Made it

Quick update here.

My niece, Ainsley Grace is...

A-D-O-R-A-B-L-E

Seriously, she's amazingly cute.  She came right to me last night.  

My dad...  

Has no facial hair!  Freaked me out a bit.  I walk into the house and I said, "Uh, what happened?" He just laughed and I proceeded to ask why no one told me he'd shaved?  Seriously was a little disturbing for me.  I've never seen his top lip before.  For the anniversary last week they went to an Eagle's concert.  Which is a group they went to a concert and saw before they were even married.  Daddy said he was clean shavin' then so he thought he'd go back to that for the day.  Romantic remembrance for them but a little disturbing for his 26 year old daughter.  He is growing it back out so it's got stubble.  

Of course round 1 of mexican food was great last night.  I think I'm going to have some for breakfast today!  :)  

Lone Start State here I come!

Tomorrow afternoon I'll be heading to the great state of Texas to celebrate some Thanksgiving.  To spend some time with my family.  To babysit my niece all next week and I'm sure my nephew will hang out with us too.  

In the spirit of thanksgiving and in light of going to our local crisis center today...  I sit here tonight just marveling at how blessed I am.  I whine and I fuss and I gripe with the best of them.  However, I really am blessed beyond reason.  I have a job that I love.  God's provided a network of people here in Tennessee to help take care of me.  I have a wonderful family in Texas.  I can hear my mom's voice right now ringing in my ears, "We're just glad to have you home anytime you can come.  Just book a ticket and we'll be there to pick you up."  And she means it.  They will drop anything to come get me and will do anything to provide a way for me to get home.  

There are so many in this world who have nothing.  Why did I get to be a lucky one with blessings in abundance?  I don't know...  But I truly am.  

Can't help but think of that good ole song...  Count your many blessings, name them one by one!  

If you're in or near Texas I'll be there from Tuesday until Friday, Dec 5.  Give me a ring.  Or swing by Mom and Dad's place for a visit.  

Here's my story!

Love it!

30 years today!

Thirty years ago to this day my life began.  Well, not exactly because I'm only 26.  However, thirty years ago to this day my parents celebrated exchanging wedding vows!  :)  I have a picture of my mom as a bride but haven't had time to put it online yet.  I'll try to get to that this afternoon.  She's beautiful!  

Anyways...  On this day I say thanks to my Mom and Daddy.  It wasn't until I got into college that I truly began to understand the blessings I had as a child.  The biggest part about my parents that I took for granted was that they were still married.  Most people I met had experienced divorce and by God's grace I didn't have to go through that.  I say thank for the way you raised us because as I grow I'm learning more and more that you did the absolute best you knew how to do.  What more could a kid ask for.  It wasn't always perfect but it was all that you could give.  Thank you for teaching us and training us the ways you did.  Thank you for fussing and fighting in front of us but never too much.  I can honestly say there has never been a time in my life where I didn't have full confidence that my mom totally believed in the man that my dad is and his abilities as a husband and a dad.  I can honestly say I've never doubted that my dad loved and adored my mom above all other women on this earth.  Granted they didn't like each other every moment of everyday but I always knew that the love was rooted deep within them.  Thanks for never giving up on each other.  The lessons you've taught go far deeper than you'll ever know.  

I love you both beyond words!  

Happy Anniversary! 

love always,

sis

It's Monday again! :)

Here's another favorite new song to start your Monday off on a good note!

Three basic needs we all have in our lives...

ACCEPTANCE

SECURITY

SIGNIFICANCE

Satan has so distorted our view as to where we are to find those things. Satan has convinced us that these things are found in temporal things such as people, positions, professions, performances and lots of other things that start with a P. Sorry for the slight Southern Baptist moment...

Here's the truth of the matter.

You are COMPLETELY accepted in Christ!

You are God's child...

"But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name..."  John 1:12

You are COMPLETELY secure in Christ!

You are free forever from condemnations...

"Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.  For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death."  Romans 8:1-2

You are COMPLETELY significant in Christ!

You are the salt and light of the earth...

"You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again?  It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men.  You are the light of the world.  A city on a hill cannot be hidden..."  Matthew 5:13-14

The tough part comes by trying to renew your mind to live by these truths from God's word and not the lies we have been programmed believe.  I have full confidence though based on Romans 12:1-2 that God desires for us to be reprogrammed thus He can and will provide the ability for our minds to be renewed!  

May you find truth today from His word...

Good morning

Here's a great way to start your day.  

Too much reading from yesterday for you to go through so there's some things you don't have to read.  

Follow that one up with this one!

Hope you have a great day today!

Two post in one day! Spirit, soul, body pt. 2

Yes, be amazed!

Let's go back to m y post several days ago about this whole spirit, soul and body thing.  There are 5 mine foundations to look at within the spirit (the part of you that relates to God).  

Salvation

Assurance 

Security

Acceptance

Total Commitment (Surrender)

With each of those let's look into God's word to see what He has to say on those topics.  

FOUNDATION  STONE #1

Salvation:  

"I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life."  John 5:24

Do you know you are a child of the King?  Have you become aware that your sin separates you from God?  Have you willfully submitted your life to God?  Have you believed in the fact that God sent His son Jesus to die for you?  

If you taken those steps then let's realize what you can firmly say without doubt "whoever hears my word and believes in him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life."  

You have eternal life...  

You will not be condemned...

You have crossed over from death to life!

That's some good stuff.  Our eternal life has just been handed to us.  Meaning after this breath of a life we live on earth is done...  You can know for sure where you'll be going!  You will no longer be condemned or blamed before the Lord. Jesus has taken on your sins.  You are no longer dead but have truly now come to life.  

FOUNDATION  STONE #2

Assurance:

"I give them eternal life and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand"

John 10:28

No matter how you feel.  No matter how unworthy you feel.  No matter how much you do or don't do.  NOTHING is going to snatch you out of the hands of your Father!  Which means nothing is going to change where you spend eternity.  Nothing is going to separate you from the God who has sent His Son to die for us and our sins.  Rest assured that though nothing is certain or constant in life.  Assurance in Christ can be and is completely available according to God's word!  So when you can find nothing else in life to be confident in, just return to this verse.  

FOUNDATION  STONE #3

Security:

"All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away.  For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me.  And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day."  John 6:37  -39

 There seems to be a little bit of a scarlet thread running through these foundations to me.  This one again leans upon something that is constant and unchanging.  We can be completely secure in our position in Christ.  Once we become one of His we will never be driven away from Him.  We will not be lost along the way but one day we WILL be raised up and taken into eternity!  These are facts not possibilities!  

FOUNDATION  STONE #4

Acceptance:

"To the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He has made us accepted in the Beloved."

Ephesians 1:6

Is it not pretty safe to say that acceptance is a must for all of us?  We strive to be accepted by all those around us whether you want to admit it or not.  At our core (which God designed) we all are desperately looking to be accepted.  In being accepted we feel we have purpose, we are loved, we are OK because there is someone who accepts us just as we are.  Is that not a huge desire at your center?  Well, it is mine.  Praise be to God though because whether we see or feel that acceptance on a day to day basis...  Feeling or no feeling YOU ARE ACCEPTED IN CHRIST!

That is truth.  That is a foundation to build your life on!

FOUNDATION  STONE #5

Total Commitment (Surrender)

"Therefore, I urge you, brothers in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God -- this is your spiritual act of worship.  Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.  Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is -- his good, pleasing and perfect will."  Romans 12:1-2

This is where the rubber meets the road.  Did God provide the other 4 foundational stones so that we could collect them all and put them in a pretty box so we have some cute decorations to look at?  I'm pretty sure no he did not!  I'm pretty sure He's given those other foundations to help us willingly walk into this last foundational stone.   What's great is that without fully accepting and experiencing the other 4 you will never accept or experience this 5th one.  And vise versa...  Without this one you will never fully appreciate the other 4.  

To offer our lives back into the hands of God and fully trust He will do what He wants and needs to through it is the beauty of God.  Reaching the point of offering our bodies as a living sacrifice is a tough point to reach, from an earthly perspective.  But your mind will never fully be transformed into the likeness of Christ until you reach that point of fully worshipping Christ with all that you are.  

The trick to this intense picture can be found in Galatians 2:20..

"I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.  The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself up for me."  

Wait a second!  Foundation stone #1 said we've crossed from death to life?  Yes...  We (our old man) has been put to death and the life we've now taken up is the life of Christ!  

Ok.  that's probably way more than anyone wants to read in a day.  Unless you really like this stuff like I do!  Way to go if you made it this far!