Everytime I hear the word summertime I think of that song by DJ Jazzy Jeff and Fresh Prince. I love the summer and everything about it. Sunshine, cookouts, birthday parties, fireworks, vacations, and this year our youth mission trip.
Tomorrow we are actually having a silent auction to raise money towards our mission trip this summer. We are very excited about it. Come out if you can.
Enjoy the summer heat:)
Jun 3, 2009
Mar 18, 2009
Wait
Wait... we do we ever like that word. Waiting seems to be the hardest thing at times. From waiting to a stoplight, to waiting for a phone call, to waiting on a new day. I am faced daily with small to big things to wait on. Often, I see I don't respond with patience, but with frustration. I recognize the selfish nature in me to think everything is suppose to happen my way or for me. Once again, back to last week's sentence on realizing life is not about me... and doesn't center around me!! A truth that I must know not in my mind only but with the attitude and actions of my heart.
I am learning to be more silent, still, which is basically waiting. Oh how I fight that stillness to just wait. Wait on what? In my mind there is always something to do or something I want to do. So I have trouble waiting... even more importantly Waiting on the Lord. WOW... I have trouble waiting on the Almighty, All powerful, All Knowing God. That is humbling to acknowledge but ever so true in my life right now. Oh how I want to Know the Lord and know him as in to wait on him. I have been reflecting on this : Be STILL and KNOW that I AM GOD Psalm 46:10. How often I don't want to be still, (wait). However, I am robbing myself of knowing the Lord in this way.
I am beginning to see there is something about this stillness. I am left in awe of God. For HE is so HOLY, so GOOD, so AMAZING! It is then, he catches my gaze, and somehow, I want to wait. I see him, I feel him, I know him. That is all that matters, of course I will wait. I begin to see that the more I know him, the more I am ok to wait. And waiting is now not just an action, but an attitude of my heart in trusting him. I will end with this: Isaiah 40:31 NAS Yet those who wait for the LORD Will gain new strength;They will mount up with wings like eagles, They will run and not get tired, They will walk and not become weary.
I am learning to be more silent, still, which is basically waiting. Oh how I fight that stillness to just wait. Wait on what? In my mind there is always something to do or something I want to do. So I have trouble waiting... even more importantly Waiting on the Lord. WOW... I have trouble waiting on the Almighty, All powerful, All Knowing God. That is humbling to acknowledge but ever so true in my life right now. Oh how I want to Know the Lord and know him as in to wait on him. I have been reflecting on this : Be STILL and KNOW that I AM GOD Psalm 46:10. How often I don't want to be still, (wait). However, I am robbing myself of knowing the Lord in this way.
I am beginning to see there is something about this stillness. I am left in awe of God. For HE is so HOLY, so GOOD, so AMAZING! It is then, he catches my gaze, and somehow, I want to wait. I see him, I feel him, I know him. That is all that matters, of course I will wait. I begin to see that the more I know him, the more I am ok to wait. And waiting is now not just an action, but an attitude of my heart in trusting him. I will end with this: Isaiah 40:31 NAS Yet those who wait for the LORD Will gain new strength;They will mount up with wings like eagles, They will run and not get tired, They will walk and not become weary.
Mar 10, 2009
A. W. Tozer
Lately,
I have been reading the Pursuit of God by A. W. Tozer. I read this in high school and loved it. As I have been going back through it, I have been challenged with my view of God. So often I fall into the trap of being the center of my world and life is all about me. Well clearly I know it is not, however what I know and how I act are not the same. I truly want to become so small and Christ to become so large in my life. I have been reflecting on this prayer at the end of Chapter 8 in Tozer's book:
O God, be Thou exalted over my possessions. Nothing of earth's treasures shall seem dear unto me if only Thou art glorified in my life. Be Thou exalted over my friendships. I am determined that Thou shalt be above all, though I must stand deserted and alone in the midst of the earth. Be Thou exalted above my comforts. Though it mean the loss of bodily comforts and the carrying of heavy crosses, I shall keep my vow made this day before Thee. Be Thou exalted over my reputation. Make me ambitious to please Thee even if as a result I must sink into obsurity and my name be forgotten as a dream. Rise, O Lord into Thy proper place of honor, above my ambitions, above my likes and dislikes, above my family, above myhealth and even life itself. Let me sink that Thou mayest rise above.
I have been reading the Pursuit of God by A. W. Tozer. I read this in high school and loved it. As I have been going back through it, I have been challenged with my view of God. So often I fall into the trap of being the center of my world and life is all about me. Well clearly I know it is not, however what I know and how I act are not the same. I truly want to become so small and Christ to become so large in my life. I have been reflecting on this prayer at the end of Chapter 8 in Tozer's book:
O God, be Thou exalted over my possessions. Nothing of earth's treasures shall seem dear unto me if only Thou art glorified in my life. Be Thou exalted over my friendships. I am determined that Thou shalt be above all, though I must stand deserted and alone in the midst of the earth. Be Thou exalted above my comforts. Though it mean the loss of bodily comforts and the carrying of heavy crosses, I shall keep my vow made this day before Thee. Be Thou exalted over my reputation. Make me ambitious to please Thee even if as a result I must sink into obsurity and my name be forgotten as a dream. Rise, O Lord into Thy proper place of honor, above my ambitions, above my likes and dislikes, above my family, above myhealth and even life itself. Let me sink that Thou mayest rise above.
Feb 3, 2009
Holidays
Well I am late in writing to say Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. But it never hurts to say it late:) We had a busy holiday traveling to see My family in Hickory and Nate's family in Chapel Hill. It was great and relaxing!!! We love spending time with our families and are so thankful for them. We celebrated New Years with friends at our house doing a Murder Mystery Dinner. It was a Western and Nate was a great Saloon owner. It was so much fun. If you have never participated in one of these it is definitely worth doing. I even made a cactus cake.
Soon after that I had surgery to remove my gallbladder. No fun... still recovering, but definitely doing better. It is strange to think I had an organ removed from my body. It amazes me how God created our bodies to cope with certain things.
Well I hope not to wait as long to write next time.
Nov 21, 2008
Endurance
It is great when there are days that are filled with laughter and joy. However, we all have those days that are not, that we really have to push to get through them. When faced with those days, I have been encouraged by the words in James.
1: 2-4 “Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. 4And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing”. NAS
It is amazing to think that our trials can be used by the Lord to draw us close to HIM, and to produce in us this kind of endurance making us complete. I have been reflecting on the endurance Jesus had to face-- the cross-- a trial I will never have to face because he did it for me. Yet, these trials I face produce that same endurance Jesus had. WOW.
“1Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. 2Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart”. Hebrew 12:1-3 NIV
I pray today that at whatever crossroads you find yourself, you will have the strength to consider it JOY and know it is producing endurance in you.
(from my devotion at work I am writing)
1: 2-4 “Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. 4And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing”. NAS
It is amazing to think that our trials can be used by the Lord to draw us close to HIM, and to produce in us this kind of endurance making us complete. I have been reflecting on the endurance Jesus had to face-- the cross-- a trial I will never have to face because he did it for me. Yet, these trials I face produce that same endurance Jesus had. WOW.
“1Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. 2Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart”. Hebrew 12:1-3 NIV
I pray today that at whatever crossroads you find yourself, you will have the strength to consider it JOY and know it is producing endurance in you.
(from my devotion at work I am writing)
Nov 19, 2008
Nate
Today I am writing about Nate. Here he is in the moment of teaching at youth. He is such a great leader and friend to us all. He loves sharing what he is learning and what God is showing him. He truly takes the servant leader approach in his lifestyle. He always wants to put others first and as he would say "Get in the ditch with them". One thing is for sure, if he knows you and loves you, he will fight for you with whatever obstacle is in the way. Nate is also a fun loving crazy guy who loves to make people laugh... he will do some little crazy dance in the middle of a restaurant, or sing at the top of his lungs to get you going. Recently, we went to see my cousins, Adam and Paul, at a Gardner Webb football game. At the game Nate shouted loud enough he got picked to play deal or no deal. It was even more exciting when he got the entire stadium involved in yelling and helping him choose what chic-fila prize he wanted. It was so funny that I had friends I hadn't seen in years on the opposing team say they heard it and thought... that must be Joni's husband... and they had never met him before either. All this to say Nate is such a wonderful guy and today the whole world will know why :)
Nov 7, 2008
Don't waste your life
A few weekends ago, we went to see LeCrae, our favorite christian rapper, in Charlotte. It was awesome! He has a song "Don't waste your life", and it is definitely my favorite song. It was inspired by one of John Piper's books "Don't waste your life". I have been thinking about that alot lately. My focus, my priorities, my time. It's all about HIM and all for HIM. I don't wanna waste my life!Go check out the song here: http://www.myspace.com/lecrae
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