sweet nuggets from the Lord

I love the small lessons that God teaches me throughout the week as I study and ponder on His marvelous Word. Sometimes it may be just a scripture that really speaks to my heart at that particular moment or it may be a sweet nugget of truth that I come across in my bible study and reading. 

In Exodus 34:6, the LORD reveals Himself to be compassionate, gracious, loving and faithful. That verse is packed with power as we contemplate what those descriptions of our LORD entail. He is compassion! He is love! He is grace and He is faithfulness! All of those attributes of God are things that we can't be without Him. We can't love without His love. We certainly can't grace others without that amazing grace that He bestows upon us first. We can't have compassion without the awesome compassion of Christ and we can not have faith without the pure, perfect faithfulness of our God. 

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All idolatry and disobedience comes when we begin looking for satisfaction apart from Christ. We will never find rest in the things of this world. We will never find peace in the accumulation of material possessions. Satisfaction doesn't come from any place but from the LORD. We have to learn to be content in Him and only Him. He alone has to fill our every longing and our every need. Only when we come to that place of perfect peace in our Savior, will we ever be able to be used of Him for His Kingdom.

Satan can keep us disengaged from God when we allow him to distract us from the things of the LORD. He is the ultimate deceiver and deception is a trap that will render us ineffective to do the work that God has called us and purposed us to do. We must keep our focus on Him. Our desire has to be to glorify God in all things. Our desire has to be obedience to Christ in all things no matter what the cost.

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The perfect righteousness of God makes our unrighteousness so obvious....

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We need to drink deeply of His precious Word and allow it to saturate and drench us with a fresh infusion of faith. A fresh infusion of His Spirit. And be ready for Him to do a new thing in us and through us!

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"So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God"

(Romans 10:17)

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When the doctrine of the Love of God is not balanced with an understanding of the Fear of God, there is a problem! We must have a holy fear of who He is and what He does. He is the all-knowing, all-seeing, ever-present, ever-loving, thrice Holy God. The King of kings. The Lord of lords. He is the alpha and the omega. He is the first and the last. He is and He was and He is to come!! Hallelujah my friends! He will NEVER leave us nor forsake us. He will comfort us and grant peace to us. He will lead and guide. He will love and protect. He will cover and restore. He is THE almighty and He is GOD!

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God's grace empowers and enables us to live a life of Holiness and obedience to the untouched and unmatched authority of God.

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Thank you, Lord, for the sweet handfuls of purpose that you dropped in my path this week. Thank you for growing me and thank you for pruning me when needed. I love you and I praise you and bow my heart humbly before you in pure adoration and worship. 

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Handfuls of purpose and grace dropped into my lap this week!

Happy 5th birthday Bryton!!!

Happy 7th Birthday, Mikaela!!

"Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above...." (James 1:17)

Happy 7th Birthday, Mikaela!!

How can it be that 7 years has passed since we welcomed you into this world? It seems like only yesterday, we were eagerly awaiting your arrival.  Anticipating nervously and excitedly. Not knowing how I could actually be watching my first baby have her first baby. Not really knowing what it would be like to become a grandparent. Not fully understanding how I would feel once you were born.

And then there you were. You emerged and I was in love. Instantly...Fully... Wonderously in love with a 7 pound 10 ounce little bundle of sweetness. An angelic, precious, beautiful baby girl. I could barely comprehend what had taken place.

You had just initiated me into the awesome world of being a grandparent. A world that I never dreamed would be so amazing and rewarding. I was thrust into "Nanahood" and never has there been a more perfect fit. I think I was born to be a grandmother! Thank you, Mikaela for that.

You have grown from a tiny little baby into an amazing young girl. You have the sweetest little spirit. You love people. You are a giver, even at such a young age. You have a heart that just shines for Jesus! You gave Him your heart 5 months ago. I give God all the Glory for that!

Your smile lights up the room. Your giggle is like music to my ears. I love to hear you sing for the Lord. I love to see you care for your little brother and sister. I love how you help your mommy because you love her so. I love to hear you tell your daddy you love him. I love your hugs and kisses. I love you.

Mikaela - You have brightened up my very existence. You have made me and your Papa so proud! We love you. We cherish you.  We are proud to have you call us Nana and Papa.

Happy 7th Birthday, my little Ladybug!

Her proud and very blessed parents - Megan and Rod.

Little brother Eli and baby sister Mercie

Her cousins Bryton and Sawyer were surprise guests. They arrived from Colorado without telling anyone they were coming! This Nana was overjoyed!

God has certainly blessed me. I give Him all the praise and honor due Him.

Happy Birthday Ashlie & Believing God

As I seek -
I hunger.... I yearn.... I search...

As I seek -
I find... I discover.... I glean....

As I seek -
I learn... I grow... I love...

Seeking the One who created.
Seeking the One who perfected.
Seeking the One who descended and suffered.
Seeking the One who was crucified and buried.
Seeking the One who arose and ascended!
Seeking the One who will return.

Finding Him and
immersing in His goodness,
soaking in His mercy,
basking in His glory.

Finding Him and
being washed in His rain,
cleansed by His blood,
made whole by His sacrifice.

As I search, seek and find -
I am redeemed, restored, revived.
I am forgiven, found faultless, free.
I will Praise Him, glorify His name, rejoice in His presence, sing a new song unto the Lord.

I am believing God that He will come to me and show me the way.


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HAPPY 20TH BIRTHDAY MY SWEET ASHLIE!

Hard to believe that my precious baby was born 20 years ago. I will never forget the joy that filled my heart when you were born perfectly healthy after 4 months of uncertainty during a difficult pregnancy.

You have been one of the lights of my life. You have made life exciting and sometimes turbulent! You are your own person with your own definite ideas.

When you were born, you came home to 2 big sisters who loved you so much. We all babied you and catered to your every whim. You were everyones little baby. Everyones little doll. Spoiled? Perhaps.

You have grown into a beautiful young woman. Not many girls can become mothers and wives at the age of 17 with the same grace that you did. You embraced motherhood with such passion and the love you have for your little boys just makes my heart swell with pride. You are a wonderful mother and Bryton and Sawyer are blessed beyond measure.

I see you mature spiritually and really seek the Lord. I see you bringing those Truths that your daddy and I taught you into your household and teaching Bryton about Jesus. I see you blossoming into a young lady.

I see all these things, but when I look at you, I still see my baby. My little Ash-ash. My precious child. My miracle.

I love you sweetie! Have a great day! You are NOT a teenager anymore!

Love, Mama

Happy Birthday Megan & More Grace

Happy 24th birthday Megan! What an absolute joy you have been to me sweet one. 24 years ago, I entered the world of motherhood with your birth. I have watched you grow from a happy, precious, content little baby to a happy, precious, content young woman. You are a godly wife and mother and I couldn't be more proud of you. As I watch you seek after God and instill what you believe into those amazing 3 children you are raising, my heart is filled with joy. You are a blessing to me sweet girl.

I love you - Mama

And yes, for those of you who did the math, I had my oldest girls 12 months apart. And no, it wasn't planned =)

"Grace is God at work"

As my husband and I were watching a DVD last night, Louie Giglio made that statement. He said that is the best way he knows how to explain what grace is to people who don't have a clue. Grace has nothing to do with us. Grace is strictly about God and what He did.

I think that is why it is so hard for us to fully accept it without having that feeling of it being so undeserved. The fact of the matter is - it IS undeserved. We are NOT worthy. That is why it is grace. We can't understand it, because in reality we don't operate that way. We put conditions on our love and we put conditions on our 'good deeds'.
We expect something in return.

But that isn't how God operates. God transfered our sin to His Son at the cross. We don't have to do anything but believe and accept it. But when we fully understand it and we fully 'get it' - we want to do all we can to be worthy. We want to be sanctified. We want to be set apart. We want to live holy lives. We want to walk worthy of our calling.

I am so humbled and thankful for what Christ did for me at the cross. I know that I am undeserving and I know that I am unworthy. But He did for me, what I couldn't do for myself. I am thankful for His mercy and His forgiveness. I am thankful for reconciliation. I want to walk the rest of my days in holiness. I want to walk the rest of my days in His footsteps.

"For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him" 2 Corinthians 5:21

Happy 2nd Birthday Bryton

Look where God brought you! From a sick baby to a healthy 2 year old! Praise Jesus!


Happy 2nd Birthday to my little Bryton! It is so hard to believe that you are already 2 years old. What a blessing you have been in your Nana’s life.

You are so full of life and energy. You run full speed ahead most of your day! Not only are you very energetic, but you are so loving. You love to give hugs and kisses and little “I love you’s”. My heart melts when I hear you say “Nana”. I love it when you and mommy spend the night and in the morning we drink coffee together. I love to read you stories. You won’t let me turn the page until you have examined every inch of the illustrations. I love you, Bryton.

You have been blessed with such loving parents. Your mommy will hardly let you out of her sight! Your daddy watches you play with such joy and wonder in his eyes. In a few short weeks, you are going to be such a great big brother!

When you were born 2 years ago, (3 weeks early) you gave all of us quite a scare. Within minutes after you emerged, the nurse had a mask on your little blue face and was calling the NICU for a bed and a canister of oxygen. Her only words were spoken calmly. “He’s having a little trouble breathing”. I have never felt more fear in all my life. I immediately went out into the hallway to tell your Papa and all those waiting, “Pray”. I was then filled with a sense of peace and I knew that you were in the hands of the one who formed you and that He would take care of you.



You spent 7 days in the NICU with various issues and problems, but now you are a healthy little boy and doing great!

You are such a blessing to me, Bryton. My sweet little fella. My little ‘b’. Have a happy birthday little one.

Oh - the joys of being a grandmother. Thank you, Jesus for allowing me that joy.