1 Chronicles 16:8-9 Give thanks to the LORD, call on his name; make known among the nations what he has done. Sing to him, sing praise to him; tell of all his wonderful acts.

I just want to praise my Lord. I want to praise Him for life, for health, for His grace. I want to thank Him for joy, for sorrow, for times when I feel close to others and even for times of loneliness that let me recognize how much I want to be with others.

I'm so grateful to my Jesus for singing birds, laughing children, smiling babies and my grandmother's blue eyes. I praise Him for every person He's brought into my life and for His reasons for bringing them there. I thank my God for my laughter, tears, joys, and sorrow. I adore my Father for knowing me inside and out yet still loving me and wanting what's best for me.

I appreciate when God allows me to triumph and to feel pride in accomplishments He helps me to succeed in and I also thank Him for the times when He has to discipline me so that I can learn some needed lesson. I adore my Lord for never leaving or forsaking me, for ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS being there and NEVER, NEVER, NEVER giving up on me even when I'm ready to give up on myself.

God is good, ALL THE TIME!!!

Psalm 136:3-9 Give thanks to the Lord of lords: His love endures forever. to him who alone does great wonders, His love endures forever. who by his understanding made the heavens, His love endures forever. who spread out the earth upon the waters, His love endures forever. who made the great lights His love endures forever. the sun to govern the day, His love endures forever. the moon and stars to govern the night; His love endures forever.

Exodus 20:3 You shall have no other gods before me.

I LOVE both American Idol and So You Think You Can Dance. If you'd asked me before I would have said I would never be into reality TV but put some talent into it and I'm there! I had this little thought come to my head the other day.







He's also my-


and my

Raining Tears

Psalms 72:6 He shall come down like rain upon the mown grass: as showers that water the earth.

We've had an incredible amount of rain over the past few weeks. So much in fact that lots of basements have become flooded and many of them destroyed. I've always felt that during the weekend leading up to Easter there should be rain. It just feels right to have the gray skies and dark clouds turn to sunshiny days as we celebrate the King of Kings arising from the grave.

This may sound silly but as a child I often heard that rain is God's tears. Not a bad analogy, huh? John 11:35 is the shortest verse in the Bible but it may also be the heaviest. Jesus wept. That's all it says, Jesus wept. In this situation it is referring to when He wept over Lazarus but I'm sure there have been many, many other times that He's wept. Just think of our behavior on a daily basis. Our children can cause us to weep, we can cause our parents to weep and God has had billions of children, there has had to have been a TON of weeping.

He also cries because He loves us so much and wants the very best for us. He cries when we are hurt. He cries when we hurt ourselves, when we hurt someone else, when we chose not to follow Him. For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize... Hebrew 4:15 God loves us enough that our pains, worries, and hurts, hurt Him too!

Thank you Lord that I can bring ANYTHING to You and that You love me enough to always care and want what is best for me.


Psalm 55:22 Cast your cares on the Lord and He will sustain you; He will never let you fall.

But I Don't Want To!!!

What is sin?
- a behavior or action against God
- "missing the mark"

What does sin lead to?
- separation from God
- death


I struggle with a WHOLE bunch of sins. I don't need to get into them but I can just say that the list would take a while to print. From anger(unrestrained) to a love of chocolate cake(gluttony) to everything in between, I struggle with sin. We all do.

Romans 3:23
For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

And unfortunately those sins have-

Isaiah 59:2
...separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear.

I am a former smoker. I smoked for 18 years(half my life at that time) and I LOVED smoking. I KNEW God wanted me to quit. I had tried a couple of times but been unsuccessful. But then God set up a whole bunch of circumstances that just made it a perfect time to quit. THEN by the grace of God, I FINALLY did. It's been a year and 3 months and the funny thing is that I still crave a cigarette from time to time but when I do I stop, pray, remember how hard it was to quit, and that God does NOT want me to start again!

Sooo... now that the sin of smoking is gone, life should be easier... right? NOOO, that's not how God works. In our STRUGGLE for holiness, our journey toward becoming more like Christ, God will show us OTHER sins that we need to work on and KICK out. We need to pray regularly that He show us the sins that keep us down, that don't allow the Father to be near us.

As David prayed, we should too-

Psalm 139:23-24
Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

The good thing is that God has given us the Holy Spirit. I think the Holy Spirit is a little bit like Jiminy Cricket in Pinocchio. (This may seem sacrilegious , but that is NOT my intent. Hear me out.) Jiminy was Pinocchio's conscience. He told him right from wrong, tried to help him make the right decisions. God has given us the Holy Spirit to help guide us, to help us to make the 'right' decisions. The Holy Spirit is much better than Jiminy because He is inside us, has put a HATE of sin inside of us(that thing that makes us fight ourselves when we KNOW what we're about to do is wrong), and of course He is God!

Romans 8:6
The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace

Help me Lord in my struggle in becoming more like you. Show me my sins and help me Lord to work at giving them up. Remind me to count on you and your gift of the Holy Spirit to get through times when I want to do these actions that displease you.

Faith what is it? Faith is confidence, belief, allegiance, sincerity, loyalty, complete trust. Faith is a funny thing. You don't have to be a Christian to have faith. You can have faith in your parents, spouse, children, job, community, president, or country. The thing is though, all of those people make mistakes. Some lie, cheat, abuse you or their authority over you, or even just make very human forgivable mistakes that still hurt. Jobs may be lost because of a poor economy and countries can fall because of bad leadership, weather conditions, or a lack of funding.

God is the ONLY one we can have utter and perfect faith in. He is the only one who has always, and will always place our lives and needs first. When the enemy steps in and tries to step ON us, He is the one whose arms lovingly pull us back to save us. SOOO, why is it that we show more love and devotion to everyone but the Lord? Why do we spend more time with or worrying about other people in our lives than speaking to and hearing from Him?

After years of being sick I've discovered some odd things. When I am feeling horrible I turn straight away to my God. When things are going REALLY well I go first to Him with praise. But when I'm stuck right in the middle the 'normal' moments of life, I try to rely more on myself???!!!???

Lord, You alone are my strength when I am weak. I put my trust and my faith in You Father and I ask you to heal the people of this world, to help us to rely on you, to show you the honor and glory that you are due in ALL times. Father, help us to put you first, to know your arms of love. I love You Lord.

You're All I Need

Lord, thank you for for creating me, giving me life, for loving me enough that You chose me to be Your child.
Thank You Father that with You I can fly, with You I can can do ANYTHING You call me to do!
Thank You Father that you NEVER leave us, that we can ALWAYS count on You!
Praise You for accepting me 'warts and all' even when we disappoint You.

God Is Good (Don Moen)

Chorus:
God is good all the time
He put a song of praise in this heart of mine
God is good all the time
Through the darkest night, His light will shine
God is good, God is good all the time

If you're walking through the valley
And there are shadows all around
Do not fear, He will guide you
He will keep you safe and sound
'Cause He's promised to never leave you
Nor forsake you and His Word is true

Chorus

We were sinners - so unworthy
Still for us He chose to die
Filled us with His Holy Spirit
Now we can stand and testify
That His love is everlasting
And His mercies - they will never end

Chorus

http://www.playlist.com/searchbeta/tracks#%20God%20Is%20Good%20%20Don%20Moen

"A man’s heart plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps." (Proverbs 16:9)

I was looking back in my journal. Sometimes I just write verses or phrases in there. Sometimes I write words I feel God giving me. Sometimes I write out full prayers to my Heavenly Father. I see my journal as a place to speak everything I won't say out loud and a place to talk to God.
Well, as anyone who knows me knows, I would love to be married and have a house full of children. But alas this is not to be at the moment. Now let me just say, God HAS promised me a husband AND that I would raise some children(not necessarily born of my flesh.) Though I occasionally 'remind' Him of this promise and ask Him to be preparing both me and whoever this future husband may be, I'm OK with God as my 'better half' and I KNOW that He really is ALL that I NEED.

" The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord ..." "Psalm 37:23)

However, this is the short prayer I found in my journal today-


Lord, please bring me a job. I crave more of this life. Please Lord bring it on. Right now let me live as You desire, 'but please bring more.' Now, if that verse had been said in a nice even tone, it would have been fine. But I KNOW my heart and as I got to the end of the prayer I was REALLY emphasizing 'but please bring more' as if I was trying to make God's will over into what I WANT.
Why oh why do we try to CONFORM God's will to our desire instead of making our desire His will? Father, PLEASE change my heart. I now desire to desire your will but please help me to not only follow your will and plan for my life but to covet that will as my own.

You turn things upside down,
as if the potter were thought to be like the clay!
Shall what is formed say to him who formed it,
"He did not make me"?
Can the pot say of the potter,
"He knows nothing"?

(Isaiah 29:16)