We have shed some tears of joy and also some tears of despair, but God has been faithful to wipe away those tears and replace them with sweet peace and comfort. We have had times of uncertainty and times of divine affirmation. We have experienced the sweetness of God's grace and the awesome and mighty power of His healing Hand.

I can look back over the past 12 months and see how God has been doing a work in my life. Increasing my hunger for Him. Drawing my heart for more knowledge of Him. Generously dispensing grace that I am so undeserving of. Growing my faith. Showing me that I can only flourish when I am totally dependent on Him.

He has shown me how to 'be still' in Him. How to rest in His promises. How to listen when He speaks and then to hold on to the Word that He gives me. He has shown me how to have a believing heart and has made me realize that He wants to give us good things! I have seen Him work and experienced Him in ways that I could never have imagined. I have felt His presence like never before and heard His voice with a new clarity.

It's been a year of growing and learning. A year of searching and finding. A year of longing for more of my Savior. A year of miracles. And encounters. And life-changing revelations of the soul.

As I think about the next year, there are many things that I hope to accomplish. I truly desire to continue to grow closer to my Lord every day. I long to be saturated in His love and enthralled with His glory. I want to want Him with a new expectancy. I pray that I approach the Holy scriptures with more reverence and appreciate the Sovereignty of them with a deeper respect.

May I never take the Word lightly but revere it and desire to obey it like never before. I pray that God continue to mold me and make me into His likeness. That He can use me for His glory, for His kingdom and for His purpose. May I be passionate in my pursuit of Jesus and determined in my quest for holiness. May I be a true seeker of God.

His goodness overwhelms me and I stand in awe of who He is and what He does. May His name always astound me and fill me with wonder. As He reaches down and touches my life anew, I pray that He leaves His fingerprints all over me. I want to be real. Authentic. I want to be new and different. Changed forever. I want to be His.

Looking forward and never glancing back as to what might have been, I strive to press on toward the finish line. No regrets, only resolutions for a new year. New mercies. A new intimacy with God. A new encounter with Jesus. May I celebrate His birth every day of my life.

"Today, a Savior, who is Messiah the Lord, was born for you
in the city of David" - Luke 2:11

Joy is..

2011-12-15T22:26:00.000-06:00

There are so many things that bring joy to my life. I have joy because I have HOPE in my Lord and Savior. Everything that I have and everything that I am is only because of the abundant grace and mercy of Jesus. That alone brings me much joy and happiness.

I am filled with joy when I see these ornaments on my tree each year.

I was certainly filled with joy as I watched my grandchildren decorate my tree last Sunday. It only took them about 5 minutes to get it done, but I think they did a great job. These sweet babies bring me much joy.

~~~~~

Joy is seeing this precious face as this little angel was waking up from a nap after church.

~~~~~

Joy is a little girl in a hot pink zebra print hat that she picked out herself. Especially when the little girl is a constant reminder of God's healing power. Thank you, Lord, for healing my sweet Mercie. I will praise you every day of my life and testify of your goodness as long as I have breath.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Joy is taking 2 sweet boys to the park and taking lots of pictures of them while they play.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Joy is my 1000 gifts journal. It has been so rewarding to record my daily blessings and be reminded of just how generous my God is in all things. As I near 1000 gifts, I am determined to keep going and be ever mindful of the many blessings I receive every day of my life.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Joy is spending time with Mikaela, Eli, Mercie and Silas. I love being a Nana and I love being loved by my sweet grandbabies!

~~~~~~~~~

Joy is Silas in his little teddy bear hat.

~~~~~~~~

Joy is the Word of God. There is nothing as satisfying as digging into His precious Holy scriptures. There is life in the pages of God's Word. There is unending treasure to be found deep inside the inspired words of the bible. When we read His Word, He speaks to our hearts. We learn. We grow. We fall more in love with our Savior.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Joy is Laylah Beth.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Joy is my baby girl loving on her baby girl.

~~~~~~~

Joy is seeing the smile on this precious face. And the dimples...

~~~~~~~~~

Joy is brothers....

~~~~~~~~~~

Joy is cousins...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Joy is the Lord. Joy is the promise of His Word. The Truth of who He is. The faithfulness of our Father. The abundance of His mercy and grace. The magnitude of His love. Joy is Jesus.

"And my soul shall be joyful in the LORD;
it shall rejoice in His salvation"
(Psalms 35:9)

do we recognize Him?

2011-12-09T18:12:00.000-06:00

The disciples had just witnessed the miracle of Jesus feeding more than 5000 people with 5 loaves of bread and 2 small fish. They didn't just hear about it. They didn't just witness it. They experienced it.

Yet, just a short time later, they fail to recognize Jesus as He walks on the water toward them. They had literally just spent many days with Him. Walking with Him. Journeying side-by-side with the Lord as He ministered to the sick and hurting. Watching Him perform miracles and wonders. They had been in close fellowship with the Lord. They had just been in His presence. But then at a time when they needed Him, they didn't see Him for who He was.

Are we like that at times? We spend time with our Lord. We commune with Him and we minister in His name. Then He does something astounding in our lives and we fail to realized, "That's Him". Jesus performs miracles in our midst and we fail to see. He is walking on the water and we can't see past our own preoccupations with ourselves to see our Savior at work.

We study His Word yet don't cling to His promises therein.

We sing about His marvelous grace and sweet mercy yet neglect to see it applied so generously to us day after day.

We seek His face but don't stay face-down long enough to find it.

We overlook His goodness. We take for granted His love. We want to know Him but aren't taking the time to make it happen.

We forget who He is. And what He does. We seem to think that God is unaffected by our cries for mercy and deliverance. But our God is a God who feels! Praise His holy name!

He is a God who wants to know us. He craves intimacy with us. He desires for us to long for Him. But the only way that we will encounter such a rich relationship with God is to spend time with Him. We will never recognize Him in the ordinary until we have experienced Him in the extraordinary. Our lives must be based on an intimate and personal relationship with Christ. We must stay in the Word and on our faces to keep ourselves aware of Him in all things.

Our God is greater and higher than all else. He is love. He is mercy. He is grace. He is everything.

We serve a God who hears our prayers. He sees our tears. He feels our despair. He covers. He heals. He restores. Jesus is faithful, abundant and true. When we seek Him and earnestly search for Him with all of our hearts, we will find Him. We will look up and see Him walking on the water toward us and say, "It's Jesus... I knew He would come..."

this journey of faith....

2011-12-02T23:35:00.002-06:00

This past month has been such an amazing journey in growing my faith. November 6, 2011 is a day that I will never forget and I pray that God will keep it burned in my mind for all time as a reminder of His greatness and His power and His sweet goodness. That is the day that He reached down from heaven and placed His gentle healing hands upon my sweet granddaughter, Mercie, and made her whole. It was a day that I held a miracle in my arms as I cried out to Him for mercy on my sweet girl.

Many times during this past 4 weeks, God has had to whisper the words 'remember' in my ear. When my flesh allows the dark shadow of fear to creep into my mind, He takes me back to that day when I knew that something amazing had just happened. I knew that He had healed her. I felt it. The power that surged through her little body was unmistakable. And I knew.

I have praised my Savior every day for her healing. I am still in awe of Him and His goodness. I continue to stand on the promise of His Word and to lean on what I know to be true. I have no doubt what He did in her little life and I am humbled by it daily. My flesh is still so weak, but everyday I pore over the Holy scriptures desiring to gain strength from them. I search for truth and revelation. I seek a fresh anointing of knowledge and discernment.

I have been so disappointed in myself as I have so often lapsed into a state of mind bordering on unbelief, but every time God has shown me such grace and patience. He has been right there to quicken my thoughts to the truth of who He is. And the truth of what He does. And then I wonder why I would ever doubt. Why would I counter what I know to be the work of His Sovereign and Divine will with doubt. Why would I even entertain thoughts of fear. But then I realize that of my own depravity and weakness of flesh, I can do nothing but that. And that only through the power of the sweet Holy Spirit, can I walk boldly in my faith. I can only draw strength from the giver of this strength. My Savior. My Lord. My Rock. My Deliverer. Only through Him and His precious power and generous dispensing of grace can I function in this life. But because of who He is, I can KNOW. I can BELIEVE. I can rest in the promise of what I know to be TRUTH.

I go back to the book of Ezekiel and focus on the words that God spoke to the dry bones. Over and over I repeat these words until they become part of me. Until they soak way down into the marrow of my bones and fill me to overflowing with a deepening knowledge of the Holy.

".... and you shall know that I AM the LORD."

(Ezekiel 37:6)

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

+++++++++++++++++++++++++

I love it when Mikaela stays with me. She is such a precious and sweet young lady with a heart for God. She is growing up way too fast and she loves to cook! She made this delicious pecan pie before church a few weeks ago when she spent the night with me and her Papa.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

She loves her little cousin Laylah Beth. She is so gentle and sweet with her. I love my Mikaela.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I love the many faces of Eli. He is a laugh a minute and can melt my heart in about 2 seconds.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This face makes me smile. He is such a sweet and amazing little boy.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Eli loves his big sister, Mikaela. They have always been good friends and I pray that they will love each other like that always.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I love my sweet Mercie. She brings much joy to the world with her sweet personality. She is a Nana's girl and there is nothing as precious as her little arms wrapped tightly around my neck and hearing her say, "I love you so much Nana!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Oh, how I love this little miracle girl.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I love my sweet Silas. He is such a mama's boy, but loves his Nana too! He has the sweetest little smile that makes his whole face light up.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I loved the way Silas and Mercie were so intently watching their newest little cousin Laylah the other day.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I love my little Bryton. He is so sweet with his little sister and he is such a tender-hearted little fella. He talks about God all the time and is a real deep thinker for a 4 year old!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I love my Sawyer. He is still a baby in some ways, but in others he is wanting to be like his big brother. He has a sweet voice that can make me want to give him anything!

~~~~~~~~~~~

I love my newest little grandbaby. Such a sweet little delicate girl with a smile that has already stolen my heart.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thank you, Lord, for blessing me for now with these. You have given me much more than I deserve and I love you with all of my heart. I will strive every day of my life to live worthy of my calling and to bring nothing but glory and honor to your Name.

Are we passionate?

2011-11-29T21:39:00.000-06:00

Are we passionate about worship? We have to first be passionate about the One we worship. We must be in love with the Lord our God if we are going to enter into true, unadulterated, passionate worship of Him. We must love Him above all else, more than all else and in spite of all else. We must be deeply in love with our Savior. With an insatiable and ever increasing intensity. We must have a desire to know Him and to make Him known.

He is the New Covenant.

He is our Mediator, Creator.

He is worthy of our worship.

He is worthy of our praise.

Our God is our Lord and our King. He is eternal. He is Holy. He is righteous.

He is our Bread of Life.

He is our Living Water.

The Nourisher of our soul.

He fills. He completes. He satisfies.

He is mercy. He is grace. He is Salvation.

He redeems. He restores. He refreshes.

He is our everything. He is all that we need. He is love.

When we fall completely in love with our sweet Lord, we will see that He is certainly worthy of our worship and praise. And we will be more than passionate in our worship of Him. We will fall on our faces in awe of who He is and worship Him from the very depths of our being. We will passionately pursue our Savior with an insatiable appetite. We will long for Him and thirst for Him like never before. And we will indeed be passionate about worship.

Are we a mixture?

2011-11-23T00:13:00.000-06:00

Are we guilty of being a mixture of the holy and the profane?

Join me today at Titus 2 in Action and see how to guard against this!

God you are so good!

2011-11-20T20:50:00.000-06:00

God, you are so good!

You cover.

You protect.

You strengthen.

You calm.

When I can't - you can.

When I'm weak - you are strong.

You are good all the time, Lord.

You shield.

You restore.

Your mercy overwhelms and

your infinite grace astounds.

You are the lifter of my head.

The healer of my wounds.

The keeper of my heart.

Deliverer.

Provider.

Nourisher of my soul.

God, you are so good!

how big is our faith?

2011-11-14T23:52:00.000-06:00

Faith...

Believing what we can't see. The evidence of things hoped for. The substance of things not seen. Knowing that what He has promised is true.

Faith...

Hearing from God and knowing His voice.

How big is our faith? Do we believe for others but not for ourselves? Do we deem others worthy of a miraculous healing touch from God but don't feel worthy ourselves?

Faith...

Commitment to God and His will. Total reliance upon the Lord. Confidence in Christ.

Abraham was a faithful servant. His faith is what prodded his pleading to God on behalf of the city of Sodom. Because of His faithful prayer life, God was willing to spare the city for only 10 righteous people. It only takes the faith of a few to obtain the mercy of God for a nation.

Abraham's faith is what enabled him to trust God completely when He called him to sacrifice his son. "Thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest" (Genesis 22:2). In his own strength and character, Abraham couldn't have done that. But because of the faithful relationship he had with God, he was able. He had faith in God's promise to him regarding the covenant He established with Isaac. He knew that even if he had to sacrifice his son, there would be a resurrection. He knew God would provide the lamb. He trusted His God and His Word.

Oh, to have the faith of Abraham. I so desire that kind of dependence on my Lord. To trust Him in all things and for all things. To depend solely upon Him for my direction in life. To place my loved ones in His hands since they belong to Him anyway. To know that He will provide the lambs needed in my life when I am called upon to obey, even unto sacrifice.

I want God to be my Jehovah-Jireh. My provider. I want to grow closer to Him each day and know Him like never before. More intimate. More personal. Deeper. Higher. I want to love Him more. I want to know Him...

"Not that we are sufficient of ourselves

to think any thing as of ourselves; but our

sufficiency is of God"

(2 Corinthians 3:5)

I want to trust Him no matter what. No hesitation. No procrastination. No doubting. No excuses.

Just trust and obey. He is worthy. He is faithful. He is God.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mercie had a re-check today and the doctor confirmed that indeed she is healed. (my words, not his..) He also confirmed to Megan what he thought would be the outcome of the blood work. He was sure that Mercie was very ill. I have absolutely no doubt in my mind whatsoever that my God healed my Mercie on last Sunday morning. I know that He has plans for her and that she will have a mighty calling on her life. I am just so thankful that He allowed me to be a part of this incredible testimony of hers. I will praise Him and testify of this miracle for the rest of my life. I learned a huge lesson about faith and I pray that I don't have to be retaught.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

God, you are good. All the time. I love you with all that I am and I am yours.

do I believe in miracles? oh, yeah...her name is Mercie

2011-11-10T23:16:00.000-06:00

Do I believe in healing and miracles? Oh, yes. In fact, I have a little miracle asleep in my bed at this very minute. A precious, amazing miracle in the form a 3 year old granddaughter named Mercie.

Last Saturday, as I was visiting my daughter and her 4 children, I noticed that Mercie's neck looked swollen. I began to look closer at it and couldn't believe how big the lymph nodes on either side of her neck were. Like, really big. When she turned her head sideways you could see them protruding. I don't have to tell you that at that very moment my heart dropped to the bottom of my stomach and I felt a cold chill go over me. Trying not to alarm Megan, I asked her if she had noticed it and she said that she was just now seeing it. I asked her some questions about how Mercie was feeling and told her that she definitely needed to go to the doctor first thing Monday morning. I left there that evening with a very ominous feeling and something in my spirit said, 'Beth, your world is about to be turned upside down'. I spent that evening in a state of denial and tried very hard to put it out of my mind, but couldn't. I didn't sleep much that night at all. I spent the night praying for Mercie.

The next morning, Megan and her family came to our church for the start of our revival services. During the worship service, I was holding Mercie in my arms and praying for God's healing upon my precious little granddaughter. Our worship was being led by 'The Crusaders' and as they were singing The Revelation Song, I was crying out to my God asking for His Healing Hand to rest upon Mercie at that very moment. As I held her and she had her head laying on my shoulder, I began to feel the most incredible surge of power flooding through me and into that baby. I could feel His mighty healing begin to take over her little body and the tears just began to cascade down my face. The feeling was so overpowering and so overwhelming I can barely describe it. But I knew at that very minute a miracle had taken place.

Early Monday morning, I called to check on Mercie and Megan said that her neck was the same. She called and made Mercie a doctors appointment for that morning and I met her in town so I could be with her. The doctor was very concerned at the size of her lymph nodes and couldn't find anything to rationalize it. No fever. No swelling anywhere else. No ear infection. No throat infection. Nothing. He sent her to the hospital for some blood work and my mind went into overdrive and I almost let the devil get a victory there.

As I was keeping the other kids at the park, Megan took Mercie to the hospital. The Lord and I were having an intense conversation while I was trying to entertain my other grandchildren. I was telling Him that I knew He healed her, so why hadn't the swelling gone down? He was telling me that it was about faith, not about visible results. It was about believing without seeing. Did I trust him or not?

After several hours of waiting on results, the blood work came back normal. The doctor prescribed a strong antibiotic and said he wanted to see her back the next Monday.

Tuesday morning brought no changes. But still I was wrestling with what I knew to be truth and what I could see with my eyes. Revival services that night were awesome and such a powerful Word was spoken. I kept clinging to what I knew to be true but still struggling with no change in the swelling.

Wednesday morning came and I spent several hours in my study pouring my heart out to my precious Lord and digging into the Word for some revelation. I needed a word from Him. I needed some affirmation of what I knew to be true. I finally got in my car and headed out to Megan's house. On the way, the Lord was telling me that I needed to accept Mercie's healing regardless of what any outward appearance showed. Regardless of any other indications, I needed to trust Him. I began to praise Him for healing her. I began to pour out blessings and thanksgiving to Him. I was driving and crying and praising all at once! Just as I was finally at the point where I knew without a shadow of a doubt that my God had healed my granddaughter, I pulled up in Megan's driveway. I looked at my phone to check the time and somehow still had face book pulled up from earlier. One of my friends had posted this picture and when I saw it, I just lost it.

The 3 words that are highlighted are Blessings, Healing, Mercies. This was not a coincidence. This was orchestrated by God at just the right time. It was affirmation of what I knew to be true and it was my sweet Savior saying, 'She is healed. Rest in my promise, Beth'.

I had the most overwhelming and astounding sense of His presence at that very moment. It was all I could do not to shout it from the top of my lungs. I may never know what God healed my little Mercie from, but I do know that He healed her. Completely. He has a mighty calling on her life and I will do whatever I can to ensure that she is a girl after God's heart from here on out.

"Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh;

is there anything too hard for me?"

(Jeremiah 32:27)

Indeed, there is nothing too hard for my God. And each time I hold my little Mercie-girl close, I will gaze into her little eyes and see my Father's image shining forth from within. And I will raise my eyes toward heaven and declare, 'that's HIM!'

longing and loving and learning

2011-11-05T21:21:00.001-05:00

My heart is longing for....

Sweet Laylah Beth sugar!

~~~~~~~~~~

Sweet Bryton and Sawyer lovin'!

~~~~~~~~~

My daughter and her family to come home!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My heart is thankful for:

These precious 4 children that bring me much joy and much happiness!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

808 reminders to have a thankful heart for my Savior who is good all the time.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

May I be a sweet savor unto the Lord, today and every day...

~~~~~~~~~~~~

When we die to ourselves, we learn how to live authentically.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Things I love:

Delicious flavored coffee!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My amazing FiestaWare dishes...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Learning to crochet, thanks to my friend Sherri...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

New books to challenge me and increase my knowledge of the Holy... Oh, how I love Jesus!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I love this quote I came across this past week by Priscilla Shirer. It was a much needed Word in my life and spoke volumes to my searching spirit...

"The futility of our efforts may be the Voice of God calling

us to be still in Him instead of trying to

work things out on our own"

Yes, Lord, help me to remember that my life is in your Hands and I want nothing but your direction to guide me. Teach me to strive only for your will to be accomplished in me and through me.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom;
and the knowledge of the Holy is understanding"

Proverbs 9:10

~~~~~~~~~~~~

dying moments

2011-10-30T22:11:00.000-05:00

Are there some things that we need to leave at the foot of the Cross? Things that we need to die to? Things that need to be circumcised from our hearts and removed from our lives forever?

Do we possess attitudes or actions that we know aren't pleasing to our Father, but we are holding on to them for dear life? Do we have a death grip on some things that we need to release into the loving hands of our Lord?

I don't know about you, but I desperately want to break free of any tie that is binding me. I want to live a life unhindered by anything that threatens to hold me captive. I desire for sin to be purged from my life so I can begin to bear much fruit and bring glory and honor to Jesus.

As I journey through His precious Word, my eyes are opened wider each day to my sin. I see the deep need in my own life for much pruning and purging as He reveals those areas that are unholy, unrighteous and ungodly. I know that He desires to replace those areas with holiness, righteousness and godliness. He wants my heart to be made clean through the mighty cleansing power of His Word.

"Now ye are clean through the Word which

I have spoken unto you"

(John 15:3)

The sweet, powerful, holy Word of God cleanses us and makes us whole. It restores that which is broken. It reconciles that which is torn asunder. It makes all things new.

We all need this cleansing power in our lives. If we search deep within ourselves, down into the hidden things, we will find things that need to be taken to the foot of the Cross. If we look deep into the places that we don't like to dwell, we will find things that need to be laid down forever.

We need to determine and purpose in our hearts that we will die to self. Seek His will and His way. Seek His face in all things. Search our hearts and gather together all those wrong actions and attitudes. All those things that bind and hinder us. Anything unholy, unrighteous and unclean. And lay them down at the precious, sacrificial feet of our Savior.

It's overwhelming to know that He can take those things that are unlovely and make them beautiful. He can take our worst and make it His best. He is gracious and merciful. He is kind and gentle. He loves and cares. Comforts and heals. Covers and protects. He renews and restores.

On my face.....broken.

At His feet....repentant.

Leaving behind sin and destructive behavior.

Then I arise and walk in the beauty of His holiness and hear His sweet voice whisper, "my precious child, go and sin no more".

Yes, Lord.

"For I will be merciful to their

unrighteousness, and their sins and their

iniquities will I remember no more"

(Hebrews 8:12)

do we behold Him?

2011-10-24T16:35:00.000-05:00

"And the WORD was made flesh, and

dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory,

the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,

full of grace and truth"

(John 1:14)

As I read this passage a few weeks ago, the word 'beheld' just pierced deep into my spirit. I've read that scripture many times but when I read it that day, it just did something to me. It literally took my breath away as I began to contemplate the impact of beholding. Of beholding HIM.

In this passage, 'behold' comes from the Greek word theaomai which means:

1. to view attentively

2. a sense of wondering regard

3. a more earnest contemplation than the ordinary verb 'to see'

Do I behold my God and His glory in this manner? Do I have a strong sense of wonder when I get a glimpse of my Lord and Savior? Do I truly understand who He is?

I truly desire to grasp the full magnitude of the glory of God. I want to behold Him, to look upon Him with reverence. To gaze upon His countenance with earnest contemplation. I desire to stand in awe of who He is. I long to be filled with awestruck wonder at the very mention of His Name and be filled with sheer amazement of His power and strength. I want to behold the beauty of His manifest presence. When I read the Word, I want to sense His presence and behold His glory in every written word.

Oh, Lord, I fall on my knees before you in confession and repentance for not giving you the reverence that you deserve at all times. May I never pick up your Word casually. May I always grasp the holiness of who You are and strive to receive an elevated glimpse of your glory. You are worthy of all honor and all glory and all praise. I will worship you with all that I am and all that I have.

He is Lord and King. He is Jehovah. He is YHWH. He is Ha-shem.

I will behold Him with expectation. The very mention of His name will fill me with wonder. I will make Him my first priority in Worship. Praise. Honor.

I will behold my King.

Homemade laundry detergent

2011-10-22T00:26:00.000-05:00

About a month ago, I decided to start making my own laundry detergent. I had seen several recipes on line and so I began researching them and finally decided on a combination of a couple of them. What I came out with is just amazing. My clothes have never felt cleaner or smelled cleaner. It is so easy to do so I thought that I would share it with y'all.

I purchased all the ingredients for around $10.00 at Wal-Mart. I've made 4 gallons of it so far and still have enough left to make at least that many more. I think each 2 gallon batch is costing me about $1.75 which is unbelievably cheap!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Here is a very easy recipe for making your own dishwasher detergent as well. It is very inexpensive and my dishes have never been so shiny! It leaves no spots or residue. Just mix all the ingredients together and shake well!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just

to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse

us from all unrighteousness"

(1 John 1:9)

do we react to our Source?

2011-10-17T10:03:00.000-05:00

I love the truth of His Word that when we are children of the Most High God, our spirit will bear witness with the Holy Spirit. Our spirits will react with the Spirit of the Lord in sweet harmony when we are walking in His ways and seeking His face.

I was listening to a teaching tape by Beth Moore yesterday and she was comparing this to the way the strings on a stringed instrument react to the other strings that are on the same frequency. If you play a strong middle 'C' on a piano, you can see and hear the other 'C' strings vibrate in reaction to the note that was initially played. Not only does the 'C' react, but the other notes on the 'C' scale react as well. All the notes that are on that same frequency begin trembling in reaction to the source of that first tone that was played. It is amazing. It is such a profound truth that it just nearly blew me away.

When we are filled with the Holy Spirit, our spirits should bear witness to that fact. Our spirits should tremble in reaction to the resonance of the Spirits calling. If we are in harmony with the Spirit of God, there should be a direct reaction in us to the work of the Holy Spirit around us. If God is working in us, then our spirits will bear witness to that.

My prayer is to be on the same frequency as the Lord. He is my source. He is where I draw my strength from. He is where I obtain my ability to breathe and live. I want my life to be a sweet and harmonizing song to Him. To be on the same musical scale as the Holy Spirit. I desire for my spirit to tremble in reaction to my Source.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

to know His heart

2011-10-11T00:41:00.000-05:00

My heart longs for a closer relationship with my Savior. The deepest yearning of my soul is to know the heart of God. I am seeking much more than just knowledge. I am seeking to abide in Him. To be continually aware of His Presence. To live in constant fellowship with Him. I want to know Him more.

In my quest for an ever increasing relationship with God, I realize that in order for this to happen, I also need to be seeking a much higher level of holiness in my life. I need clean hands. I need a pure heart. I need to search those hidden places in my heart and allow God to cleanse them, circumcise them and replace them with Truth.

"Truth is knowing God's heart as it was revealed in Christ,

and it is knowing our own hearts in the light of God's grace."

(Francis Frangipane)

The Holy Spirit has been asking me some questions that are sometimes hard to answer because they are causing me to take a very deep look at some things in my life that I know aren't pleasing to God.

Do I value Christ above all else?

Do I long for holiness?

Am I taking the necessary steps in my life to live a sanctified lifestyle?

I know that the first step to achieving all of this is humility. If I am to ascend to the higher places with God, I must humble myself before Him. The depths of my depravity should drive me to my knees in desperation. Desperate for a cleansing of my spirit. A reckoning in my soul. Desperate for a filling of the Holy Spirit.

When I fall on my face before Him, truly seeking revelation, He will open my eyes to those things in my life that are unholy. Impure. Unlovely. He will open my eyes to those things that need to be dealt with and disposed of.

When my desire for more of Him exceeds my desire for anything else I will begin to see the unfolding of His grace in my life like never before. Then and only then, will I begin to attain the Holiness that I so desire. The Holiness that He so desires for me.

When my desperation causes me to fall humbly on my face before Him, I will see myself for who I am. In desperation I will seek His mercy and His grace. Then I will see myself for who He says I am. Cleansed. Forgiven. Redeemed. His.

As I begin to replace those sinful things in my life with Holiness, I will begin to find Him like never before. He will begin to reveal Himself to me mightily in my daily walk. His manifest Presence will overwhelm me and I will continue to seek Him with all of my heart. Seeking More Truth. More Holiness. More Jesus. Much more.. I desire to be all that I can be for Him. Seeking and finding the abundant and spirit-filled life that Christ desires for me to have. I want to know Him.
~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

and I'm so happy...

2011-10-06T22:12:00.000-05:00

I've been doing the happy dance this week! My oldest daughter and her family surprised us Tuesday afternoon by calling and informing me that they were about 4 hours away from home. They had left Pennsylvania Monday evening and driven straight through the night to get back home to Louisiana. Needless to say, when they drove up in their driveway, a certain Nana and Papa were waiting for them with open arms! I just couldn't believe it when they all got out of the vehicle and I got to wrap my lonely arms around some very special babies and their parents! My heart was just so overwhelmed with love and is still so full of thankfulness.

Silas had changed so much in the 3 months since we were in Pennsylvania to see them. He is beginning to talk some and he has gone from a baby to a little toddler. He is so sweet and is a very loving little boy! He will lay his head on you and give you sweet kisses.

Mercie has really grown up these last few months as well. She is such a darling little thing and her whole face lights up when she smiles! She just looked at me when she got out of the car and then ran to me and wrapped those sweet arms around my neck and hung on for dear life. I have missed that baby so!

Eli has grown taller and has lost that little boy look. He is so handsome and such a sweet fella. I just love that little boy. He is so funny and so smart and is rocking a head full of curls!

Mikaela has become quite the young lady and it is so sad to realize that she just isn't a baby anymore. She is so tall and so grown up! She has learned to crochet which I think is amazing for an 8 year old! She is so beautiful and has such a heart for God. I have missed her so much!

"I will bless the LORD at all times;

His praise shall continually be in my mouth"

(Psalm 34:1)

"O taste and see that the LORD is good;

blessed is the man that trusteth in Him."

(Psalm 34:8)

(a collage of cell phone pictures sent by my daughter - I miss this little one and her 2 sweet brothers!)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It is good to have Megan and her family home. I missed them so much while they were off working and am making up for lost time while they are here. Through it all, God has been so good to us. He supplied Rod with a good job and even though it took them away from home, he was able to support his family and that is a huge blessing. I certainly missed being with my grandchildren those 3 long months, but God kept His sweet Hand upon my heart and helped me to make it through those tough times. His mercy and His grace are so amazing and His love is so tender. He supplies our needs always. When we open our hearts to Him, He is faithful to tend to us and touch those areas of our spirits that need some healing. His goodness overwhelms me.

"For our heart shall rejoice in Him, because we
have trusted in His holy name. Let thy mercy, O LORD,
be upon us, according as we hope in thee"
(Psalm 33: 21,22)

hope of Jesus

2011-10-01T15:15:00.000-05:00

As I walked through the double doors to the lobby, I took a deep breath. I mentally prepared myself for the onslaught of emotions that assails me each time I enter this building. The instant I crossed the threshold, I met mortality. It stares you straight in the face no matter where your gaze lands.

The elderly couple sitting across from each other as they sip coffee look normal until you see the IV pole standing tall beside him. When you take a closer look you can see fatigue on their faces overshadowed by the obvious love that they have for one another. I see a young girl walking by her mother and notice the pretty scarf tied to her sweet little head that is covering the ravages of chemo.

Everywhere you look, the curse of cancer is evident. There are untold stories walking the halls of MD Anderson. Stories of disbelief and horror. Anger and fear. Strength and tenacity of spirit. There are miracles taking place around each corner and miracles in progress walking through those doors daily.

Mothers, fathers, children. Grandparents and other loved ones. Some are just beginning their journey into this world of dreaded diagnosis and treatment and others are walking a well beaten path.

My heart hurts and I have to be careful not to utter those familiar words... 'it's not fair'. Because I know that life isn't fair. It isn't supposed to be. God created a perfect world, but it didn't stay that way long. Sin in the Garden took care of that. But life is certainly good. God created us in His image to worship Him and to love Him. God is good and He is faithful. We aren't promised that we will never face hardships and trials in this life, but we are promised that He will walk beside us every step of the way.

"Fear not, for I am with you;

Be not dismayed , for I am your God.

I will strengthen you,

Yes, I will help you.

I will uphold you with my righteous right hand"

(Isaiah 41:10)

God is with us. We can walk through the valley of the shadow of death because He Is. We can rest in the confidence that He is aware of our needs. He knows. He sees. He cares. No detail of our life goes unnoticed by the Lord. His purpose for us stems from His unending love for us.

So, as I walk the halls of this great hospital, I can see with the eyes of our Savior. I can see with the love that He has for each person I encounter.

As I talk with Mike, a 40 year old husband and father undergoing radiation, I can impart the love of Jesus to him. He is courageously waiting for the results of tests that will tell him where he has progressed in his treatment. He and his wife have hope. Hope that comes from their Lord.

As we talk with a young mom in the elevator, we can encourage her with the promise of prayer for her 8-year old little boy. Tristan had surgery to remove a brain tumor and is now having blood pressure problems. Even though I sense her weariness, I also sense the determination of her spirit as she fights alongside her son for his life.

We talk with a woman who is walking this journey beside her cousin who is fighting lung cancer. She knows the hope of our Lord and it was encouraging to talk with her and exchange names for the purpose of intercessory prayer. God is so good.

I pass by a young teenage boy and his dad on their way to chemo. I can sense the despair on the dad's face of having to watch his son go through this trial of pain and uncertainty. I see a young man with a mask on to prevent germs from invading his body in the now weakened state due to his treatment. Everywhere I look there is a story to be told and prayer to be needed. I silently pray for each person in each room I pass by.

There certainly is pain on many of the faces we pass by. Pain of the unknown outcome of the journey. Pain of watching a loved one hurt. The pain of fear itself. But there is also the unmistakable expression of hope etched on so many. Hope for victory over evil. Hope for a new tomorrow. Hope for healing. Hope that comes from an intimate relationship with a personal Savior. Hope of Jesus.

"Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed
on us, that we should be called children of God"
(1 John 3:1)

~~~~~~
Please continue to pray for my father-in-law as we are embarked on this journey again. He will have surgery in a few weeks to remove the cancer in his pancreas and bile duct. We have been here since Wednesday night after the stent in that duct got blocked once again and had caused a bacteria to form in his bloodstream. They replaced the stent but he is still pretty sick. He is better, but we need him WELL so he can undergo the surgery to take care of this once and for all.

Lord, help me...

2011-09-28T12:19:00.000-05:00

Lord, help me begin each day,

denying self,

surrendering to You,

living in the power of your sweet Holy Spirit.

Father, forgive me for any time I have,

diluted the gospel of Christ,

watered-down my theology of who You are,

cheapened the precious blood of Jesus.

God, you are my everything.

My life-giver.

My soul-satisfier.

My thirst-quencher.

My hearts desire is to be ever,

seeking your face,

expecting Your presence,

learning who You are.

I want to know You in the deepest,

most intimate relationship possible.

I do not want to possess a dead faith.

I desire to have a faith that produces good works.

Works that bring glory and honor and praise only to You.

I want to embrace your,

self-existence,

self-sufficiency,

self-dependence.

You are Creator of all.

You are breath and life.

Beginning and End.

Sweet Manna from heaven.

The Living Water.

And I adore You.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Nothing else defines who God is but God Himself.

What He is and What He does is Who He is.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Bryton, Sawyer and Laylah Beth - pictures Ashlie sent to my phone this week from Meeker, Colorado. I miss them so much!

my heart seeks

2011-09-24T00:21:00.000-05:00

My heart seeks many things. What does it seek the most? More intimacy with God. I desire to grow deeper and deeper in love with Christ every day. I am seeking to know Him like never before. To know the deep things of God. To have a heart like His.

One of the best ways to grow in relationship with the Lord is to memorize His Word. I am on verse # 18 in my scripture memory for this year. I keep my spiral on my desk so I see it each morning as I go in my study to get with God. I recite my current verse each morning and then go back and recite all the ones previous to that. Every now and then I go back and recite my 24 verses from last year so I can keep them in my memory. When you start memorizing the Word of God, you will be pleasantly surprised at how close you draw to His Spirit. There is nothing like planting His Word firmly in your head and heart to bring you to a deeper intimacy with Him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My heart seeks a relationship with my sweet grandbabies. I soaked up a lot of baby lovin' this past week. My youngest daughter and her family left this morning headed to Colorado to work for a few months so I needed to store some of that sweet love up in my heart so it will last me a while!

My greatest desire for my grandchildren is that they grow up to love the Lord with all of their hearts. I pray that above all else, they will be seekers of God. I pray that God will just captivate them and draw them to His side. May they love Him and accept Him as their Savior and serve Him forever.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshipers shall

worship the Father in spirit and in truth; for the Father seeketh

such to worship Him" (John 4:23)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My heart was so blessed today when I talked to my little Mercie on the phone. She sang a sweet song for me and I quickly realized she still has trouble with her 'C's - little Miss 'Muppet' was eating her 'turds' and whey.....

Megan said she pulled up my blog the other day and Silas pointed at my picture and hollered "Nana"! That did my heart a world of good! I miss them so much!! I'm thinking I need to plan a road trip to Pennsylvania soon.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My heart seeks to be totally surrendered to Christ. I desire to be so committed to Him that I don't hesitate to be obedient in anything! Oh, Lord give me the courage to step out in Faith and do what You have called me to do. May I seek your Face above all else!

"When thou said, Seek ye my face; my heart said unto thee,

They face, LORD, will I seek" (Psalm 27:8)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My heart is full of love for my boys. I loved seeing Bryton help his little brother ride his bicycle. Even though Sawyer couldn't peddle it, Bryton walked along side him and was so sweet!

Nana loves you Bryton and Sawyer!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My heart is full of love for my sweet girl. Just seeing her sweet little face is just too much! I spent hours just holding that little one this week so I could store plenty of it up in my heart to hold me over until they come home!

Of course, I had to get a picture of her in one of the little tutus I made her.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Early this morning, we made our way to our daughters house to tell them goodbye. I will miss them so much, but I know that they are doing what has to be done. Cody needs to work and they need to be together as a family. I pray God's blessings upon then and will hold all the stored up love and memories in my heart until I get to hold them in my arms again.

Nana loves you Laylah Beth

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thank you, Lord, for blessing me for now with these. I have a heart so full of love that it is overflowing. I have been blessed beyond measure and you have generously dispensed grace to me. I am so unworthy but I am so grateful for your mercy. I love you with all that is within me. I give you all praise and glory that is due your mighty Name.

Living to see His Face,

Beth

fingerprints on my soul

2011-09-19T23:15:00.000-05:00

In His Presence,

there is peace and comfort.

His goodness surrounds me and fills me with joy.

My Spirit is engulfed with His mercy and

saturated by His generous grace.

I am stilled by the awesome wonder of His majesty.

And I feel Him.....

The air is thick with the presence of Jehovah. Pressing down

and making it hard to breathe.

I sense Him and feel the warmth of Him cascade over me.

I can feel the tingle of His touch and look to see if He

left visible fingerprints on my skin or

perhaps only on my soul.

He is here and I close my eyes and worship.

King of glory.

YHWH.

God Almighty.

Prince of Peace.

I sit quietly, wrapped tightly in His embrace.

Experiencing the ministry of the Holy Spirit deep

in my hungry soul, and enjoying

sweet fellowship with my Savior.

The Presence of the Lord is overwhelming and astounding.

The sheer majesty of the One enthroned above settles

down upon me and fills me completely with His love.

His goodness. His power. His presence.

I sit in silence with my head tilted toward the heavens and my

heart flung wide open, ready to receive. My eyes are focused on Him

and my arms are reaching high to surrender my all.

All to Jesus. All to Him.

I fall on my face and I worship.

"My soul followeth hard after thee...."
(Psalm 63:8)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

God's grace moments in my life last week:

Laylah enjoying a beautiful sunny day in her 3rd week of life.

************

Laylah getting her first taste of the boppy and not being too thrilled at first.

******

Watching these 2 amazing little boys play and being so thankful that I am blessed to be their Nana.

*******

The pure joy of colorful jawbreakers.

**********

My girl holding her girl..... it's almost too much for this mama' s heart.

*********

Papa with little Laylah Beth after church on Sunday. She already has him wrapped tightly around her little bitty finger!

************

Thanking God for His bountiful blessings that He so lovingly bestows on me daily. Blessings so undeserved but so gratefully accepted. Our God is faithful and abundant and true. He is good and His mercy endures forever.

things God has taught me this week

2011-09-16T20:37:00.000-05:00

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"God specializes in fresh starts" - (greg matte)

I am so thankful for the sweet new mercies with the Lover of our Soul.

The Master Creator. The One who IS. New beginnings that erase

the regrets of yesterday. Praise you, Lord.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

If we are seeking God with all of our heart, we will find Him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sin doesn't mix with the Holy. Mixing the Holy

with the profane will only lead to destruction.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

If we are walking in God's will,

we WILL experience God's power.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

God desires for us to be sanctified!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Our longing should be for true Holiness and Righteousness.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We grow in relationship with God one step

of obedience at a time.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure,

having this seal, the Lord knoweth them that are His...."

(2 Timothy 2:19)

God knows His children. He knows His own. Praise God that when we belong to Him, He is our Abba Father. Our daddy. And He knows us by name. We are His forever....

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I never want to be outside of the will of God. No matter where it takes me, no matter what it calls me to do, I desire to be right in the middle of where my Lord has ordained me to be. I do not want to be where my flesh yearns to be and be out of the protective hedge of my God. My love for my Savior has got to take first priority in my life. I want to please Him above all else. I desire to be totally surrendered. Totally empty of myself. Totally committed to YHWH. In His will. Surrounded by His glory and His presence. Focused on Him. Passionate and purposed about my pursuit of my God and King.

Thank you, my heavenly Father, for life. Thank you for loving me and giving me the amazing gift of mercy and grace. Thank you for the salvation of my soul. You are everything to me. You are the reason I live. You are my One true desire. I love you with all the I am and I want to live my life according to your will and I want to bring honor to you in all that I do and say.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

God is so good!

2011-09-12T22:11:00.000-05:00

This journey that I am on with God is just more than I could have ever imagined it would be. It is greater than I ever thought possible. It is more fun than anything I have ever experienced. It far exceeds my wildest dreams of the greatest joy I could ever receive. God continues to draw me closer and closer to His side. Day-by-day He leads me to seek Him more.

I am captivated by Him. I am intrigued by Him. I am totally overwhelmed by Him. He is by far the best thing that has ever happened in my life. I can't get enough of Him. The more I learn about Him, the more I desire to learn. The closer I draw to Him, the closer I yearn to be. The more I feed myself the Bread of Life, the hungrier I get for sweet heavenly manna. God is so good.

His goodness is astounding. I am learning to be thankful for things that I used to overlook. I am beginning to see blessings everywhere I look in my life.

I was so blessed Friday evening when my daughter and her 3 children went with me to the airport to pick up Jimbo after he (and 4 others) had been on a mission trip to DR Congo, Africa for 2 weeks. Their trip was amazing and almost 7,000 people gave their hearts to Jesus! Praise the Lord!

These 2 boys were ready to their Papa. They ran to him as soon as they spotted him coming out of the terminal.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

God has blessed us with wonderful children and grandchildren. We are so fortunate to have such great relationships with our girls and I know that it is only because of Him! Only because of who He is and because of His mercy and grace.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Laylah slept through all the excitement of the airport.

But she finally came awake and Papa got his hands on her after 2 long weeks!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I am so thankful for the blessing of our newest little granddaughter. She has been such a joy in her 3 weeks of life. She is a delight and a true gift from our Lord.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Oh, how I love her so!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I am filled with such joy when I get a package in the mail from my precious grandbabies who are temporarily in Pennsylvania. They send me the most delightful cards and my heart just overflows with a mixture of happiness and sadness. I miss them so much and am ready for them to come home! I need some Mikaela, Eli, Mercie and Silas sugar in a HUGE way!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

God's goodness will never fail to blow me away. He has blessed me immeasurably and so undeservedly. But I am so thankful for His graciousness to me. My heart longs to see His face. I desire to be in His presence. As I seek to know Him more, I pray that I will be ever mindful of His majesty and His sovereignty. I pray that I will worship Him in Spirit and in Truth. May I never forget that all I am in this life is not because of who I am, but because of Who I belong to.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As I filled in another page in my '1000 gifts' journal, I realized that I have so much to praise God for. I also realize that even though I am on #727 now, I am sure I have missed so many things that He has done for me.

Isn't He just so good???

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I am reading a book called "The Knowledge of the Holy" by A.W. Tozer and I was stunned by the reality of this quote that he starts out the book with pertaining to the world's low view of God:

"With our loss of the sense of majesty has come the further loss

of religious awe and consciousness of the divine Presence.

We have lost our spirit of worship and our ability

to withdraw inwardly to meet God in adoring silence."

Oh, Lord, help us to never downplay your majestic beauty and glorious holiness! May we gaze upon your face in total awe and abandon. May we grasp the infinite and incomprehensible nature of who you are! You are indescribable. You are inexplainable. You are beyond our comprehension. You are the One true God. Worthy of our worship and our praise. You are the eternal and everlasting God.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Let every thing that hath breath praise the Lord.
Praise ye the Lord"
(Psalm 150:6)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

do you need a downpour?

2011-09-07T20:27:00.000-05:00

Are you ready for a downpour in your life? A downpour of the anointing of Jesus? Do you need a good drenching, cleansing, deluge of rain in your life right now?

Are you ready to anticipate the windows of heaven opening up and sending a torrent of water to soak your Spirit in the truth of His Word and the truth of who He is?

My face is lifted to the heavens and my arms are spread open wide. My thirsty soul is ready to receive and my longing heart is expectant as I close my eyes in worship and brace myself for the floodgates to open.

I desire to experience a real revival in my soul and in my spirit. I desire to encounter my Savior with a new heart in a new way and am expecting a new thing to begin.

As the glorious rain of the Spirit comes down, I want to be surrounded by puddles of His goodness. I want to splash in the overflowing waters of His glory.

I want to be saturated. Soaked. Immersed. I want the rivers of His mercy to flow around me and over me and cleanse me of all unrighteousness and wash me white as snow.

I feel the gentle mist on my face and I smile. I'm ready.... ready for a downpour of the sweet anointing of my Lord in my life. It's beginning to rain.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

(Laylah Beth - 10 days old)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

(Laylah - 12 days old)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

(Laylah - 2 weeks )

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lord, thank you for new life. Thank you for the blessing of your gift of Salvation. In my unworthiness, you make me worthy. In my unrighteousness, you make me righteous. In all my failures, you make things right. I love you and praise you with all of my heart.

has God hugged you today?

2011-08-31T00:02:00.000-05:00

Have you received a hug from the Lord lately? There is nothing quite as amazing as a holy hug from our almighty God. His embrace extends beyond what we can imagine. His love exceeds all other love. A hug from God is right at your fingertips... you just have to open your eyes to see.

*************

I got the biggest hug from God on Sunday as my newest little granddaughter made her first trip to Sunday School and church at 6 days of age. There is no place better to take your little ones than to the house of God.

************

I got a big hug from God the other day when Bryton walked over to the church with me one afternoon. We had walked in the sanctuary and I told him to remember that we couldn't run in the church because it was God's House. He stopped and looked at me with wide eyes and said, "Nana, I didn't know that God lived here!"

*************

God gave me a huge hug Sunday as Bryton put on his papa's glasses and then looked at my small globe for about an hour trying to find out where papa was going in Africa and where we lived in comparison. He then wanted to see where Melissa 'lived' when she was in Africa and where papa and I go in Nicaragua. I love that boy!

**************

I always get a big hug from God when I spend time with these 2 precious boys. Sawyer and Bryton just brighten up any day and I am so thankful that I was blessed by God to be their Nana. I have the best 7 grandchildren in the world....

***************

I was wrapped in a HUGE embrace from God today as we were watching the boys play and all of the sudden Sawyer looked up at Ashlie and said, "I so happy Mama"... If that doesn't make you feel God's arms around you nothing will...

************

I felt a hug from God today as I was studying His Word and as I read the Psalms, I came across a few verses that I had highlighted a while back that just really spoke to my heart today.

"For ever, O LORD, thy Word is settled

in heaven. Thy faithfulness is unto all generations;

thou hast established the earth,

and it abideth.

(Psalm 119:89-90)

So very thankful that God's Word is eternal! It stands firm in the heavens and His faithfulness is forever.

***********

I felt a big hug from God when me and my sweet fella were holding our sweet little Laylah Beth on Sunday. She is just a fresh breath from heaven and I thank God for new life.

*************

Watching little Laylah sleep? Big hug....

*************

I take a look around and I see things all over that are just tight embraces from God. My husband, my children and my grandchildren. My church family. A wonderful place to worship and a great place to live. My mom and my sister and brother. Life. Health. God's Word. Friends. The amazing presence of God in my life. The Holy Spirit. Salvation. Grace. Mercy.

The list is endless. Each day God reaches down from heaven and wraps His mighty arms around me and hugs me. I am learning to view each second of my day as a precious gift and learning to feel His presence in each moment. He is amazing and wonderful and fills me with awestruck wonder at His goodness. I am blessed beyond measure. ..

2 brothers and a sister...

2011-08-27T23:15:00.000-05:00

"O give thanks unto the LORD; for He is good;
for His mercy endureth forever."
(Psalm 118:29)

Laylah is certainly one blessed little girl. She has two big brothers who are madly in love with her already. They love to hold her and they are quick to tell you that she is their baby. They both wanted to hold her yesterday for their first picture all together. So, of course, Ashlie had to let them take turns and they each got their wish. And even though Sawyer was holding her in the first picture, you will notice that Bryton had her feet in his hands.

Laylah was wide awake for just a little while today when I went to visit. I took advantage of this opportunity to get a picture with her eyes wide open. She didn't stay awake for long, but I certainly enjoyed holding this little sweetheart for several hours while she slept, and just marveled at the miracle of life in my arms. I thanked God for all 7 of my grandchildren and the blessing that they are to me and to my husband.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The faithfulness of God never ceases to just blow me away. He is the biggest thrill of my life and I am so overwhelmed most of the time by His goodness. He has generously graced me and my family more than we could ever deserve. I thank Him for His sweet mercy upon us and even though we are so undeserving, because of Him we are worthy. We are a family rescued by grace and blessed beyond measure. I pray that we will live our lives for Him and that we will honor Him in all that we do and say. May I forever reverence the magnificent name of the LORD. May I worship Him in Spirit and in Truth. He is Jehovah. Yahweh. Creator. He is Hashem.

what a week

2011-08-25T23:44:00.000-05:00

This has been an amazing week. It started out with the miraculous birth of my 7th grandchild. A precious, beautiful, angelic baby girl. She entered this world with a head full of dark hair and a dimple on her chin, stole all of our hearts and is quickly wrapping every one of us around her darlin' little fingers. I am blown away by her each time I lay eyes on her. She is perfection.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

She has certainly done a number on her big brother Bryton. He thinks she is the best thing ever! He wants to hold her all the time and just can't quit looking at her and touching her little fingers and her little feet. He is so sweet with her. Sawyer loves her as well, but he isn't quite as enamored with her as Bryton is. She is one blessed little girl to have two big brothers to look after her.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I was able to spend some time enjoying those precious boys this week while their parents were in the hospital with their new little sister. We played in the water to try and cool off in the 100+ degree weather. Thank you, Lord for little pools and sprinklers! And for little boys!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I am getting to enjoy time with Melissa this week. She is between semesters at BU and so she was able to fly home for her niece's birth and spend some time with her family as well. We miss her a lot and Boston is a long way from home, but I am thankful that she is happy with what she is doing right now.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

I have spent much time holding this sweet slice of heaven...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I managed to find time to sit on my back patio and sip some great coffee while eating the bread of life. I also added to my '1000 gifts' journal.

I've been studying how God's name used to be so revered! The people wouldn't even say the name "YHWH" because God was so respected and reverenced they didn't feel like they could even utter His name. Instead they used the Hebrew word for 'the Name' which was "Hashem". I love that! Oh, that we would reverence Him like that today!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Laylah didn't have her eyes open very many times this week, but today I managed to get a picture of these gorgeous eyes while she had them open for just a little while.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I've experienced God's goodness and faithfulness this week in a mighty way. He is always so loving and He is always so present in our lives that sometimes we forget to be thankful. I am so grateful to my Father in heaven who has bestowed me with mercy and grace to overflowing.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I am really missing my daughter and 4 grandbabies while they are in Pennsylvania working. I love to talk to them on the phone, but it just makes me want to wrap my arms around them in a big way! Oh, how I miss my babies!! Mikaela, Eli, Mercie and Silas need to come home!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I am just basking in God's abundance tonight. He supplies all our needs and He is more than enough...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"From the rising of the sun unto the going down
of the same the LORD's name is to be praised"
(Psalm 113:3)

little Laylah is here!

2011-08-22T22:56:00.001-05:00

At 1:14 pm, little Laylah Beth Huffty made her grand entrance into this world. She weighed 7'13 ounces and is 20 3/4 " long. She has a head full of dark hair and is already reigning princess over that household! She is gorgeous and she is perfect and she is a true gift from our faithful and loving God. She had no problems at birth and is doing great. My sweet daughter Ashlie is also doing great and feeling good. We just give God all the praise and glory for bringing little Laylah safely here and for protecting her and her mother during the C-section delivery.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In her daddy's arms about 5 minutes after she was born.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Proud papa and his sweet princess.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Bryton is in love with his little sister already.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sawyer gave her a few kisses and then he was done!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Bryton just couldn't get enough of her. I think he is going to be a big help to mama..

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Aunt Melissa came in from Boston to see this little sweetheart.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sweet little Laylah Beth. My heart is just overflowing tonight...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

She is pure joy and perfection.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Even though she is my 7th grandchild, it just doesn't get any better than this.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sleeping mama and baby..... I love them both so much!

Thank you sweet Jesus for your hand of protection on Ashlie and Laylah today. We give you praise and honor and glory for your graciousness and your generous love to us. You are the King of kings and the Lord of lords and we love you and worship you with all that we are! You are glorious and worthy of our praise!

important things

2011-08-22T09:05:00.000-05:00

We have spent the last few weeks getting things ready for an important event. Both of Ashlie's boys got some much needed haircuts.

~~~~~~~~

Ashlie had a few baby showers and got lots of amazing little girl things.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The boys gave mama's belly one last hug!

And one last kiss....

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We spent time playing with those sweet boys in our last week before their sister makes her arrival!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And of course, Nana had to make just one more tutu for that little princess...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And now the countdown begins. I should be laying eyes on that precious baby girl in about 3 1/2 hours.... I don't think my heart can take it....

~~~~~~~~~

"But the LORD is the true God,
and an everlasting King"
(Jeremiah 10:10)

do we walk in the light?

2011-08-15T23:49:00.000-05:00

"God is light and in Him is no darkness at all"
(1 John 1:5)

~~~~~~~~~~

I love scriptures that just cut to the chase. No fancy preliminaries. No segues needed. Just the plain truth of the gospel issued in a few words. In God there is NO darkness. None. Not one bit.

I read this verse and asked myself a very important question. Am I walking in the light? Truly? Or am I allowing just a tad bit of darkness to creep in. Just enough to do some mighty damage if not replaced with the soft glow of Christ's light.

Am I allowing myself to possess the old nature in a certain matter? Instead of allowing the light to take over this darkness, I am giving power to it and in turn letting it have some form of control over me. It doesn't take much darkness to dim the glorious light of TRUTH. Even just a shadow casts enough darkness to dim the brightness that existed first.

Once this darkness is recognized, it is so important to take the necessary steps to drive it away. If we don't take immediate action it will interrupt our wonderful fellowship with Jesus.

It will hinder our growth. It will steal our joy. It will cripple our walk. It will put out our light.

But thankfully, because of the precious and redeeming blood of Jesus, we can be forgiven. We can obtain new mercy. His generous grace can be applied and we can be free of that bondage of darkness.

You see, God never breaks relationship with us. We won't lose our salvation. We can't be 'unborn' as a Christian once we've experienced rebirth in Him and through Him. But we can lose that close fellowship with our Savior when we allow the dark to overshadow the light.

I don't want to walk in darkness. Not even for a little while. I desire the glorious, radiant, blinding light of Christ to cover me and illuminate my every step.

I want to walk in TRUTH. I want to walk in the light of the one who is LIGHT. I want to walk in Him...

~~~~`

"If we confess our sins, He is faithful and

just to forgive us our sins and to

cleanse us from all unrighteousness"

(1 John 1:9)

loving this journey

2011-08-08T23:46:00.000-05:00

I love my life. I love the journey that I am on with God and am so thankful for the abundant mercy and grace that He has shown me for 49 years. My sweet Lord never fails to teach me something each day of my life. Some are easy lessons and at times there are some hard ones mixed in. The hard ones are usually due to my failure to yield in some way to His authority. But they are still lessons that needed to be taught. Needed to be learned. Lessons that just plain needed to be so that I could continue on this wonderful journey with my Lord. Always growing. Always striving to be more like Him.

~~~~~~~~

We grow in relationship with God one step of obedience at a time.

~~~~~~~~

I love learning from my grandchildren. They give me so much joy and I want to be part of each of their lives. I am trying to enjoy life to its fullest and trying to slow down and savor these precious times with them.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I love to read the Word of God. It is the Bread of Life. It is the nourishment that I crave. There is no greater food for our souls than the heavenly manna of God's Word.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I love the on-going reminder to be thankful due to my '1000 gifts journal that I started several months ago. My last entry is #631 - "The sweetness of God's presence"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I am so excited about the upcoming birth of my 7th grandchild. My youngest daughter Ashlie will be adding a sweet little girl to her family. She will be welcomed home by 2 amazing brothers who are excited about having a little sister.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I love this picture of Ashlie and the sweet baby she is carrying. In 2 weeks, that little baby will be in our arms and the spoiling will begin!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord,
to whom shall we go?
thou hast the words of eternal life."
(John 6:68)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I am thankful for those precious words of eternal life. We have unlimited access to those words and the one who speaks them. Jesus is always there for us. Ready to listen. Ready to respond. Ready to speak those words that cover, heal and restore. Ready to reveal Himself to us as the Christ. The Son of the Living God.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I am missing my daughter and her 4 sweet babies so much! They send us the cutest little letters and cards that just make us want to get hugs and kisses from them in the worst way! And the photos of them that she sends just make it that much harder!

~~~~~~~~~~~~

My middle daughter, Melissa, will be flying in next week so she can be here for the birth of Ashlie's baby. She will be between semesters and able to visit with us for 2 weeks before she heads back to Boston! I am so thankful that God provided a way for her to be able to come home. I miss her so!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

God is so good. I am continually overwhelmed at His goodness. Humbled by His sweet mercy. Overcome with gratitude by His generous grace.

Thank you Lord for your presence in my life. Thank you for drawing me and speaking those words of eternal life to me. I love you from the depths of my soul.

turn the world upside down

2011-07-31T16:05:00.000-05:00

Waiting quietly.

Anticipating eagerly.

Vowing to be still. And listen.

Oh, Lord, pour down on me like rain.

Speak to my spirit.

Flood my soul with the quiet whispers

of your heart.

Show me direction.

Guide my thoughts and desires along

the path that you have created.

You are the author of my life story.

In the stillness of our communion, send

forth a Word to my seeking heart.

Satisfy my hunger with manna from heaven.

Quench my thirst with life giving water.

I am broken. Surrendered.

I am fully committed to your calling.

Willing to go. Ready to serve.

Desiring your fingerprints all over my life. Prepared

to do your will no matter where it takes me

or what it demands that I do.

Empower me, Oh, Lord, to fulfill your

purpose in me and through me. Give me

a passion for the gospel that is

eclipsed by nothing else.

Fill me. Equip me. Use me.

Take this broken vessel and use me to spread the good news

of the gospel of Christ to a lost and dying world. May I bring

nothing but glory and honor to your name and may

your name be magnified in all that I do and say.

May I turn the world upside down for Jesus.

~~~~~~~~~~~

"And when they found them not, they
drew Jason and certain brethren unto the
rulers of the city, crying, These that
have turned the world upside down are
come hither also..."
(Acts 17:6)

always learning...

2011-07-27T23:33:00.001-05:00

Things that I learned this week and things that I love:

I loved the sweet morning I had with the Lord yesterday. I was fixated on a passage of scripture - something that Bill Hybels calls 'saturation reflection' - and the more I read it the more it just pierced my heart with deep emotion. God began taking me back to my 9 year old self and just showed me the love I had for Him even at that young age. He was teaching me about a child's heart and the sincerity of my profession of faith during the early years of my life. I saw the sweet love I had for Him and saw how small it was in comparison to the abounding love that He had for me. I know without a shadow of a doubt that the decision I made 40 years ago was true and it was binding. I became His child at that time and even though it took me many years to begin to grow, I had salvation at the very moment I believed and professed His name. Thank you, Jesus, for your everlasting love for your priceless gift of Salvation and eternal life.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I love my husband with all of my heart. He is faithful and true and He loves me even when I am not very lovable.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"If we are walking in God's will, we will experience God's power"

"God's power is what propels the mission He has called us to.

Regardless of where we're headed, the power is not ours

to provide; it's His. The Spirit of God propels us."

(Greg Matte)

~~~~~~~~~`

Jeremiah 29:13 tells us that if we are seeking God with all of our heart, we will find Him.

~~~~~~~~~~

I love my sweet granddaughter Mikaela and miss her so much!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I miss my precious Mercie and miss her so much!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~`

Oh, how I miss my little Eli! I miss him terribly!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I love my baby boy! Little Silas is growing so fast and I miss that little fella so!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

God showed me how special our time together was in Pennsylvania and taught me to cherish every moment. Even the moments when they were making funny faces....

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sin doesn't mix with the Holy. Mixing the Holy with the profane only leads to destruction.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I love my sweet Bryton. He is always such fun to be around!

~~~~~~~~

Sweet Sawyer. He's such a mama's baby but is always willing to give me some good hugs and kisses!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"But unto every one of us is given grace according
to the measure of the gift of Christ"
(Ephesians 4:7)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As I wait on the Lord to reveal to me the next step He has for me, I rest in the assurance that whatever it is and wherever it takes me, He will be right there with me. He never calls us to a place that He won't go before us. So I sit and learn to be still and listen. I open my ears to receive, my heart to hear and my spirit to discern His precious voice. Speak Lord, your servant is listening....

who is this King of Glory?

2011-07-23T19:48:00.000-05:00

Who is this King of Glory?

He is mighty. He is powerful.

He is all knowledge and all strength.

Who is this King of Glory?

He is infinite love and eternal life.

He is an all consuming fire.

We glimpse His power in the beauty of

a sunrise as His glory is splashed across the

horizon in an array of colors.

We witness His might in the majestic

waves that grace the largest oceans and

the smallest bodies of water.

Who is this King of Glory?

He is God.

He is Redemption and Forgiveness.

He is matchless in mercy and grace.

His Splendor is untouched by any.

His love is eternal.

His beauty undeniable.

He is Righteousness.

He is Salvation.

His Name is unmatched in sweetness.

His Embrace unparalleled in security.

His Glory beyond our wildest dreams.

He is our King. He is our Lord. He is our God.

Who is this King of Glory?

He is our Savior. Our Redeemer. Our All.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

(Pictures from an amazing and restful women's retreat this weekend. We had a glorious time in the Lord and in fellowship with one another. God is so good.)

(My friends Sherri, Jean and Lulu)

Word of God speak

2011-07-17T22:14:00.000-05:00

I love seeing God work in the lives of loved ones. I love seeing how God allows things to happen in our lives that He then uses to grow us, make us stronger, or perhaps draw us closer to Him. I love it when God does what only He can do and how it gives us the opportunity to tell others what a mighty God we serve. I love it when God speaks.

I have seen Him work this past week in many different ways. I have seen the parents of a little 4 year old girl who lost her life in a church van accident just 3 weeks ago, give their hearts and lives to Jesus. I have seen the father of the young man who also lost his life in that accident beginning to ask questions about being a Christian. I have seen a young 16 year old girl who lost her mom and 2 sisters in that accident come to church to worship the Lord that she still loves with all of her heart. I have seen a community shower a sister church with love and compassion as they struggled to come to terms with what had happened and how to deal with the aftermath. I've seen the true Church of God act like the true Church of God. I've seen God work in the life of my son-in-law as He saved him from potential death or paralysis and instead graced him with a second chance. I have seen his heart begin to draw closer to God in a way that has happened before. I have seen my young daughter stand by her husbands side with love and strength that only came from her Savior. I have seen God speak.

I glimpsed God in so many ways this past week it just blew my mind. We serve such a loving and compassionate God. We serve a God of infinite power and might. We serve a God that can and a God that will. Our God loves us with an unparalleled love. He is merciful and gracious. He is patient and kind. He longs for an intimate relationship with us. He wants to be wanted. Oh, how He longs for us to long for Him.

I believe that God is beginning to call His true Church out. I believe that God is in the process of pruning and refining. God is speaking and it is imperative that we begin to listen. He has so much to tell us and we need to have the ears to hear.

I am desiring a Word from the Lord. There are some things that He is speaking in the life of my husband and I and it's time for us to be still and hear what He has to say. It's time for us to put our lives totally in His control To put our whole life in His hands and trust Him fully. There is no place that God can call us to go that He won't go before us. There is no place of surrender that our Lord will call us to that He won't walk beside us. The place that I desire to be is smack dab in the middle of His will. Wherever it is. Whatever it entails. However long He calls me to be there. I want what God wants.

I am ready for God to issue a powerful and audible whisper from His lips to my ears. I am eager for the power of God to begin flowing freely and fully in my life. I am ready for God to use me for His glory in a new and mighty way. I yearn to hear Him speak. And when He does, I pray for a discerning spirit, a surrendered heart and the guts to respond.

God always knows best

2011-07-13T20:40:00.000-05:00

"He giveth power to the faint; and to them that
have no might he increaseth strength"
(Isaiah 40:29)

My birthday certainly didn't turn out the way I had planned. Early yesterday morning, I got a frantic call from my youngest daughter Ashlie saying that Cody had fallen off a roof while helping a friend fix his shed. He was about an hour away from home in Arkansas and was being taken by ambulance to the nearest hospital. She took off with her in-laws and her 2 little boys expecting to find Cody bruised but okay. After 4 hours in the hospital waiting for results of the x-rays, they discovered that Cody had broken several vertebrae, ruptured 2 discs and needed surgery. He was then taken by ambulance to Shreveport, La, which is about 3 hours from their home in NE Louisiana.

Ashlie didn't get to ride in the ambulance with Cody as she is almost 35 weeks pregnant, so her father-in-law went with him and she made a flying trip home to get some clothes for her and the boys and to drop those precious boys off at my house for me to keep. They were hoping for surgery last night, but it didn't happen.They had several emergencies come in last night and things in the OR have been backed up. After he arrived in Shreveport, the hospital did all those tests again. X-rays, MRI, EKG and all that good stuff. He has 3 broken vertebrae. T10 is the worst break and it is pretty bad according to the neurosurgeon. The other two are fractured but not near as bad. They will go in and put screws and possibly a plate and do the repair work on the ruptured disc. He also has a broken piece of bone protruding into the spine but is not causing any damage. He can move all his extremities and so all is fine there.

Surgery didn't happen last night. Or today. And it likely will not happen tomorrow. They came in this evening and said that they would be discussing his case at conference tomorrow to make sure they had the best fix for his problems. They are debating about whether or not to go up 1 or 2 vertebrae and down 1 or 2 vertebrae with the screws and plates. (or something like that)... So in the meantime, they have him in a neck/back brace and he is a little more comfortable. They are giving him morphine every 4 hours and for the most part it is keeping him fairly comfortable.

Jimbo and I made the trip here today to bring the boys to see their daddy and mama. They really miss her and she misses them terribly! When we got here we still weren't sure about surgery, but after we found out it wouldn't be today or tomorrow, we had planned on going back home this evening. My precious little daughter just fell apart. She has had so much to deal with and she has been so strong, but she has just reached her limit. She is only 21 years old and dealing with an injured husband, the unknown of his work status for awhile, a 4 year old and a 2 year old, and a little girl that is to be born in 5 weeks. She is tired and emotional and just plain stressed out. When she just finally broke down, it really got to me and I just couldn't leave her. I got a hotel room for me and the boys. We will stay here near the hospital so that Ashlie can see the boys and I can be here to comfort my sweet girl. Jimbo had to head back home to take care of some business but will come back Friday.

Please keep them all in your prayers. Cody is doing a little better this evening, but is so ready to get this surgery done so he can begin to recover. I know that God is in control and He has a reason for the delay that we don't understand, but that we know is for our good. I am so thankful that we have a loving God that holds us and strengthens us and carries us when we are are weak and sinking fast. He upholds us with His power and Might and He bestows His mercy and grace on us just as we need it. He dispenses that amazing strength at just the right time and in just the right amount. He is so awesome. Thank you all for your prayers. I feel them and need them more than you will ever know. It is so wonderful to have Christian friends that stand in the gap for you.

Having fun at Nana's house in our pajamas.... and then needing a second bath that day.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Modeling the coonskin hats that Aunt Megan sent home from Pennsylvania.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Being very careful while sitting on daddy's bed for just a few minutes.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Having fun at the hotel with Nana. A good bath and then coke and M & M's in the bed.... shhh.. don't tell their mama...

~~~~~~~~

"But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they
shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not
be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint"
(Isaiah 40:31)

knowledge of the Holy

2011-07-11T08:27:00.001-05:00

God's Holiness should fill us with awestruck wonder. His Holy nature should astound us and overwhelm us. It should leave us breathless. Yet it should beckon to us and inspire us to be like Him.

'God's Holiness separates us from Him -
yet it compels us to be like Him'
(James Mac Donald)

I love the fact that the unattainable Holiness of our indescribable God compels us to be like Him but at the same time it represents God's distinct 'otherness' that clearly separates us from Him. Holiness is what we should long for. It should draw us and fill us with a deep yearning to try and achieve the same in our own lives.

Holy. Sanctified. Set apart.

Our quest for Holiness is a daily undertaking. It requires not only the knowledge of the Holy, but it requires action on our part. We study the Word. Hide that amazing Truth deep into our hearts. Apply this knowledge to our lives. We must hear it, receive it, believe it and then live it.

We aren't going to obtain perfection in this life, but we can walk in His ways and allow Him to be manifest in our lives. We can aspire to be Holy. Paul tells us in Ephesians that 'we should be Holy and without blame before Him in love'. The road to Holiness isn't an easy one. It depends upon us keeping our eyes constantly fixed on Jesus. Our focus has to be His purpose and His calling for our lives. One step at a time. Growing in grace along the way. Desiring to be like Him and willing to do whatever it takes to make it happen.

"Because it is written, be ye Holy; for I am Holy"
(1 Peter 1:16)

The eternal, Holy nature of God should draw us into deeper, more intimate relationship and fellowship with Him. The harder we try to be like Him, the more we will become aware of how unlike Him we are. His Holiness transcends all that we can imagine. Against the backdrop of His Holiness, we are left wanting.

He is absolute purity. Infinite majesty. Limitless in power, strength, mercy and grace. He is a Holy God.

Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty. Who was and is and is to come.

Praise you, Lord, for your Holiness and praise you for compelling me to be Holy like you. My deepest desire is to strive for Holiness every day of my life. May I be mindful daily of the awesome task of living a Holy life. May I walk in your ways and please you in all that I do and say. You are Holy. You are God. And I love you with every fiber of my being.

His love is better than life.

2011-07-08T22:59:00.000-05:00

God truly blessed our time in Boston with our daughter, Melissa. And then He heaped blessing upon blessing as He so graciously allowed us to travel to Pennsylvania to visit with our daughter Megan, her husband Rod, and their precious 4 children. We had a great time in both places and it was with much sadness that our time with them came to an end this morning. It was a teary good-bye, but it was a time filled with many new and happy memories to add to our every growing list.

God has been revealing the vastness of His love for us in the past few months. My awareness of just how amazing and endless the supply of His love is increases day by day. It isn't just the good things that happen that fuel my thankfulness for that love because certainly our lives aren't always filled with the good things. But I have come to fully understand that even in those 'bad' times, God is still love. He loves us unconditionally. He loves us with an everlasting love and one that encompasses more than we can imagine. And no matter what our circumstances, we can always depend on our loving God to carry us through. To give us strength. To lift us up and be our portion and our shield.

"We love Him, because He first loved us"
(1 John 4:19)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thank you sweet Father for always teaching me. Thank you for revealing your love to me in a new and a more powerful way. Help me to be ever mindful that your love is all I need. No matter that circumstances, no matter the trials, no matter the situation.... You love me and for that, I stand in awe of You. I love you with all my heart and I will serve you all the days of my life.

I love Boston!

2011-07-02T23:00:00.000-05:00

After 26 hours of intense driving and covering 1574 miles in 2 days, we finally made it to Boston. I think I fell in love with Virginia, Pennsylvania and Connecticut along the way. And then Massachusetts just blew me away! It is gorgeous up here!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We got to Melissa's new apartment before her and took a good look around while we were waiting. She is on the 4th floor of this Brownstone. There are 2 studio apartments on each floor and of course, she is on the top floor.

(outside her building)

(Two very weary travelers)

(she's on the top floor)

(Looking down her street)

This is the lovely winding, old staircase inside the building that leads up to her apartment. We made about a thousand trips up and down those stairs carrying all of her furniture and stuff with us. The staircase was so narrow and steep that I couldn't help my husband get the dresser and bed up them. ( I almost had a panic attack going up them. I have a big fear of heights and the stairs looked like they were just hanging off the wall!) We found a really nice guy walking down the street and he helped us get them up to her apartment. He was so nice and we were so very thankful!

We've been having a great time with Melissa and we have been busy every minute since we arrived. We have spent a lot of time walking around Beacon Hill where she lives and we have looked at every shop on Charles Street. There is so much history here and there is also so much beauty. Even though the city is huge and there are so many people in it, there is still a very relaxed feel to the atmosphere. We have met some really nice people and eaten some really good food. We have been places that I never dreamed I would be able to visit.

I am so thankful that God blessed us to be able to make the trip to Boston to see our daughter and to be able to bring all of her things to her. We are blessed to have a church family that is giving and loving and wants us to enjoy ourselves on our vacation. We can leave the church in good hands and not have to feel guilty for being gone and that is a HUGE blessing to us.

God has been so good to us. He has been MORE than good to us. He has been exceedingly, abundantly amazing to us and we are so humbled and thankful. We serve a good God and we serve a loving God. He is more than enough. He is all that we need.

"...Blessing, and honor, and glory, and
power, be unto Him that sitteth upon
the throne and unto the Lamb
forever and ever"
(Revelation 5:13b)

things that i love

2011-06-28T23:00:00.000-05:00

Things that I love:

**I love it when God opens my eyes and reveals TRUTH to my SEEKING spirit.

**I love it when God widens my understanding of scripture and speaks a much needed WORD to my thirsty soul.

** I love it when all 3 of my girls call at the same time and we have to keep swapping back and forth to talk to each other. So much fun!

** I love it when Bryton and Sawyer get to come to Nana's house and play in the water and paint beautiful pictures for me and Papa.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** I love it when my God overwhelms me with His sweet Presence. There is nothing quite as amazing as the feeling that comes when God's spirit settles down upon you.

** I love it when God gives you tangible proof that you can't out give Him by blessing you 6 times over! He is so good and His abundant love for me blows me away. Oh, He is so good!

** I love it when God gives you a glimpse into the human body and shows you His miraculous power in a tiny baby girl still in the womb. The amazing miracle of life never fails to totally astound me every time I experience this.

She sucked her thumb almost the entire ultrasound. We also got a big smile out of her. I love her already. What a blessed Nana I am.

~~~~~~~~~~

** I love it when God speaks.

** I love it when the Holy Spirit moves in our midst.

** I love it when God lays something on your heart and you act out of love and obedience to Him, and then He just lavishes His love upon you in return. Just because He loves us so much. We serve a good God.

**I love it when my grandchildren in Pennsylvania call me on the phone and I get to hear their precious voices.

** I love it when God works out the details so my husband and I can take a trip to Boston to see Melissa and deliver all her 'worldly goods' to her and as an added bonus, we get to 'swing' by Pennsylvania on the way home to see our oldest daughter and her precious family! Thank you Lord!!

** I love hugs from sweet boys.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** I love this t-shirt!

** I love Jesus with all my heart and all my soul. I am so thankful that He loved me enough to die on the cross in my place, that I might have forgiveness of my many sins, redemption through His blood and eternal life with Him in glory! May I honor Him in all that I say and do and may I never fail to spread the gospel to those who need to hear the TRUTH.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Please be in prayer for us as we leave in the morning headed to Boston. I won't have Internet service until the evening, so I won't be visiting blogs much, but I will be thinking of each and every one of you! Thank you for your prayers!

grace during tragedy

2011-06-24T10:53:00.000-05:00

Our little town suffered a major blow Wednesday night. We had just finished our prayer services and about 12 of us were still in the parking lot visiting when we got a call that a church van belonging to one of our sister churches in our area had just been in a terrible accident. And that there were fatalities. The church van had just left their church loaded with 9 children and 2 adults after their Wednesday night services to take them home. The van left the road on the drivers side, hit a concrete culvert and flipped around causing extreme damage to the van and the passengers.

We immediately headed to the site to be available for our friend and his wife who pastor that church and for the families of those involved. I have never seen anything so surreal in all my life. There were more red and blue lights flashing than I thought existed. There were ambulances and police cars and helicopters overhead and the sounds were almost unbearable. My heart was just torn in two for those involved and I was almost paralyzed with fear for what was to come. My first reaction was to call my mom to get her to pray. She was just leaving her church in Shreveport and there were still some people around so they immediately stopped to pray for all involved.

As I began to see the funeral home cars arrive, all I could do was cry out to God to send His sweet Spirit of comfort and peace. At times when there are no thoughts to be formed, God in His Sovereignty knows. Our precious Jesus intercedes for us and the Holy Spirit gives us utterance. We serve an awesome God.

We lost 5 precious people in the van accident. But praise God, all of them had personal relationships with the Lord. Even the little 4 year old girl did because she was secure in His Grace. There are 6 children and teenagers still in the hospital. Most have suffered many broken bones and have had surgery and still have more surgery to come. One young man has suffered brain trauma and needs our prayers desperately. Please lift up all these families to the Lord.

I love our little town. I have never experienced the outpouring of love from so many people as I have from the folks that make up our small community. People loving people. People loving God. People willing to sacrifice of their own for others.

As we had children in 3 different hospitals in 3 different cities and even 1 different state, my husband and a few other pastors stepped in to help relieve the burden from the pastor of the church. We had a chance to minister to several different families and God just showed up in those visits and gave us the opportunity to share Him in a powerful way. He is so good.

As our town is still in shock over this tragedy, continue to pray that we will give God the praise for His goodness. Pray that we won't lose sight of our purpose here on earth. He is still faithful. His purpose is still Sovereign and Good. He is still on the Throne. He is still God.

"Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through
Him that loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life,
nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present,
nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other
creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God,
which is in Christ Jesus our Lord"
(Romans 8:37-39)

Even in the face of tragedy God has a plan. He has been gracious to those in need and has enabled His love to be shown to those that needed a glimpse of who He is. May He continue to wrap those families up in His loving embrace and dispense His mercy and grace to their spirits. May He lavish His love on each person that they feel an unspeakable peace and presence of Him in their hearts.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Pray for those in the hospital:

Kierra Wilcher

Olivia Oneal

Dalton Williams

Samantha Thornton

Jake Thornton

Aaron Copes

Pray for families of those who lost their lives:

Emma Adams (4)

Brittany Thornton (12)

Kaitlyn Thornton (19)

Portia Thornton (53)

Joey McKann (30)

oh, how i miss them...

2011-06-19T21:21:00.000-05:00

"My flesh and my heart faileth;
but God is the strength of my heart,
and my portion forever"
(Psalm 73:26)

Both of my sons-in-law are pipeliners. We have been so blessed that they have both had jobs close to home for the past year and half or so. Their jobs in Louisiana ended last week and yesterday morning my oldest daughter and her husband left for Pennsylvania for a pipeline job that should last about 6 months. This past week has been a week of trying to spend as much time with my daughter and sweet grandbabies that I could. I miss those sweet faces already, but am so blessed by the many memories that we all share of our time together.

Eli, Mikaela and Mercie spent lots of time with me and papa the last few weeks. (Silas can't spend too much time away from his mama..) I am so blessed with precious children and grandchildren. I stand amazed daily at the goodness and mercy and grace of my sweet Savior.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

They spent time swimming with their sweet cousins Bryton and Sawyer

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

They explored in the 'woods' behind our house.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

They drew with chalk in the parking lot.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was so sad the morning they left. I spent some time hugging all the sweet faces and getting some really good baby sugar. Little Mercie just didn't understand why she couldn't go home with me and her mama and daddy had to pry her little hands from around my neck. She was crying so hard that my heart broke. And is still breaking....

Mercie's smile quickly went from this sweet grin to this:

My heart just hurts each time I see this. Today as they traveled, she has been asking to go to Nana's house. And then she gets mad when they tell her that she can't. That makes me so sad, but the good news is that in a few weeks, we are going to Boston to take our daughter Melissa her furniture and we will go by Pennsylvania on the way home to spend a few days and to see those sweet faces again! Praise the Lord He is so good!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The morning after the kids had left my house, I found this picture that Mikaela had put in my bible. She always leaves me little notes either under my pillow or in my bible. She said she knows that I will find it there. My sweet girl. I miss her already.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I am so thankful for God's Hand in my life. So thankful that He continues to convict and correct. Renew and restore. Reveal and revive. He causes me to seek Him with new passion. Desire Him with new longing. Search for Him with a heart that wants to be like Him.

I rounded out my first 500 of my 1000 gifts and have had my eyes opened to His continual and infinite Goodness.

501. That my husband has lost 18 pounds in 3 weeks and is feeling so much better!

502. That God has enabled us to walk 2 miles a day together for the past 2 weeks.

503. That our church is growing in spirit! We have baptized each Sunday for the past 6 weeks! Praise You Lord for the outpouring of your Spirit in our midst and for hearts that are truly seeking hard after You!!

504. God's abundant provision of Him in my life. I need Him more each day and am so thankful that He is always there to draw me, guide me and strengthen me. He is my portion. He is all I need.

"...I am the LORD that maketh all things;
that stretcheth forth the heavens alone;
that spreadeth abroad the earth by myself"
(Isaiah 44:24)

~~~~~~~~

Father God, may I never take you for granted. May my heart continue to seek after You in a mighty way. I thank you and praise you that you are my strength and my shield. You are my portion forevermore. I pray that you will never cease refining me and restoring me. Continue to reveal sin in my life that I may confess and repent and turn away. Strengthen me daily as I do my best to walk in your ways. May I be compelled by your Holiness to be like you. I love you from the depths of my heart with all that I am.

are we stunned?

2011-06-14T09:32:00.000-05:00

Are we stunned by His Glory?

Gripped by His Greatness?

Overwhelmed at His Goodness?

If not, perhaps we need to be seeking a new vision of who our God is and what He can do in our lives. We may need a fresh encounter with God. One that will render us speechless at His Majestic Power. One that will overcome us with His Glorious Splendor. One that will drive us to our faces in desperation for a sweet glimpse of His Glory. One that will bring us to the reality of His True Holiness.

This Holiness needs to compel us to be more like Him but at the same time we need to be vastly aware of the truth that His Holiness is what separates us from Him. His absolute, sovereign and stunning Holiness should shake us to the very core of our being. It should fuel us with an unparalleled passion. A new intensity. It should cause us to tremble at the very notion of who He is.

"Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Hosts - the
whole earth is full of His glory"
(Isaiah 6:3)

If we long for a vision of God's Holiness, we need to be seeking it where we can find it. At His Feet. On our faces in full surrender. Hands held high to His Throne saying "I am yours, Lord. All of me. Take me, fill me and use me for Your Kingdom, Your Honor and Your Glory"

It's about worshiping Him with all that is within us. Worshiping Him for who He is. Letting our hearts be gripped by the awesomeness of His power. Acknowledging His Sovereignty.

Every time I read the passage in Isaiah 6: 1-8, I am filled with a new thrill about God's wonder as I read Isaiah's reaction to His glimpse of God's Splendor. He saw the Lord! And the very sight of the Lord's Glory immediately filled him with the reality of his own sin and unclean spirit.

"Mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!"

That utterance from the mouth of Isaiah is so powerful and awe inspiring. He saw the Lord! He recognized Him in all His Kingship. He realized the depravity of the sin in his own life and immediately surrendered all to God.

When we allow ourselves to get deep into the presence of God... When we spend some very purposeful and intimate face-to-face time with our Lord... We will see His Glory. We will get a new awareness of His Majesty and Power. We will dive to our faces and truly seek Him. Experience Him. Encounter Him.

We will worship the Lord in Spirit and Truth. And when we rise we will shout:

"Mine eyes have seen the King!"

Oh, Hallelujah! Yes, Lord, show us your glory!!

deeper still

2011-06-08T23:15:00.000-05:00

The deeper I crave to go in my relationship with my Lord, the deeper He digs into my heart and soul and reveals those things that don't belong there. He lovingly reveals wrong attitudes. Improper motives. Critical spirits. He reveals those ungodly behaviors that are serving only to hinder my walk. Those things that are keeping me from going deeper still.

As much as those revelations hurt, they also feel good. It feels good to confess those things to a loving God and then to rest in the assurance of His forgiveness due to His amazing mercy and grace. I'm at the point now that I desire for ALL things unrighteous and unholy in my life to be revealed so they can be repented of, removed and replaced with godliness.

I begin each day with this prayer:

"Search me, O God, and know
my heart; try me, and know my thoughts:
And see if there be any wicked way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting"
(Psalm 139:23-24)

Thank you, Lord, for sweet mercy and grace. Thank you for being a loving God who desires good things for your children. Thank you for your patience with me and for continuing to draw me to a deeper and more intimate relationship with You.

~~~~~~~~~

My daughter called me Thursday night and said that Eli had just come running into the kitchen saying "Mama, it's an emergency. Mercie is cutting her hair!" Sure enough, the sweet thing had found a pair of children's scissors and cut her hair. I mean really cut her hair. Like she had half of a bad mullet. She had to take her the next morning to the beauty shop so they could try and fix it and wound up having to really cut it short. Her hair had gotten so long and wavy, but I have to admit that her hair cut looks really cute!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ashlie and the boys had spent the week down in south Louisiana where Cody is working and I missed them so much. It was nice to see them drive up Saturday and get some much needed baby sugar!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Bryton really missed Mikaela and they had a good time at the park on Tuesday. I am so thankful that my girls children are close and love each other so much!

~~~~~~~~

Silas doesn't look to sure about being on this ride between his 2 cousins!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It's so hard to believe that Silas will be 1 year old in less than 2 weeks! He has grown up so fast. He has the sweetest little personality - much like his sweet mama did. I can't get enough of him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Eli loves to get his picture taken and he is quick to pose for me. He is such a precious boy. He was so upset when Mercie cut her hair and was trying to clean it up so Megan wouldn't be upset. He has a loving heart and there is nothing that melts me quicker than him telling me, "I just love you Nana". (I'm ready for his curls to grow back out...)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My sweet granddaughter Mikaela. My first grandchild. She fills me such joy that I can't even stand it! She has a loving heart and every time I tell her that I love her, she tells me she loves me more. I tell her that isn't possible and she smiles and says, "I have my ways". Oh, how I love her!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

God gave me a glimpse of His glory with this beautiful sunset earlier this week. Jimbo and I had gone for a walk and as we came back home and walked into the back yard of our house, this was our view.

"O LORD our Lord, how excellent is thy name
in all the earth! who has set thy glory above the heavens."
(Psalm 8:1)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I pray that God ministers deeply to everyone that reads this! May His lavish love engulf you and overwhelm you and draw you nearer to His heart. He is holy and majestic. He is so worthy of all our praise. He is God!

just sit and worship

2011-06-06T07:31:00.000-05:00

As I closed my eyes in sleep last night, my mind was playing over and over some words that I had heard in a song a few days before. Words that just hurt my soul as well as lifted my spirits. "His dying breath gave me life". As I went to sleep, I was pondering over the agony of the death that brought such joy in new life.

I opened my eyes early this morning and immediately felt an intense desire to get in the presence of God. Really, it was more like an intense need. I needed to just sit and be still before Him.

After my quiet study time, I headed to my back patio. I sat in a chair, leaned back and closed my eyes. I prepared myself to just sit and dwell in His presence.

No thoughts formed. No words. Nothing but my presence was necessary at first as God knew why I was there. His love and His goodness had drawn me to this place and that was enough. I just lifted my face to heaven and basked in the glory of His presence. Unspoken words began to reach the heart of God and as I sat in silence and quiet worship, the tears began to fall.

As the fresh tears fell, I started to voice what my heart was feeling.

You are mighty and powerful.

You are majestic and glorious.

You are goodness, kindness and mercy.

Lord, you are gracious, loving and so sweet.

Worship. That's what God had beckoned me to partake in this morning. Pure, unadulterated, heartfelt worship of Him.

You are Holy, oh, God. You are so worthy.

My eyes still closed, I could feel my hand raise itself high to the heavens and I began to praise Jesus right there. As I began to name all that He is to me, I felt His precious presence settle on my spirit.

Sweet worship.

He needed me to acknowledge who He was and is in my life so that I could start living like I believe it! I needed to once again, die to self. Confess my selfishness. Commit to Him in a new and more purposed way.

He is strength and power. In his name there is life and healing.

He is all I need. Above all else, I need to desire to be in His presence. I need to give my life fully to Him. The life that cost Him everything to give. His dying breath gave me life. I owe it all to Him. May I worship and praise Him all the days of my life.

"And He said, My presence shall
go with thee, and I will give
thee rest"
(Exodus 33:14)

Loving Him more each day,

Beth

how bad do i want more of Him?

2011-06-01T08:08:00.000-05:00

In my pursuit of God I have a real longing in my heart for more. More of Him. More of His power in my life. More of His presence.

I thirst and hunger for a deeper, more intimate relationship with a holy God. But am I really pursuing it with a passion unparalleled by any other pursuit? Am I really doing all that it takes to get to where I so desire to be?

I want to know Him like never before. But am I digging into the Word frantically and searching like my life depends upon it?

I want to fully know the power of the resurrection. But am I taking the necessary steps to make that happen?

I desire to grow in the knowledge of my Savior. I want to understand the message of the cross and its provision like never before. I long to develop an intimacy with my Lord that knows no bounds. But so many times, I allow the things of this life to get in the way and keep myself occupied with things that just don't really matter.

There is nothing more important than my relationship with Jesus. There is nothing more precious than just to sit at His feet and be drawn into His presence. Nothing.

It is thrilling to know that God created us to KNOW Him. He desires for us to SEEK Him and to LONG for Him. He longs for our presence at His feet more than anything else. Just to sit and soak up the beauty and majesty of His glory. Just to sit and be awed at His power and His might.

I want to pour over the precious scriptures and be blown away by the revelation of Truth.

Feverishly searching. Earnestly seeking. Eagerly expecting.

Anticipating a mighty work of His hands. A powerful manifestation of His power and glory. I ache to just sit in His awesome presence and soak up His infinite goodness and experience Him like never before.

He is indescribable. Undefinable. Holy. He is God. He fills me with joy unspeakable. Love inexpressible. Peace unimaginable.

I sit with my eyes closed. Heart open. And my face turned toward heaven.

I am ready for His touch. Searching. Seeking. Find me, Lord.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thank you, Lord, that I continue to fill up my 1000 gifts journal. You show me every day, the many things that are blessings from your hand. May the next 441 entries speak as loudly as the first 441 did.

a great week

2011-05-28T11:46:00.000-05:00

I've had a great week. We had VBS at our church and my girls and grandkids stayed here all week to make it easier for them to attend each morning since they live about 25 miles from my house. It was a week full of joy and a week full of lots of sweet but loud, small voices . What I like to refer to as joyful chaos. I think I swept my floor a thousand times, washed a million loads of clothes and bought a small fortune worth of groceries. At least. But it was a lot of fun and God used this week to speak to my heart in lots of ways.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I have a room that I do my bible study in and the smaller grandchildren call it my 'bible room'. I went in this morning to have my quiet time and saw this index card among the others. Mercie had made a card just like Nana. You will never know how that touched my heart when I laid eyes on it.

~~~~~~~~~~

Eli had called me outside yesterday afternoon to take a picture of him in a tree. He said, 'Nana, my second favorite thing to do is climb this tree. My first favorite thing to do is Praise Jesus.' My heart just melted right then and there.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As I was reading in Hebrews this week, this verse ushered in strong conviction to my heart.

"So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief."
(Hebrews 3:19)

Oh, Lord, let me not be guilty of unbelief. Let me taste the goodness of You and see my worth made possible through the precious blood of your Son. May I trust only in You.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As we were unpacking Melissa's things from Baton Rouge and repacking them for her move to Boston, I found this letter that Mikaela had written her Aunt Melissa earlier this year. It just made me smile to realize how close our family is and how much love there is to go around.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

There were times this week when I was praying for some peace and quiet. But now that they have all gone home, I am left with a silence that reminds me of the joyfulness of the chaos! I found a little pair of Silas' overalls in the dryer this morning. I found a little stuffed dog that Sawyer left behind. I discovered Mikaela's American Girl horse on the bed where she slept. I found multiple fingerprints on my glass tabletop.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

There are at least two ways you can tell if someone - who will remain unnamed- has been in the curio cabinet playing with the nativity sets. One way is that the donkey is in the spot where baby Jesus is supposed to be...

and another way is that the poor shepherd is taking an unscheduled nap beside the wise man.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We found Sawyer one morning wearing his papa's glasses and doing a good imitation of "Preacherman". I pray that God will have a distinct calling upon his life and that he will hear and obey. If have four grandsons so far - perhaps one of them will be a preacher like their Papa.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I was overwhelmed several times during bible school at the graciousness of our Lord. As I saw 50 or more children each day coming to the church and having the privilege of learning about Jesus and not being afraid of persecution, my heart just filled up with such gratitude for God's mercy on our nation so far. I pray that our country will realize how blessed a people we are and that we will recognize our sin, turn from our wickedness and fall on our faces in repentance and in surrender to our God and King. He is truly worthy of our praise and our honor and all glory....

"And all the angels stood round about the throne, and about the elders and the four beasts, and fell before the throne on their faces, and worshiped God, saying, Amen: Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honor, and power, and might, be unto our God for ever and ever. Amen"
(Revelation 7:11-12)

~~~~~~~~~

Mikaela is such a great big sister. She is such a loving and sweet girl and I thank the Lord for her every day! She is a precious gift from God indeed!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Bryton did a great job during commencement last night. He got up on stage and sang his little heart out with his class and I was so proud! After Eli's class sang, he said "Nana, Eli did a great job!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Any time I start to wonder "why?" I read this card. My heart has been so heavy for the people devastated this past week by tornadoes. We live in an area that is known for tornadoes and we were in the path of several ourselves and only by the grace of God missed any terrible destruction. I pray that those affected find peace and comfort in the loving arms of our Savior.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"My flesh and my heart faileth; but God
is the strength of my heart, and
my portion for ever."
(Psalm 73:26)

Thank you, Lord for the amazing privilege of being a wife, mother and grandmother. May I bring only honor to what you have called me to do and may I always show others You with my words and actions. Thank you for your grace and mercy in my life.

the Lord's purpose prevails

2011-05-23T22:14:00.000-05:00

"But now, O LORD, thou art our Father; we are the clay,
and thou our potter; and we all are the work
of thy Hand" (Isaiah 64:8)

I love the fact that our Potter is the Master Creator. He is the One who holds everything in the palms of His hands and everything that He makes is perfection. As the works of His Hands, we simply have to be willing to be molded by Him into what He desires us to be. It's not always easy turning our lives over to Him and allowing His will to take precedence over our own but it really is the only choice. Whatever it is that He has planned for our lives is always the best plan.

When my daughter, Melissa, graduated from LSU with a degree in Biological Sciences 2 years ago, her immediate plan for her life was to go on two mission trips that summer and fall. She was going to Bolivia, South America for 6 weeks to work with Campus Crusade. Then she was headed to Cameroon, Africa, to volunteer at a Medical Mission hospital for 10 weeks. Upon her return, she was going to apply to medical school in Boston and would hopefully start the following summer. Being a mission doctor was her lifelong dream and she couldn't imagine anything else for her life.

But after she returned from Africa and landed in ICU literally fighting for her life from a complicated case of P. Falciparum Malaria, things changed. It took her almost a year to fully recover from the damage done to her liver and red blood cells. She stayed so weak and her immune system was compromised so she stayed ill, but gradually the Lord brought her to a full recovery from this horrible disease. The next year found her unsure of her calling as a doctor and fervently seeking God's will for her life.

She was working as a substitute teacher in Baton Rouge and began to have a real love for little children and a real desire to become an elementary teacher. As the Lord began to reveal to her what His plan for her life was, she began to move forward in that direction. She took her MAT (Millers Analogy Test), scored very well, and applied to graduate school. And God continued to work.

As the Lord just continued to pour out His blessings upon her, He began guiding her step-by-step and provided for her needs at every turn. He has shown Himself faithful to Melissa and His goodness has just overwhelmed her. This morning she was here beside me and tonight, my sweet girl will lay her head down in Boston, Massachusetts. She will begin her new journey with the Lord by her side tomorrow.

(Boston University)

Please pray for Melissa as she begins her first class in grad school tomorrow evening. She is enrolled in a one year master's program and this time next year will be a teacher. She is so excited at what the Lord has in store for her and is ready to place her life fully in His hands.

It's always exciting to go with God. Even when we don't know where He is taking us or what we are going to do when we get there! But just to know that we are in His hands and submitting to His plans is the greatest source of peace that we can have. He is faithful. He will never let us down. He will never lead us astray. He will always guide us down the correct path if we keep our eyes on Him and let Him lead the way.

"Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails"
(Proverbs 19:21)

Overwhelmed by Him and His goodness,

Beth