it filled the house!

"And the priests could not enter into the house of the LORD,

because the glory of the LORD had filled the

LORD's house"  -- (2 Chronicles 7:2)

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After Solomon's prayer of dedication for the completion of the temple, fire came down from heaven and the glory of the LORD  filled the house! The glory was so thick that it prevented the priests from being able to enter in and minister to the people. What was their response?

* They bowed themselves low.

* Their faces were to the ground.

* They worshiped. Oh, how they worshiped!

* The gave the LORD the praise He was so due!

Humbly, they prostrated themselves before the LORD. Bowed their hearts down low and bent their knees to fall before Him in awe of who He was. In pure wonder of His glorious splendor. They couldn't even stand in His presence. They could only fall to their faces and begin to acknowledge His Holiness. His majesty. The pure, overwhelming and astounding essence of the glory of God.

They worshiped the LORD. They praised His name. For He is good and His mercy endures forever. The overwhelming beauty of His Holiness should stun us! It should propel us into worship. Cause us to bend our knees and fall prostrate before His very presence.

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Oh, God, we want to worship you in that way! We ask that you come and enrapture us with your presence. Captivate us with the wonder of who you are and cause us to fall on our faces in pure, unadulterated worship of your majesty and your glory! You are beautiful beyond description! Too marvelous for words! Thank you for allowing us little glimpses every day of the majestic splendor of your beauty and glory. 

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GLIMPSES of GLORY this week

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Mercie and her little cousin Laylah.

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Mikaela and her sweet cousin - she is such a nurturer! 

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Thank you Lord, for my grandbabies love of books! Thank you that I can read to them and that they can hear! Thank you that they can enjoy the wonderful world of learning that  you so lovingly provide! 

Thank you Lord, for blessing me for now, with these. 

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

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

to the measure of the gift of Christ"

(Ephesians 4:7)

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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.

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"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)

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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. 

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

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

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I love little boys with new haircuts.

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

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

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

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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)

this journey of faith....

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)

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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.

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

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

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

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

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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!"

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Oh, how I love this little miracle girl. 

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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.

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

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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!

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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! 

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

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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. 

my heart seeks

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.

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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.

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"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)

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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.

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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)

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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!

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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.

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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

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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