Time to myself

Well, it's Thursday afternoon and something very odd has happened. Both my kids are taking naps at the same time! This almost never happens and honestly, I am not quite sure what to do with myself. That's probably because there's a million things I should be doing and I can't decide what is more important so I'll take some time to update my blog!

I can share that becoming a volunteer leader in the middle school ministry ( The freeway) has really had an impact on my life. It just puts a new perspective on my walk with Christ, and I learn just as much listening to Pastor Josh as the kids do. It always seems like a coincidence that things he says have everything to do with what's going on in my life. Kinda funny how that works. (Not) I know God planned it all out that way. lol. Last week Josh was talking about how when we become saved and give our lives to Christ that we are new creatures, and better then before because we have Christ living in us. He used the example of a Caterpillar, and how they inch around on the ground so slow, looking for food, getting stepped on, eating leaves, etc......Then the Caterpillar takes a nap and turns into this new creation, a beautiful butterfly. Obviously the butterfly would never want to go back to being a Caterpillar again. Just like we shouldn't want to go back to our "old" self again and living as a non-christian. I thought that was pretty cool to explain it to the kids that way.

Last night he did a talk on Self Worth and also talked about salvation and off w/the old and on w/the new person. In the end he asked kids to come up and write on the white board if they got saved that night, or were going to work on putting off the old, or if they wanted to be baptized. I was amazed at how many middle school kids went and signed that board to be baptized. I couldn't help but get teary!! What an awesome things to see kids doing something like that. My own son even went up there and put his name under the putting off of old self. Wow. Very cool night last night. It almost makes me want to get baptized again! I'm not sure if I can even do that, but the more I think about it, I think in the past month or so I have made a decision to really give my life to Christ and follow him and I think that is more what baptism is about. When I got baptized 3 years ago or so, It was when I was saved but I know I wasn't really giving my life to Christ. I guess I'll have to talk to someone at church about it. Not only that but I didn't invite a single person to my baptism. My husband didn't even come! lol.

I have been reading the bible study book they are doing at church for the women's bible study. It's called, Set Apart, Discovering personal victory through holiness. By Bruce Wilkinson.

It goes right along w/the other study I am doing about my eating. (Honestly the book Love to eat , hate to eat isn't all about food either. It's about living for God and not yourself.)

Anyway, I learned some interesting things from this book too! First I learned that once you are saved you are considered "Holy" to God! I'm holy! Not that all my actions become immediately Holy but that I have become set apart from the secular world to the sacred. We are also considered Saints. Pretty neat. I also learned the meaning of the word, "Consecration" I believe I have been consecrated in the past month also. I have made the decision that I want to follow Christ and LIVE like a Christian and change my ways. To put off the old, and put on the new person. (sound familiar?) basically that is what consecration is. Deciding with your own free will that you want to dedicate your life to Christ. Now I know the meaning of that. Pretty interesting book. I am constantly amazed these days at how much God has opened my eyes lately and given me wisdom to understand things that I was blinded to before. When I was saved years ago, I didn't make the changes in my life that I should have. I didn't realize the power of the Holy Spirit in me. I didn't realize I needed a "heart change". I am really enjoying what God is teaching me these days, even though some days are hard, I can see myself growing and see him working in my life and that is really cool.

Well, I suppose I'll go get something done while I have the chance!

Autumn Now

Here's the latest picture I could find of her. She is with her brother Ben. This was in December sometime, at church, right before they were about to go on stage and sing. They are so darn cute.

Tagged?

Ok, so my friend Debbie tagged me. I have never been "tagged" before on my blog! I guess I am supposed to put the 4th picture, from my 4th folder on my blog. So here it is....

This is our sweetie Autumn. This was dated May of 2006. She would have been 2, almost 3 years old. She is now 5 and in kindergarten. She looked so cute in this picture.Looking at this, she sure has grown a lot in a few years! Autumn has always liked posing for pictures. maybe I can find one of what she looks like now, i'll go take a look!

Faith of Joseph

Doing my Chronological bible ready, I have been reading about the story of Joseph. I have read this story before but this time around I have found a few interesting points.

I love how Joseph gives God the glory for things, like when he can interpret dreams. He tells the cup bearer and baker that interpreting dreams is "God's business" and God helped Joseph to do that. Then again later he told Pharaoh that " It is beyond my power to do this, but GOD can tell you what it means and set you at ease" THEN Joseph helped Pharaoh to interpret his dream. He didn't take the credit himself.

Then later on, after his brothers (who previously sold him to slavery) came to him for food and he was forgiving of them, and when they said they were sorry for what they did, Joseph told them that they didn't actually put him in that place, that it was God's plan all along to send him ahead of them to preserve THEIR lives! That is amazing faith in God, and knowledge that God's hand was in it the entire time. I love that!

Sweets are an Idol

What a bummer this is. God is doing some serious peeling away of things in my life right now. In my heart, I know it's what I want. It's what I asked for. "Please make me more like your son I said." "Give me the desire to be more like you" I had a verse on my chalkboard, Psalm 37:4- Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart.

Well, I asked for it. Now he's stripping me of the ugly crap in my life, and it's pretty painful! I did really great through the holidays with my eating, resisting plates of cookies that I made, that I could have grazed on all day. But the past few days, I was searching for and eating chocolate again. After a few days of it, and being convicted and stressed out, I emailed Diane about it. Asking why is this happening to me? She came back with a some great answers as always. This morning I was reading my weekly chapter in the book Love to eat hate to eat, and came across this- "Those that indulge their lust will never be estranged from it" My first thought was , "Oh no! He wants me to give up chocolate and sweets!" I even wrote Diane and questioned it! After thinking about it even more, I know for sure that's what he wants me to do. For one thing, if that's my thinking, that I can't live the rest of my life without sweets or chocolate! That right there, shows me that food is an IDOL to me. Anything you think you can't live without is an Idol. If sweets are an idol God wants them to go. So that is what I have to do. Because God is Good. God knows what is best for me. ( Jeremiah 29:11 " For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.") He knows I'll never be fully satisfied by the temporary high i feel from sweets. This is NOT going to be an easy thing to lay down for me. It's going to be really, really hard. I am going to need some serious prayers people!

I know that my life is supposed to be a "living sacrifice" to God so there are things that I have to give up. Maybe temporarily, maybe forever. He gave up his life for me, so the least I can do is give up sweets.

Diane has told me that she is really not tempted to go back to sweets because what she has in Christ is so much more satisfying then any piece of cake. I want to know that feeling. I won't know it unless I give God a chance to show me.

Funny, thing. I think God really speaks to me through music a lot of the time. When I was just standing in the kitchen making Ben more toast, the song "Lifesong" By Casting Crowns came on. I used to have this as my ringtone on my cell phone.

Check out these lyrics.

Empty Hands held high

Such Small sacrifice

If not joined with my lifeI sing in vain tonight

May the words I say,And the things I do

Make my lifesong sing Bring a smile to you

Chorus:Let my lifesong sing to You

Let my lifesong sing to You

I want to sign your nameto the end of this day

Knowing that my heart was true

Let my lifesong sing to You!

LORD, I give my lifeA Living sacrifice

To reach a world in need

To be your hands and feet

So may the words I say,And the things I do

Make my lifesong singBring a smile to You

Bible in a year

I have joined a few women in reading the One Year chronological bible. Even though it's already the 10th, I wanted to share some things that I have either learned, "re-learned", or found interesting in my 10 days of reading so far.

*There were TWO trees in the middle of the garden that were forbidden.The tree of life, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

*Adam and Eve ate from the tree of knowledge. ( I guess in the past, I only thought there was one forbidden tree?)

*The Lord God walked around in the garden and Adam and Eve hid from him. ( I found this very interesting! He WALKED around? So God was in the form of a human?)

*People before Noah lived 900+ years! Then when Noah was around 500 years old God said, "My spirit will not put up with humans for such a long time, for they are only mortal flesh. In the future, their normal life span will be no more then 120 years."

*Noah's family was on the ark for a little over a year

*The rainbow is a sign that God will never again flood the earth to destroy all life.

*Once again,it says that God came to Abraham, came to his tent and ate, and told Abraham that Sarah was going to have a child. ( and Sarah laughed about this!) ( I am guessing he came in the form of man when he went visiting?)

*Both of Lots daughters got him drunk on purpose so they could have sex with their dad and get pregnant. ( I was very surprised by this!)

*Isaac married his cousin Rebekah

*Jacob married his cousins, Rachel, and Leah (what's the deal with marrying your cousins?)

*It was OK to have more then one wife, and if you couldn't conceive children the women let their husband sleep with their servants to have children. ( I was thinking about this, and how do the servants feel about being used for this then having to hand over their babies? and how do you deal with the fact of your husband sleeping with someone else?)

I just find these things strange and very interesting at the same time.

I am hoping that someone who reads my blog can give me some insight on some of the questions I have too!

Today I actually got ahead of myself reading and didn't even notice until I was on Jan 12th! It was so interesting I guess I wasn't paying attention to the dates!

I am enjoying reading the bible this way. I hope it stays fresh and interesting and God opens my eyes to more new things that I didn't know before.