If Life Has You Down...

Since I decided to spend this year focused on knowing God more, I figured what better place to start than in the Psalms...  So many of them are written by David and it's clear that he had a special relationship to his Heavenly Father.

This morning I read Psalm 42 (I actually started reading the Psalms at the end of last year and that's why I realized it would be a great place to stay focused on God)...

In just 11 verses, twice David writes in 5 & 11, "Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me?  Hope in God; for I shall again praise Him, my salvation and my God."

There's really no way to know why David was down...  He could have had a lot of reasons...  Maybe conviction over his sin...  Afterall, he slept with another man's wife and then set her husband up to be killed...  Maybe it's when his son died or his older son betrayed him and tried to overthrow him...  Or maybe it was just the discouragement that sometimes comes when life seems hard to manage....

But here's what struck me...  When David was down, he didn't choose to wallow in it, he fixed his eyes on the One who could truly make a difference.  He praised Him and in verse 6, he remembered all that He had done.  A wise friend told me once that when she's down, or life's problems get too big, she praises God because when we praise Him, we remember how BIG He is and our problems get so much smaller!"

There is NOTHING our God can't handle!!

But something else struck me too...  We can hope in God because not only is He able, but also because He cares!!  The other day, when I was reading Psalm 40, I was so struck by the first 3 verses...


"I waited patiently for the LORD; He inclined to me and heard my cry.  He drew me up from the pit of destruction, out of the miry bog, and set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure.  He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God."

What a personal, intimate picture of God...  Sovereign Creator of the Universe!!  HE will draw us out of the miry pit (even if it's one of our own making!)...  HE will set our feet on a rock and make our path secure...  HE will put a new song in our mouth...

So if life has you down, take a lesson from King David...  Offer up a sacrifice of praise to our Great God (praise often is a sacrifice when we are struggling)...  Think back over your life and remember the great things God has done for you...  And then trust Him to draw you up out of the miry pit...


Not only is He able...  He longs to be the one we trust and turn to!!

SNOOOOOOOOW Fun!!

We had lots of snow in the south and even more fun!!

Mackenzie decided to see what would happen when she threw a cookie sheet full of snow into the air...

Abby's first snow angel...

Snow Tubing!

I LOVE this next series of photos...  That's Zack being squished on the bottom!

A few kids fall off...

More fall off...

Children scattered down the hill...

Now Zack's just cruisin'!

Brothers!

Mackenzie getting ready for a ride down the hill...

But she gets a BIG surprise when her closest friend decides to hitchhike a ride too!

Love the laughter!

I love when Scott wears this hat!!

Zack's about to get a lesson in whose boss!  (A fun lesson!)

Yeah... I can still take him!

But even with snow in his eyebrows and ears, he keeps coming back for more!  

It was a FUN, FUN day!!

Love, Laughter and Hugs!

I have to admit, I was kind of dreading this Christmas...  You might remember, on Thanksgiving Day, my grandmother went home to Jesus.  As Christmas approached, I realized that in 45 years, I can only think of 1, maybe 2, Christmases that I didn't spend with her!  As a child she would often tuck me in with the warning that Santa didn't stop by houses where the children weren't asleep...  I wonder if she ever knew how much harder it was to go to sleep after that?  LOL!!

When we built our house 7 1/2  years ago, I spent an entire year and a half praying (more like pleading and begging) for just one more Christmas with her (she was in her 90's by then).  I just wanted to have memories of my grandmother in our new house...  I wanted to see her make biscuits in our kitchen, I wanted to see her oohh and ahhhh over her Christmas presents in our family room...  And God was so gracious, He gave us 6 more Christmases with her and lots of laughter and memories...

Abby's first Christmas with us...

So, as you can probably understand, I just wasn't sure how this first Christmas would be without her...  But while there were some REALLY sad moments, it was a Christmas full of love, laughter and hugs...  Here some highlights...

Chillin' on Christmas Morning

(That's my mom...  She doesn't do "chillin'"...  That's what a servant's heart looks like from the outside!)

That's me opening one of my Christmas ornaments from the kids (every year each one gives me a Christmas ornament so I have a REALLY cool collection of ornaments from over the years!  And I get my own tree to put them on...This is one of my favorite Christmas traditions!)

After Christmas we went to visit Scott's family...  LOTS of cousins!!

Riding go-carts!

Next we went to my dad's house, but unfortunately I don't have any photos...  My stepmom was sick, so it wasn't the usual visit...

Then we made an extra trip to visit the rest of my family...  And our newest 'China' cousin!!

Nooooo...  Our sons aren't competitive...  Push-ups with children on their backs!

Out to dinner for New Year's Eve!

So there were so many AWESOME moments from Christmas, but there's one that is extra special from this year...  If you've followed my blog for very long, you know that the first year with Abby was kind of hard.  She let me care for her most basic needs, but that was about it...  She didn't want hugs and she didn't want me holding her...   

On New Year's Eve, as we were leaving for dinner, I went out on the back porch and yelled to our children that we were leaving...  Abby stopped what she was doing and came running to the porch, she ran right up the stairs and gave me a BIG hug!!  

I LOVE this picture!!  Happy New Year from our family to yours!

Pretty Amazing To Think About...

Before I start my post, I want to give you a link to an OUTSTANDING post I read this morning...  It's by my cousin who just adopted again, you can read it at Stitching To China...

So, the reason for my post...  Since I want to try and share some of my journey towards knowing God more this year, I thought I would start with something I read yesterday that has really grabbed hold of my heart and mind...

It's from Psalm 35:1-3 (NIV)...

Contend, LORD, with those who contend with me;
   fight against those who fight against me.
² Take up shield and armor;
   arise and come to my aid.
³ Brandish spear and javelin
   against those who pursue me.
Say to me,
   “I am your salvation.”

As I thought about these verses what hit me is that David is calling on God Almighty...  Sovereign Creator of the Universe to take up a shield and armor...  To brandish a spear and javelin...  To be the one who goes against the enemy...

It made me think about the office of President...  They have men who surround them and protect them...  They don't pick up weapons and run into battle, they get as far away from danger as possible. 

And yet, our GREAT God leads the charge, He goes before us!

There's a great story in 2 Chronicles 20 where a vast army comes against Israel and all the people of Israel had to do was stand still and sing praises while God routed the enemy for them... 

Most of our enemies today are not tangible ones like King David faced, or the Israelites...  But the truth still applies...  Whether it's a financial enemy...  the enemy of addiction...  or gossip...  or depression...  whatever it is that you or someone you love is facing, God is your Mighty Warrior...  He will not only go with you into the battle, He will pick up armor, spear and javelin and fight the enemy for you!

And we can be certain, when God is fighting the battle for us...  HE (and therefore WE) will be victorious!

Sing praises and watch what He will do!

My Longing For 2011

I can't believe this is my 3rd time doing this on the blog  but as a New Year rolls around, once again God has put a longing in my heart for 2011...(you can read 2010 here 2010 Heart's Desire and 2009 here, 2009 Heart's Desire)...

In the past, I always felt like God was laying something on my heart that needed some work...  To love more like Him...  To guard my heart and not be so worldly...  But something is different this year... 

It began on Christmas Eve with a skit our church did at our Christmas Eve service.  It was very simple, but the gist of it was 3 different people trying to give Jesus the perfect Christmas gift when all He wanted was them...  Simple, but profound and it got me thinking...

I spend SO much time trying to serve Him that sometimes I forget to just spend time with Him and know Him...  One of my favorite verses, I would probably even consider it my life verse, is Philippians 3:8:

"What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ..."

Paul considers all things garbage compared to knowing Christ...  A big house...  garbage compared to Christ...  A cool vacation...  garbage compared to Jesus...  A new car...  rubbish compared to Him...  I could go on and on...  But whatever it is that grips our hearts is garbage is compared to knowing Jesus!

Paul goes on in verse 10 and says simply, I want to know Christ...  I want to know the power of His resurrection...  Paul even considers suffering as an opportunity to fellowship with Jesus and know Him more...


If you know about Paul, then you know that he wrote most of the New Testament, he planted numerous churches, you could say that God used him to help firmly establish the early church and strengthen the church for all time...  Wow, can you imagine being used by God like that?! 

But from Philippians 3:8 and 10, it's clear that Paul had one primary mission in life...  and it wasn't about what he would do...  It was all about who He would know...  everything else was the overflow of knowing Jesus!

How wonderfully simple to have a single focus in life!

So as I head in to 2011, I'm setting my heart on knowing Jesus more...  Yes, I want to serve Him more... Yes, I want to know victory over the things I still struggle with... Yes, I want my heart and my life to reflect Him more...  But I believe that all of that will come when I FIRST know Him more!

I don't want to make any big sweeping commitments about how much I'll write on my blog this year (I can never seem to follow through on those)...  but I would love to share some of this journey with you...  So I will do my best to write, at least weekly, something I'm learning about knowing Jesus more...

I want to leave you with the words of a beautiful song by Casting Crowns...  To Know You... I think it says beautifully what God has put on my heart for 2011...

To know You is to never worry for my life
To know You is to never give into compromise and
To know You is to want to tell the world about You
‘Cause I can’t live without You

To know You is to hear Your voice when You are calling
To know You is to catch my brother when he is falling
To know You is to feel the pain of the brokenhearted
‘Cause they can’t live without You

More than my next breath
More than life or death
All I’m reaching for, I live my life to know You more
I leave it all behind, You’re all that satisfies
To know You is to want to know You more
To know You is to want to know You more

To know You is to ache for more than ordinary
To know You is to look beyond the temporary
To know You is believing that You’ll be enough
‘Cause there’s no life without You

All this life could offer me
Could not compare to You, compare to You
And I count it all as loss
Compared to knowing You, knowing You

All this life could offer me
Could not compare to You, compare to You
And I count it all as loss
Compared to knowing You, knowing You

And I count it all as loss
Compared to knowing You, knowing You

An Amazing Evening!!

It has been a tiring week... Last week I had a 2 evening show for my jewelry and then Monday and Tuesday this week, I did an Open House at our house...  I love doing the shows, but they can be exhausting (lots of physical labor and late hours) and draining (I tend to be more introverted) so being 'ON' for that many hours is sometimes difficult.  Add to that the emotional drain of my grandmother's passing and her not being with us for Christmas, and I'm just tired.

But for tonight, I had signed our family up to go and serve dinner at a local ministry that is a rehab facility for men struggling with addiction.  I admit, I grumbled inwardly all day because I'm so behind and Christmas is just 2 days away...  I even thought about telling my husband to go without me because I was at that place of tired where it seemed like tears would spill over at any minute...  But there was something in me that wanted to go simply out of obedience to what God tells us to do...  So I kept my grumblings to myself, put on my best face and went.

I was nervous...  I always am in new situations like this...  What would I say?  How do I act?  What if I accidentally offend someone?

We arrived about an hour before dinner and the first person I saw was a dear, sweet friend of mine and her family...  It was their first time too, what a gift to get to serve with them!  We were given our assignments so that everything would be ready and then G., who coordinates our group from church spent some time talking to us about what to expect...  All of the men are battling addiction...  So we were to serve them dinner and then get a plate for ourselves and go and sit with them. 

I had NO clue what to talk about...  But G. told us not to worry, God would give us words...  Right on schedule the doors opened and the men filed in...  They seemed genuinely pleased to see us...  They had us introduce ourselves and one of our group offered a blessing...  And then the men filed through the food line. 

And at that moment, my heart started to break...  Men of all ages...  All different backgrounds...  Addiction is color blind...  culture blind...  class blind...  It grabs hold of whoever is vulnerable and takes them captive to a life that no one would choose...  For the first 15 minutes I fought tears...  But they were so happy...  So grateful to us for showing up to serve...  I looked around and saw a room full of hope!  A room where Jesus, through His servants, is setting the captives free!  It was AMAZING!

As the line dwindled, I knew the time was approaching when I would need to get a plate and find a place to sit...  I did and it was just as G. had said, the conversation came naturally...  No uncomfortable lulls...  no awkward pauses...  The men we talked to knew the mercy and grace of God in a very real way and they were happy sing His praise...

The last man left and even though 2 hours had passed, it seemed like a few minutes...  And it was time for us to go.  I could have stayed the evening, especially talking to one very special gentleman...  There was just something about his spirit...  You could tell he had been broken, but he was a man with faith...  Faith that his Heavenly Father loved him...  Faith that he would know victory in the battle of addiction...  Faith that God had a very special plan for his life...  The man was full of hope! 

I was not ready to leave...  Tired and grumbly were gone and in their place was joy...  unexplainable...  overflowing joy!  There is something about serving those whom Jesus came to save that brings you into the presence of Jesus Himself...  I've experienced it in Africa, on a street corner in our city and tonight in rehab facility...  Jesus can always be found among those whom our society would consider "the least of these..."  And more and more I'm realizing, I just like being where Jesus is!

Africa has taught me that consistency is SO  essential...  It's not enough to go just once...  It's important to keep going back...  And so I will...  I may not have great words of wisdom to offer them...  I will most likely never change or fix anything...  But I can give them a smile...  And a word of encouragement...  And most importantly I can show them that no matter what the world may say, God sees them as His dearly Beloved children whom He takes great delight in...

Perhaps my biggest lesson of the evening...  God blesses obedience!

A GREAT Story!!

One of the things about adopting an older child that I have found to be particularly challenging is teaching her about God and Jesus...  How do you explain God to a child who has never heard of Him and (in the beginning) doesn't speak the same language?  Over the last couple of years she has asked MANY good questions like...  Is Jesus coming for His birthday party?  How old is He?  How old is God?  Who is God's daddy?  And if God made us, then who made God?  Pretty amazing questions for one so young...

But I have to admit, I've been a little discouraged because when I talk to her, I'm just not sure she really understands...

So today she came home from school and sat down with me to do her homework...  I was working on jewelry and she was supposed to be writing her spelling her words when she looks up and says, "There's a little girl in my class who doesn't believe in God."

Me...'Really?  That's pretty sad.'

Abby... "So I asked her, 'Then who made the world?'"

Me..."Well what did she say?"

Abby... "She told me it grew....  Now mommy, isn't that silly?!"

Me...  "Do you understand why it's silly?"

Abby...  "Not really"

Me...  So I picked up a bead and I said, "Abby, can this bead decide to become an earring, all on its own?"

Abby with a giggle...  "No mommy..."

Me...  "You're right...  It needs a creator, or a designer, to make something of it.  That's just like the world...  We needed a Creator...  We couldn't just make ourselves on our own."  (Now I admit, I didn't go down the path of trying to teach how God created from nothing...  I'll save that mind boggling truth for another day!)

Abby...  "So it really was silly.  Well then I asked her if she knew what the Bible is...  But I don't think she does...  And do you know, she believes that Santa Claus is God!  That doesn't even make sense!"

I don't know when these little seeds started to take root, but I couldn't be more thrilled that she feels strongly enough about the beginnings of her faith that she's willing to take a stand for it!  How cool it is to watch faith as it begins to grow!!

Since I've been very remiss in posting photos lately, here's a few from our Christmas Tree Cutting this year...  It amazes me how quickly they're growing!

That's our 12 year old daughter walking with her over 6 foot dad!