let freedom ring...

1 John 1:9
"If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness."

Forgiveness provides freshness and beauty in our lives. I know how it feels to live a life in bondage. For years after making poor choices, I felt that God had frogiven me for those wrongs, however God's fullness of peace had yet to encompass me...I hadn't been able to forgive myself!

As a woman, I believe that this is the most difficult step in forgiveness...it's the 2nd part of 1 John 1:9...it's mush easier for us to..."confess our sins and receive forgiveness from he who is faithful and just" However, when do we truly receive the purification from all unrighteousness??? When does that FREEDOM set in??? I belive it's when we allow the Holy Spirit to move within our hearts...when we stop believing Satan's lies. When we truly forgive ourselves, that's when the peace sets in and frees us from our dark past.

It's an amazing difference #1) accepting God's forgiveness and #2) letting ourselves off the hook. Deep down, I think it has more to do w/ our self-image/worth. We almost feel so bad about ourselves, we pretend that what we did was forgiven by God, but we never accept the sweet freedom God has for us in His forgiveness if we don't also forgive ourselves. We feel like what we've done is unforgiveable and dark and wicked...these feelings are NOT from God!!! It is Satan deceiving us and trying to gain a foothold on our lives. If we truly believe in Jesus and he lives in our hearts, then we need to accept the truth in our minds and soon our hearts will follow!

Speak truth and Speak it LOUD!
Sweet Freedom is an AMAZING gift from God and He wants us ALL to experience it...it brings Him glory to see us live in PEACE!!! :)
Thank you Father for the cross where your gift of forgiveness was born! :)

real love never fails...

WOW...my morning devo hit me in the heart! It was AMAZING! (on so many different levels...truly amazing and spoke HUGE to my heart this morning!) it was about true love and commitment and that they are both choices that we make on a daily basis.

After a long, hard look at some struggles Greg and I were having a couple weeks back w/ each other (mostly communication stuff) and some feelings towards our church...this devotional hit home for me. I totally understand the fact that our love for people and places and things should not collapse in hard times. True love and commitment is strong and unconditional!

The piece by Mary Southerland, points out that commitment is foreign in today's culture. We want everything to be easy, painfree, happy, and convenient! (That's total BS!) ...just like the myth of Christianity...it's supposed to be a "happy" life...no struggles, no worries...yeah right! :)

Our Love and Commitment to things and people is what makes us stronger! It's easy to just walk away from difficult situations and relationships. Commitment never stops trying! True love looks past the "current circumstances" and locks its gaze in on the "PROMISE"

(read jeremiah 29:11-12)

God promises that he knows what's best for us...he has plans to prosper us and not harm us...we need to trust in Him and put Him first...He never walked away from us, and I know taht I'm not that easy to love...hands down!

1 Corinthains 13:8 - "real love never fails"

Today, I thank God for saving my life and for His faithfulness to me. Today, I thank my husband, Greg for not bailing on me when I'm tough to love (which is a lot of the time). Today, I thank my friends and family for not leaving me when the going gets tough and I'm in a negative mood. I am thankful to be surrounded by people who love me and are committed to me! I am truly blessed!

Father, help me to make real love and commitment a heart habit! I want to be strong in my faith to You and to others...thank you for your perfect example of love! :O)

smiling friends vs.barking dogs

thinking today about what amazing friends i have...i'm so blessed!
friends that smile & speak words of encouragement to me rather than harsh words and barking...my friends are beautiful examples to me!

my hope today is to be a better friend, wife, mom, and person...speaking words that build people up rather than tear them down. my hope is to be a person that brings light as i enter a room and not a dark cloud...i want to spread joy and peace and happy days to those i encounter...i want to be conscious of my words and even my thoughts...that they are ALWAYS positive & encouraging! (i know that sometimes harsh words are needed, but let them be honest words spoken out of love, not judgement!)


this is my prayer for today...

ephesians 4:29 says:
do not let any unwholesome talk come from my mouth, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen .

fulfilled promises...

thank You for Your promises today, tomorrow, & always...
i'm dreaming hard right now...today, i choose to lay my dreams at Your feet and ask that what is of You will stand and what is not will fall away!!! i will choose to praise no matter the outcome and i will choose to give You the glory!

my dream of finishing school seems so 'normal', not really sure why it is something i have to lay at His feet, but i am willing if He promises to make my paths straight...that's all i want...confirmation that what i am doing is of His will in this season of my life.

Your word tells us of Your promises...plans to prosper us and not harm us, plans to give us hope and a future (jeremiah 29:11)...i await hearing Your promises for my future...

thank You for Your promises, for Your truth, and for Your love!

music city usa, here we come...

so, it's offical...we're off to music city usa for a girls weekend, november 8-11th...i can't wait! we're staying in the penthouse suit of the marriott in nashville and will be visiting the opryland hotel, riverboat cruise, and i'm sure many shopping malls!!! after the LONGEST week of my life...i'm ready for a mini-vaca w/ my girls! :) and thank goodness greg is on board...he's my hero! :) stay tuned for more stories and i'm sure i'll post about all the fun when we return...but until then...it's back to life as mom, etc!

ok, let me reword that since blogspot won't let me edit or erase my previous post...am i being selfish???

well, today is the day that the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it! i am glad that God has given me another day. however, today i'm not feeling much like rejoicing...and just yesterday i was feeling grand! (what a rollercoaster ride) today, i am wondering why? what on earth am i supposed to be doing? yes, i know i'm a mom...yes, i know i'm a wife...yes, i know i have too many responsibilities at church...yes, i know i am a friend and daughter and sister in Christ to many, yes, i know i am currently a part-time college student...but what does He REALLY want of me? i'm doing my best, but for what? for a day of questioning? i'm sick of questioning...i want answers and i want them now!!!

i want my degree more than anything else right now. i'm succeeding in school, doing better than i have since high school. i'm excited about it BIG time...but am i the only one? am i being selfish for wanting this? i really don't think so, but apparantly that's the consensus around here and i'm pretty much ticked off...

so there, i'm having a bad day and i know the good Lord will get me through, but my prayer is that He will speak to me in the midst of my pissiness (excuse the expression) happy day to you, i hope you are being encouraged today...because i am NOT!

am i full of self-pity or am i just rightfully pissed-off!?

got poop?

ok, i know this pic is a bit old, but it's the only one i found appropriate for the following blog! ;)

so, our daugther, julia leigh, has been not-so-honest w/ us lately about going potty. she has been hiding the fact that she has not gone #2 in at least 1-2 weeks, possibly longer! we found out by process of elimination...believe me, you don't want me to go there...it was a pretty gross laundry day for me! ;( anywho, we took her to the doctors 1st thing wednesday morning after we were concerned w/ more than just potty problems. julia had not eaten for 24 hours straight and was vomiting any liquid she tried drinking. the dr. appt. took over 2hrs. it was interrupted every 2-3 minutes w/ the urge to push and then....nothing! the resident doc was having trouble w/ the smell and tried to do an exam and next i knew, he spit up in a kleenex and then called the official doctor in for the exam. (i was so embarassed, but seriously, is that guy ever going to cut it in the medical profession!? he must not have children either!?) so LONG story short...we began giving julia oral laxatives (no poo), then 3 suppositories (no poo), then an enema...yuck...still no poo...

so this morning i was doing my 'girlfriends in God' devotional and it talked about how we aren't perfect and even though we try to be supermom, we can't make the grade, even w/ God on our side. perfection will not come until we stand face to face w/ Jesus someday! this was what i needed a lil bit of encouragement...an honest woman's point of view who has been wife, mom, etc. who has accidentally place dher mug of coffee in the freezer thinking it was the microwave or forgot to include her son's underwear in the laundry and left him wearing the same pair 2 days straight...WOW, the whole supermom theory out the window! that is what i needed, real people being really honest!!! this week has been tough...sick julia ALL week, constant potty breaks to no avail, psych exam monday followed by lecture til 10pm, cancelled advisor appt, bio lab tuesday night til 10pm, insertion of suppository #1, nathan's conferences and football wednesday, insertion of suppository #2, micah's speech session thursday, insertion of suppository #3 , bio lecture test thursday night followed by lecture, enema, micah's audiology test at MSU, reading my morning devotional at girlfriends in God (crosswalk.com), praying and handing everything including julia's potty problems over to God for good!...and then guess what!?

she pooped! praise God on heaven and earth!!! thank you Jesus! literally, thank God it's Friday! thank you for your strength and patience this week, thank you for relief, thank you for tonight! greg and i are headed to dinner and a movie w/ rich & jen. thanks to lindsey, our backup babysitter, on-call, ready and willing! i love my friends and i love my Jesus!!! and even though it's frustrating at times to abandon control, i thank God for reminding me that He will always make our paths straight when we trust in Him!

Proverbs 3:5-6

check out the devo at: http://www.crosswalk.com/devotionals/girlfriends/

(check October 5th's edition: "Mother of the Year")

enjoy!