Bags are packed!

Tomorrow I head to Fargo and then Friday morning Amy and I are off to Lifelight Festival! I'm excited and nervous. I'm not much of a traveler. I like MY home and MY comforts here. I told Amy tonight that she will need to have some patience with me. Problem is...she's about out of patience already. Her job has been very stressful! She has a 9 year old bullying her!! Tomorrow is her last day there. She needs a vacation. I hope I don't annoy her too much and that we both have a good time. Pray for us. :)

What Happens When Women Walk In Faith

Chapter 14 Pressing through the Pain
Lysa shared that even though things do not always work out the way we want or pray for....as long as we put God in control, it will all work out, no matter what. She shared of a man who "prayed expectantly. He expected God to answer and therefore was able to recognize the answer when it came."
She shared that the secret to pressing through the pain is to learn to depend on God, and ask for His provision, and then to remember to look for His answers.
Our greatest desire must always be for more of God and to remember to praise Him for what He does in our lives.
And this quote "God will meet all of our needs." has been what I've been teaching my little ones in Sabbath School this month. God provided food for Elijah by using birds of all things. But Elijah's needs were met.

Chapter 15 God Isn't Surprised by Death
Lysa starts out by sharing about seeds and how they go through a darkness before they crack and open up to grow into something beautiful. The "death" is necessary for the seed to be what it is suppose to be. It can resist, but then it remains just a seed.
This is good. "Go is good. He is way more interested in developing our characters to match our calling than in manipulating our circumstances to make us happy."
And this is so cool. I've never thought about the Beatitudes like this before.

"Blessed are the poor in spirit...the broken people.
Blessed are those who mourn...broken to the point of great weeping.
Blessed are the meek...weeping to the point of being humbled past wordly things.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness...humbled and desiring to be filled with God alone.
Blessed are the merciful...filled with God and able to overflow mercy to others.
Blessed are the pure in heart...freely extending mercy and living with a "yes" heart for God.
Blessed are the peacemakers...saying yes to God and bringing His peace everywhere they go.
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness...so certain in His peace that even when they face hardships, they trust and confidently walk with God no matter what."
I am mostly posting Lysa's words in these two chapters. For me, she said it all, and I don't know what to add. Just such good stuff and I'm learning. Slow, but learning! :)

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Pictures from yesterday

Hannah had so much fun playing outside. She loved blowing bubbles and it was a perfect day for them.

I LOVE this picture. She had caught one of the bubbles on her wand....and she was so surprised.

She loves her baby sister!

And here she is in the tree. She wanted to climb in it, dress and all. Once she was in the tree she was so proud of herself, since last time she was a bit scared of it, she wanted to stay in the tree till her mom came to pick her up. Well , she was in the tree at about 5pm and mom came at 11pm. Ya, she didn't make it. I think she lasted about 5 minutes. :)

A new Song

I added a new song to my playlist today. It's Empty Me by Chris Sligh. Chris was a contestant on American Idol and although he wasn't a favorite of mine (sorry), he is very very good. I happened to hear this song yesterday on my Sirrus TV music. It's very fitting for me right now. He talks about Emptying ourselves of selfishness, vain ambition, and pride so we can be filled with Jesus. I love it! Just what I need. I hope you enjoy it too.

I'm really loving the daily verse today.....

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things.

Philippians 4:8

What a struggle I'm having to keep those good thoughts in my mind today. I'm consumed today by the yucky stuff in life. I want to follow this verse! It's just so hard....today.

What Happens When Women Walk in Faith Chapters 12 &13

Chapter 12 Learning to Lead
I had thought this book was written for me until chapter 12 when it says "God is calling you to live out His dream for you , and part of the dream is to lead." And I'm thinking....NOPE, not me, not a leader! I'm not good enough, I could be rejected, I will mess up!! But Lysa writes "God calls inadequate people so HE can work through them and HE can receive the glory that is only His. When you experience God working through you despite your human shortcomings, your confidences in Him and His abilities will grow more than ever before."
I have to say that honestly I have experienced God working in me to do what I in no way thought I could do....and I Believe in Him even more because of that. So can I be a leader? YES! I can....because of Him.
Here's a part in the chapter I love: Lysa writes, " The way to be a good leader is for your actions to be reflective of God reigning inside you. But to be a great leader is for your reactions to be reflective of God reigning inside you." Your REACTIONS are Key! I totally need to work on my reactions!

Chapter 13 Death Does No Mean Defeat

What a chapter! Lysa tells her story of meeting "Mr Right" and how she was sure he was the one and then he broke her heart. What a disappointment. A death in her life. But God did have a bigger plan and blessed her even more than she ever thought could come from this story.
It makes me think of my own daughter Amy and how she met "Mr. Right" only to have her heart broken. I know God has a bigger plan for her too....we're just waiting to see what that plan is. God is good and He is with the brokenhearted. He cares more than even I do as a Mom. That's alot!
It is interesting to see God work things out when there has been disappointment. I love that God knows best and He blesses in ways we weren't even thinking of.
Lysa writes, " I could not see that what I though was an ending was only the beginning."

She shared this awesome verse:
"Now unto Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, foreve and ever. Amen." Ephesians 3:20-21

Do you believe in YOU?

I've always heard "believe in yourself",however, I've never really felt that one should do that, since it is God whom we should believe in. That was until yesterday. We had a Video for our Sermon and it really taught me something. The story was of Peter when he was walking on the water to Jesus. We all know that he started falling into the water because he took his eyes off Jesus. But WHY did he take his eyes off Jesus? Well, it is because he lost the confidence and belief in himself. Jesus could have him walk on water till forever, but Peter didn't think HE could do it and therefore looked away from Jesus. This tells me that I can believe in God to do great things in my life (cause I know He can) but if I don't believe that I can do it, (because of HIM of course) I will never do what God has planned for me. God created us to BE instruments for Him. Are we? Do we really think we can? I mean we're talking ordinary and simple people here (me).
We have to have enough confidence in ourselves to believe that God IS who He says He is and that He WILL take care of us. If we can believe WE CAN do it because of Him, then He can use us to do the extraordinary things He has planned for us. It's up to us, people! It's always our choice. The possibilities are endless....His ways are perfect.
God believes in us ~ we need to believe in us too.

Surprise!

I finally got enough courage to change my blog template. I'm not very good at change and I also didn't want to permanently delete all the info and stuff I've put into my blog. But I did it! I do have a few things that I'm still trying to figure out how to add, but overall it's going well. I want to change the color of my blog title, but for some reason, I can't, at least not yet. I must give credit to the designer of this blog template. It comes from http://www.simplyfabulousbloggertemplates.com/
I LOVE her templates! Her name is Lena Toews and she also does custom designed blogs if you are interested. I just happen to find her by going from blog to blog as I usually do! Anyway, I'm kinda excited about this change. :)

Oh and here's a picture of the Birthday Girl from last night.....

HAPPY 4TH BIRTHDAY Hannah Bean!

What Happens When Women Walk In Faith
Chapter 10 Roadblocks and Reassurances

Oh what an interesting chapter! Lysa talks about a neighbor that is really making her testimony shake a bit. The neighbor isn't friendly at all. The neighbor seems unworkable. The neighbor seems to not care one bit about Lysa at all. The neigbor is really making Lysa's life miserable. There is no understanding, no working things out. What does one do with people in our lives like this. We all have them. We want to tell them off! And really where does that get us?
God had Lysa give her "difficult" neighbor a glass of water because the neighbor was probably hot and thirsty putting up the fence by Lysa's house. Whoa...I'm not excited about doing something for someone who I have trouble with!
We want the difficult people in our lives to change, but really the change comes in us and Lysa shared that experience.
There will always be "difficult people and situations in our lives and it is through those times that God works to change us and make us grow! The thing is we HAVE to stay connect to God, we have to serve Him with our whole heart, otherwise we will certainly fall. It's good to know that God does go with us through these times. He will carry us through.
I like what Lysa wrote about her neighbor: "She did not deserve any acts of kindness from me. And then God broke through my selfishness and pointed out that if His judgment was based on what we deserved, I would surely never see heaven."


Chapter 11 God Will Make a Way
Lysa talks about Choosing to serve God. "Our feelings do not have to dictate our choices." I need to read that quote over and over again! My feelings do not have to dictate my choices.
I might not FEEL like being nice, but I can CHOOSE to be nice because I serve a God who CHOOSES to love me, even though I am unlovable at times.
Lysa writes, " But if we make the choice to rejoice and keep looking up, when we hit the inevitable mud puddle, our shoes might be a little dirty, but it will not affect the way we see life."
This CHOICE must be made deep in our heart so that it's a real and not just following the rules.

Busyness....

Lots of things today.
First of all, last night as I was trying to go to sleep I kept thinking about Amy's situation. She got the apartment which is about 1 mile from the school she wanted to get into. However, school is not going to work for her right now. Before she can get in, she has to take care of some old loans. I wondered, Why would God let her get an apartment so close to the school that she will be driving by everyday, and not get to go to that school? As I thought I realized that maybe God wants Amy to get a bit more on her feet financially and THEN He will let her go to school. By GETTING to drive by the school each day...she will be reminded of her responsibilities and will work even harder to pursue the dream in her heart! God is good, even if things don't always work out they way we plan and when we want them too. It's continual trust I tell ya!!

And here's a couple pictures of that ugly bathroom:
Now keep in mind, the "beige" isn't showing up as yellow on these pictures as it really truly is. Imagine a pee(sorry) colored yellow. Also, the different blues you see on the trim, well, some of it is 3 coats, some 2 and some just primer. Once I realized how bad it looked I quit painting on it. Another thing, under the brown was a textured handpainted flowery thing and I didn't get that all sanded off good enough and it does show through.


And for some fun:
Pictures from yesterday of the girls.
Sierra does not like to share!
Sierra in the playground bubble....

Hannah all tired out......

My daughter is moving to a Different State!

Well ok...it's just MN and it's just Moorhead which is of course just over the ND border. It's kinda wierd though. But I will say this...I believe that God is leading her to that place. It is not an apartment that she would have otherwise found. Seriously, it hadn't even been listed as vacant yet. Amy's co-worker told her about it, and now she has a new place to live. So packing and moving again. It's funny, I told Amy that it takes her about 6 months to get everything in place, pictures hung, etc everytime she moves. And then she moves 6 months later. Fun!

I had the girls today and I got some fun pictures I will try to post tomorrow. Also will try to get some ugly bathroom pictures posted too. :(

What Happens When Women Walk in Faith

Chapter 8 Refusing to get bogged down in Bitterness

Wow..what a chapter! The chapter starts with the story of Joseph. What an amazing example for us! How in the world did he get through what he did? He certainly could have become a bitter person. Who of us wouldn't be...really. But, he made the CONSTANT decision to honor God. Also, we are to think about the brothers. What were they thinking? They LET bitterness take over in their lives and look what happened. I can choose Bitterness or to Honor God. It's really up to me. I see in this story where each leads. Oh goodness, I hope I always can make the right decision.

Chapter 9 A most Unlikely Path
Follow God...regardless!
"God know the best routes for us. He sees dangers and temptations that we don't see along the way. Sometimes we get frustrated with God when He takes us through places we hadn't planned on going. His route sometimes appears to be out of the way, inconvenient, tiresome, and confusing. But we must recognize His voice, listen carefully, and do exactly as He instructs."
Sometimes we even need to ask God to help us want to obey. It's difficult when we have plans and He seems to take us down a different path then what we had in mind. As I posted earlier about Amy...God seems to be leading her in a different path.
I struggle sometimes with trying to figure out God and what the purpose is for some of the junk in my life. I guess I just need to keep trusting and going the path He leads.

I'm back

I haven't posted in a while. Been kinda busy I guess. Update on the bathroom......Total YUCK! Seriously. I painted the bottom chocolate brown and the upper half a leftover yellow that was supposed to be beige and then a dark teal border in between the two colors. What was I thinking?? I hate it, and plan to start over by first re-doing the yellow/beige. Then I will get rid of the teal. I didn't even actually finish the teal because I did not like it at all. Last weekend I took all of the blue towels and shower curtain back. I will not be getting anything until I know what I want!


I spent another weekend in Fargo. Amy was looking at an apartment and I wanted to see it, but we could not get a hold of the guy to let us see it, so that was a bummer. We did alot of talking, trying to figure things out. It's interesting how God works. Amy has some ideas of where she wants her life to go. She has a dream. But it seems in the past couple days that Amy's dream is not God's dream for her at this time. It's hard to understand why her dream can't be His dream too! Guess he knows best and we have to trust Him on it. I keep going back to the study book I'm in. I re-read bits and pieces from other people's study and I realize it is just up to God and I have to trust Him with her life. From the study: " God knows the best routes for us. He sees dangers and temptations that we don't see along the way. Sometimes we get frustrated with God when He takes us through places we hadn't planned on going. His route sometimes apperars to be out of the way , inconvenient, tiresome, and confusing. But we must recognize His voice, listen carefully, and do exactly at He instructes." What Happens When Women Walk in Faith