Thankful Thursday

I am thankful for...

1. ...brainstorming! I love to brainstorm with my husband and come up with ideas! (About anything really, doesn't matter to me.)

2. ...a Godly heritage. My husband is the 11th out of 12 pastors in my family on my mom's side. That is amazing considering I married an autoworker! That's right folks, I didn't know how God was going to radically change us!

3. ...my new shoes! A friend of mine got some "hand me down" shoes from a lady at her church and only one pair fit. She gave the rest to me and they are GREAT! 3 pairs of Sketcher's and a pair of running shoes. They are all new and those Sketcher's are at the store for $54 a pair.

4. ...getting blessings and being a blessing!

5. ...for my femininity. I am a girly girl most of the time. I heart lace, doilies, table cloths and frilly stuff.

Such a Proud Mama!

Our oldest son turned 13 last week. It hasn't hit me yet that I am a MOTHER of a teen!

You know, it's almost like he blossomed over night! All of a sudden he's acting a little more mature.

He decided on his own to tithe. We've always taught tithing and encouraged it but we don't force it. He has tithed in the past but not for a while. He likes to save his money and when he gets it, he just puts it away. Well, out of nowhere, he took money out of his savings and took it to church.

At church we have an annual chili cook-off. Espresso decided, never having made a pot of chili, that he was going to enter! What? Ok... His dad (the pastor) always enters and challenges everyone by doing a big chili cook-off hype up. Unfortunately, he went for the "hottest chili" category and his dad wins that every year. (His dad IS the HOTTEST!) wink wink

Friday evening, I asked our youngest son to come sit on my lap. He is usually more than willing to cuddle up with his mom. Well, not this evening. I don't know what got into him but he didn't want to cuddle. Espresso got mad and said, "I'll do it! See! I'm a 13 year old and I'll sit on her lap!" It was so cute! He wanted to prove that he's not too old to do such a thing.

I am so proud of how "grown up" he has become yet he is not afraid to still be a kid! In a society where teens feel such pressure to grow up quickly, I am proud that he still likes to be a kid, play like a kid but still have that mature, responsible side.

Weekend Worship

Praise the LORD all around the world!

Hope

Beads of Hope Africa

Beads of Hope - Bead Makers from Lee Springer on Vimeo.

Do you have a favorite?

In this morning's family devotions, my husband had the boys read Romans 16:20. I thought I would flip back a page to my favorite verse and read it while I was in the neighborhood. I noticed that it sounds pretty neat when you put the two verses together.

(Read with feeling!!!!)

Romans 15:13
Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you.
Romans 16:20

Do you have a favorite verse?

This is what I found in Scripture today

I was cracking UP!

I was reading along in Numbers 11. I am REALLY liking Numbers but then I do LOVE the OT.

I came to the part where the Israelites were complaining that they didn't have any meat to eat. They were reminiscing about how GRAND life was in Egypt when they were slaves.

And then I saw this:

God said, you want meat? I'll give you meat...

vs 19-20
"You shall eat, not one day, nor two days, nor five days, nor ten days, nor
twenty days, but a whole month, until it comes out of your nostrils..."

I was cracking up! Ok, how does meat come out your nostrils? When you throw it up!!! God was going to give them so much meat that they were going to barf! EWWWWW!

I know, not the most uplifting section of Scripture. BUT it was funny! I love finding weird things in the Bible.

People Made My Birthday Special

I'm not the type to think that an adult has to or needs to go all out for their birthday. That being said, people went all out for mine this year which was wonderful!!!

I got e-cards, a few cards in the mail, the girls from church (and Mom) took me out, I got roses, gift cards and my Mom threw a party after church Sunday night. Everyone pitched in and it was so sweet!

Well, I got birthday money and you know me! I went thrift! I tried going to Carson's but just couldn't bring myself to spend $25 for the same pair of pants that I KNEW I could get at the Salvation Army for $2.50!

I got 2 outfits for $8.50 and my ears double pierced AGAIN! (They had healed over in the back.)

I got a jacket like this one in a similar color.

I got pants like these to go with the jacket. They have some maroon lines through them.

I also got a sweater that I was looking at at Kohl's last winter. It is cranberry with lace cuffs and collar. I got that to go with a pair of black dress pants.

ALL for $8.50!!!

God is so good and I am so glad that He treated me special for my birthday! Oh, I love a good deal, too!

A Kiss From God

My birthday was Wednesday and some ladies from church and my mom decided to take me out shopping at a discount warehouse and out to lunch. The day was great! I got some girl-time which is VERY rare for me.

We went to a restaurant called "Cornerstone Mansion". It was lovely! I was immediately drawn to one of the rooms and we were blessed enough to sit in it!

I grew more and more comfortable with that room and started to notice why. I was surrounded by things that I had in our first home. It was a 100 year old, victorian home with 10 foot ceilings.

The room had high ceilings and was painted the same color that I had in my bath. There were antique tea cups all over the place and I collected them. Some of them even looked the same as mine.

The chairs had my name on them! There were cherubs around which I also used to have around. I felt so at home in that room!

I was telling a friend of mine at church about all of this and she said that it was a little "kiss from God for my birthday"! I thought that was so sweet!

Weekend Worship

The Lord's Prayer in Ancient Aramaic

It makes me excited to think that Yeshua (Jesus) spoke these very words. After the bit with the song, he speaks the words in a way that you can try to copy.



I got the idea of "Weekend Worship" from Debby at Heavenly Humor! Give her a little love and pay her blog a visit!

There was a strange man on my underclothes!

This is no joke. This really did happen to me today. (You do have my permission to laugh.)

The morning was going swell. I was praisin the LORD, singin, emailin encouragement to people, the boys were doing their school work and I was climbing Mt. Washmore ~ getting my laundry done.

Something happened to my in-law's phone line and the repair man had to come out. He called 10 minutes before he got to the house. I was STILL in my pajamas. (We homeschool moms can do that!)

The repair man, nice and polite as he was, decided he needed to come down to the basement to look at all of the wires that run above the drop ceiling. Ok.... By now, I am dressed but my hair and face aren't washed. (Oh boy, that's a sight!)

Now, mind you, I am an EXTREMELY private person. Just the fact that a strange man is wandering around having to come down to work is stressful to me!

Well, he decided that he needed to wander go through our bedroom to waste time and milk the job look at the wire in the ceiling. After he entered, he proceeded to wade through my 9 piles of laundry on the floor. He actually (in his socks) walked through one of my piles!!!!!!!!!

As he is wading through Mt. Washmore, I look down and see my UNDIES and a bra! Oh have mercy. I am now, having a nervous breakdown. Reality is setting in. A strange man was just ON my underclothes ~ in my most private room ~ my bedroom! Ahhhhh!

I am now mortified. My eyes begin to swell with tears and he exits the room. I try to contain myself long enough to get to another room where I can cry. You may be thinking, so? That's not so bad. BUT it IS to me!

I started to wonder why God thought it necessary to put me through this. I didn't think it was funny and I thought that God might have a weird sense of humor. I called my husband home from work so that I could cry on his shoulder. He was sweet enough to stop what he was doing and come home for his wife who was having a nervous breakdown. Awwww...

I told my husband that I thought God had a weird sense of humor. He asked me why I thought that God had done that? He asked me what was my day like before this happened? Well, I said, it was a great day! I was worshipping the LORD and sending out encouragements to people. Dream Latte said, and you think God wanted to mess that up?

Lesson learned. It wasn't God that wanted to steel my joy. The evil one not only stole my joy but traumatized me as well. I am going to have to focus on my Jesus this evening and get that joy back.

A Different Thankful Thursday

I am going to be a little different with my Thankfuls this morning! Not only am I going to thank God for what He's done, I'm going to thank Him for what He is going to do!!!!!

AMEN

1. I am thankful that it was my birthday yesterday ~ I am thankful for all of the wonderful years God is going to give me as I live for Him!

2. I am thankful that God has given us a place to live and that we aren't "out in the cold on the street" ~ I am thankful for the home that God is preparing for us right now!

3. I am thankful for the way that God has changed me and opened my eyes over the last year and a half ~ I am thankful for how He is going to use me now that He has changed me!

4. I am thankful for my Godly husband ~ I am thankful for how God is going to expand His Kingdom and Ministry through my husband!

5. I am thankful for our awesome, handsome, smart, boys ~ I am thankful for how God is going to grow them into MIGHTY MEN OF GOD!!!

Click to see more Thankful Thursday

Prophetic Word From the LORD

Through the hardship

God is making you invincible


Build up your strength
When you are released
you will go out mighty


Freedom has already
been paid for

Thank you, LORD God for that encouragement!

Elle Women's Conference 2009

I went to a women's conference this weekend. I wasn't planning on going both days but the Lord moved in such a huge way that I couldn't not go!! God spoke to me over and over. He, in His gentleman like way, lifted me up, encouraged me, convicted me, filled me, gave me hope and gave me a prophetic word for my husband.

Who would leave that? !!!!

It was awesome! We learned, we were prayed over, we sang, worshiped and danced! The Holy Spirit was fresh and moving over the women.

I told my Mom, one of the things that I thanked God for that day is that I am out of "religion". I don't ever want to go back. I am a child of the Most High God and that is that!
One of the women that spoke was Lisa Bevere. She is a famous author and anointed speaker. She is one tough cookie. I said that she is "wicked holy"!! She can kick the devil in the teeth with her prayers.

I was able to minister to a young woman who is homeless, orphaned by her mother at the age of 2, has had her child taken away and doesn't have anyone close to her in her corner. Well let me tell you, she does now!!!

After two days of teaching, singing, and the Word, she was worshipping with her hands held high. She obviously gave her life to the Lord. Then, when it was time to come forward if you would like to publicly give your life to Jesus, she did!! THEN, she said that she wants to be baptized!

Oh my goodness! This girl now has JESUS!! I was so privileged to walk her up to the front. I was able to be an instrument of the Holy Spirit and bless her with a new Bible and a bracelet for her Spiritual Birthday. God was so generous this weekend!

This is the theme song from the conference. Of course, I can't get it out of my head!

Biblical Holidays

Ever wonder where Christmas and it's traditions came from?

Michael Rood will tell all:

Thankful Thursday

I am thankful for the Christians who stand up for their God.

I am thankful for the people who are on the front lines ~
risking it all for His name. I am thankful for the people who stand up for our rights in our country. I am thankful for God opening our eyes to the persecuted church. I am thankful for the revival that He is going to send to His people.




Truth 4 the Journey has more Thankful Thursday

Sisters In Service

I was listening to Revive Our Hearts today and they interviewed Michelle Rickett from Sisters In Service. This is a ministry (that you can get involved in) that reaches out to women and children around the world who are oppressed and in poor living conditions. They help them with their physical needs and give them the hope that we have in Jesus.

From their website:

Our Mission:
Sisters In Service informs, mobilizes,
and equips Advocates to extend God's love to women and children through local partnerships in the least- reached places of the world.
Our Strategy is:
To establish overseas partnerships with local Christians in
East Asia, North Africa/Middle East, South Asia, and Southeast Asia in order to extend God's love through spiritual development, education, leadership development, healthcare and economic opportunities for women and children.

To mobilize and equip people here at home to serve our sisters overseas by providing information and opportunities for global engagement.

To recruit, train and deploy advocates for a deeper level of engagement.
SIS advocates mobilize others and marshal resources to serve our sisters in the hard places of the world.

I am looking into how I can get involved. All of the info is on their site. There are many articles to read that tell what is going on with women around the world.

He Loves Me... He loves me not...

You know, I was having a bit of a pity party yesterday. (If you read my "Simple Woman's" post from yesterday, you'll see what I mean.) Well, we went to Bible study last night and during the small group prayer time, my husband said for everyone to pray for the person to your left.

He asked our group of 4 if anyone had any special prayer requests. I said that I had a kind of a cruddy day. I reassured them that it wasn't the boys rather, it was my own brain! The prayers for the person to your left began. An older woman to my right began to lift me up to the LORD. The first thing she prayed for was EXACTLY what I was hurting over. I knew I hadn't told her and that the Holy Spirit had. Of course, I began to cry... again. I knew that it was God's message to me that He is fully aware and sympathetic to my needs.

As if that weren't enough, I was talking to God as I was loading the dishwasher after church. This is what was going through my head. You know, God made me this way. He made me to want to nest. I can't help it, I'm a woman and I want to "make" a home for our family. It's something that is inside me...

Right after I loaded the dishwasher, I went to my email and read a comment that a reader had left on my blog. Linda C. said, "Thanks for sharing your heart with us! I know that your sacrifice for this season will be blessed. It is hard for a woman not to have her own home to "nest", but I know the Lord is and will bless you and your family!" (Thank you for that, Linda.)

Can you say, humbled and excited? That post was put there long before I was talking to God but He knew when I would be talking to Him about nesting and spoke to me through Linda C. I was so reassured by my Father that He realizes that I have a need to nest a home and that He's on it!!

He loves me... (as if there were ever a question...)

The Simple Woman's Daybook

FOR TODAY...October 6th from Janet's Daybook

Outside my window... it is a cool, dark, dreary day but inside it is warm, dry and comfortable!

I am thinking... that I should be grateful for the roof over my head... I should stop my pity party... yet I'm longing for our own place... to feel like adults again... I'm sorry... that's just where I'm at today

I am thankful for...the art supplies that we got yesterday.

I am wearing... blue jeans and a cream top with beading

I am remembering... how I loved art when I was a child... still do

I am going...to be doing more laundry today and getting the winter clothes out/summer clothes put away

I am hoping... God gives us a breakthrough soon

From the learning rooms... it was exciting to see the boys' brains click during spelling today

Noticing that... people have their ways... including me

From the kitchen... about to make lunch for my honey and the boys... yummy salad and baked potato

One of my favorite things... God working in our little lives in a big God like way!

From my picture journal...

The Simple Woman's Daybook

Wow! What A Trip!

God is so amazing! We decided to take the boys on the ULTIMATE HOMESCHOOL FIELD TRIP. Because, I am the best homeschool mom in the world... Ok, except for you maybe. (You can read more about that on my homeschool blog. There are more photos on that blog too.) I found a great deal on a room (Hyatt Regency downtown Indianapolis for $55!!!) and I found several free things for us to do. My parents, bless them, gave us money for tickets to see the Bulls play at the Pacers' stadium.

Here are some pics of some of our special moments:

We went through Lafayette, Indiana and showed the boys

the mission that Dream Latte preached his first sermon at!

At the hotel, the boys swam together. They laughed and played like brothers

aught to! It was an awesome sight to see.

We went to the Indianapolis Museum of Art. Dream Latte and Double Espresso hung in there for Espresso and I!

Seems like at every outing we go on, Double Espresso takes to a pulpit! ?

This is actually at the Children's Museum. It's a sad day when we have to make a fake church to show the children what it looks like.

I am so glad that our children aren't embarrassed to hang out

with their parents! My brother and I weren't raised that way

and I fully expect our children to enjoy us as much as we enjoy them.

(Ok, maybe not as much...)

Espresso and I trying to take a pic of ourselves.

Ok, for Espresso to sit down with a bunch of bears,

pretend to be eating with them, and pose for a picture is HUGE.

He is usually the quiet man behind the camera.

All of the learning was a BLAST! Here is the icing on the cake.

The boys, got autographs of several of the Bulls starting players!

That was HUGE for Double Espresso!

He had prayed for this moment for over a year! God is

so gracious to that little boy... Bless his heart!

(You can see a video on my homeschool blog.)