Pasta and Game Night!

The Battle is The Lord's

The following quote from Charles Spurgeon brought much encouragement to me this morning! It’s a wonderful reminder of how GREAT God is and how I can get through nothing without His help! Hope you’re encouraged as well!

“I may be addressing some godly people who are terribly distressed. You believe that God will bring you out of your affliction. Maintain that faith, and if deliverance does not come for a long time, maintain it still. Can you lean on the Lord? Can you grasp the Invisible? Can you forget all other helpers? Can you hold His hand and let everything else go? If so, you glorify God and you will be delivered!

If you must have your own bow and sword, then the battle depends on you, and you cannot plead God’s promises. Put the bow aside, hang the sword on the wall, and go to Him who is better than bow and sword, rest in Him, and He will gloriously work so that His name is magnified and you are blessed. I pray that the Holy Spirit will apply this truth to your heart. Oh for grace to rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him! In His time and in His way He will work out your deliverance. Nothing will stop Him. Remember, 'The battle is the Lord’s'"

Happy Birthday Karah Lee!

Happy Birthday Karah! Thanks for being the sweet and caring little sister you are! I hope you have lots of fun today! I love you!!!

Jeremiah 29:11-13- “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for wholeness and not for evil, to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with your whole heart.”

The First Commandment

“The duties required in the first commandment are, the knowing and acknowledging of God to be the only true God, and our God; and to worship and glorify him accordingly, by thinking, meditating, remembering, highly esteeming, honoring, adoring, choosing, loving, desiring, fearing of him; believing him; trusting him; calling upon him, giving all praise and thanks and yielding all obedience and submission to him with the whole man; being careful in all things to please him, and sorrowful when in anything he is offended; and walking humbly with him.” –The Westminster Larger Catechism

Everyone of those verbs mentioned is very significant and rich in their meaning, aren’t they? As I read over them, I can clearly see how I fail to know, acknowledge, worship, and glorify God, at all times, as my only true God.

In her book “Idols of The Heart” Elyse Fitzpatrick helps partially walk us through the list:

-Thinking about God. Do I think of God continually or only infrequently, such as when I want or need something?
-Meditating on God. Do I meditate on His character- His holiness, His goodness, His love?
- Remembering God. Do I remember Him in everything I do and say, or do I rarely think of Him?
-Esteeming God. Am I highly esteeming Him, or do I highly esteem or value other things?

Those are all challenging questions, but oh so precious and convicting! If your answers were “no” to one or more, don’t be discouraged because “from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace!!!” (John 1:18)

Yes, More Pictures :)

These are from this past weekend while some Orlando friends were in town....

It's Ready!

My new discipleship blog I shared about in my last post is up and running. Feel free to stop by and check it out!

Beautiful Adornment

Continued prayer would be wonderful!

Announcement

I’m not sure if I shared this on here before, but for a year now God’s been stirring my heart to find a way I can reach out to the middle and high school girls I know. I’ve thought about many different options and I believe that God is having me start a discipleship blog for these girls. My prayer is that I can be an encouragement to them as they face daily circumstances the world brings.

On the blog (with God’s help :) I’ll help walk the girls through subjects like:

-The Gospel
-Relationships with friends, parents, and guys
-Modesty
-Time management
-Biblical Womanhood (as a daughter and young lady)
-Cultivating a love for the home

That’s just to name a few…Most of the posts will have a “girly” spin. My desire through this blog is not to take away from any biblical counsel given from their parents or “get in the way” of their relationship with God, but simply to be an encouragement to continue growing in those relationships and fight hard in bringing glory to God in all things.

I would like to continue posting on this blog, but the other one is taking up a lot of my time right now in the beginning. So sorry if you see oodles of “picture” posts =). Hopefully after the other one is up and running I’ll be able to post on here more often.

I’m not sure what God has in store for the new blog (how long it will last/what it will turn into), but God has given me much faith to try it out and I’m excited to see how He will use it!

Feel free to spread the word! I believe God is calling me to reach many girls, not just the one’s I come in contact with daily.

Please pray:

-That God would provide grace and wisdom to speak into these girls lives.
-For time to post
-That I’ll have everything up by next Monday, April 20th =)

Thank you all so much for your support, encouragement, and prayers (I’ve already received so much). I am so blessed!

Spring!

My All Star Sisters

Eating Green Beans is Fun!

Last night my mom, Amber, I were sitting at one end of our kitchen table talking and we heard a laugh coming from the other end. We looked up and saw this….

Who woulda thunk that eating green beans could be so fun!

Rest for the Weary

As I was praying for God to direct me to words that would encourage those feeling weary and in need of rest, He led me to the following quote by Charles Spurgeon. Please read it through and find rest for your soul…

“The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want.” What a glorious inheritance! Walk up and down it. Rest on it. It will be a soft downy pillow for you to lie on. Climb the creaking staircase of your house, lie down on your hard mattress, wrap yourself in a blanket, and look out for the winter of hard times. But do not say, “What shall I do?” Just hum, “The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want.” This will be the hush of a lullaby to your soul, and you will soon slumber peacefully. He will supply your need. He will give you whatever you require. Ask in faith, never doubting, and He will give you what you really need.”

A Blog Request

I’ve received a blog request…”There are many times that we need rest for our weary lives and there are other times that we need to let God fill us with His spirit and press forward. How do we balance out the difference?”

Over the next couple days (as time permits) I’ll share my thoughts on both.

For now, find rest in these precious words that Jesus spoke: Matthew 11:28-30- "Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."

His Perfect Timing

As I awoke this morning and began to make a mental to-do list of all the things that needed to be done, I began to feel a little overwhelmed…For me, Monday’s usually bring quite a bit of stress. The Lord was kind to remind me of His precious truths…

Every single task that needs to be accomplished today will be accomplished with the Help of our faithful Shepherd in Heaven. He will grant us grace to walk through every circumstance, strength to get things done, and kind words to speak. Because He is faithful, He will not let us be tempted beyond what we can handle on THIS very day….

1 Corinthians 10:13- “No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he WILL NOT let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.”

What’s on your to-do list? Are you feeling overwhelmed? Let me encourage you to remember God faithfulness as you journey through today and this week, for He is our sustainer through all things. The Lord will provide the time and strength to get everything accomplished; whether today, tomorrow, or next week, it will happen in His perfect timing!

Philippians 4:13-"I can do all things through through HIM who strengthens me!"

Today, instead of complaining about all our daily tasks, let's ask God to help us!

Matthew 7:7-8- "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened."

Let Your Requests Be Made Known to God

Psalm 94:17-18, 22- “If the Lord had not been my help, my soul would soon have lived in the land of silence. When I thought, “My foot slips,” your steadfast love, O Lord, held me up….The Lord has become my stronghold, and my God the rock of my refuge.”

Because we’re not all-wise or omnipotent, none of us know what our futures hold. For me, not knowing what my future holds or what the outcome of a situation will be can become, at times, a temptation to worry or fear. What God has taught me over the past few years is the precious truth that He is good and that He DOES release us from trials and tribulations in His perfect timing. Whether it’s God’s will to calm our storm or add another dimension to it, we don’t know. What we can be sure of, though, is that when we approach our gracious Father with prayer and praise, we’ll be freed from all our fears, and we’ll know the guarding power of His love, as Paul reminded the Philippians….

“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Phil. 4:4-7)

Charles Spurgeon said, “There is no place to which you can be banished where God is not near, and there is no time of day or night when His throne is inaccessible. The caves have heard best prayer. Some of God’s people shine brightest in the dark.”

God Reigns in The Storm

“The assurance that we have in the midst of our storm is that God’s ear is always open to our cry and that He’s not punishing us for our sins but rather has poured out every drop of His just wrath on His innocent Son. He’s with us even in our failures and is using them to benefit our soul and cause us to love the cross more and more”-Elyse Fitzpatrick

Because God loves us, and because He’s so kind, He promises that He will never leave us alone. We aren’t orphans, searching through the world for a Father who will love, protect, and provide for us in the midst of our storm. Even though we don’t see His physical body, He has given to us His Spirit for our comfort, and gives us all the assurance and truth that we need. We need not fear or anxiously look around for help. Our help is standing right in front of us, He is the One who endured the worst of it, for He will strengthen, help, and uphold us. Let’s transfer our focus from our suffering to His. Because of His suffering, the afflictions we’ve endured in the past, afflictions we’re enduring now, and afflictions we will endure in the future surely have/will come to an end…

1Peter 4:12-12- “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed.”

“If ye trust in Him, ye shall receive strength; therefore, howsoever great your opposition may be, ye shall not be weary: If ye confide in and attentively look to him, ye shall have continual courage to go on, and never faint in your minds.” -Adam Clark

Today God is Strengthening My Heart…

Over the past few days I’ve been walking through some circumstances that have tested my trust in our Almighty Father in Heaven

The Lord was quick to remind me of His love in the midst of these circumstances and bring comfort to my soul out of Isaiah 41:10- “Fear not for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I WILL strengthen you, I WILL help you, I WILL uphold you with my righteous right hand.”

God IS at work through all these situations, and in the end, He WILL prove to be faithful!

“You cannot serve Him in your strength. You can only serve Him in the strength He gives as you need it…Be of good courage, for today He will strengthen your heart.” -Charles Spurgeon