Joy

Joy comes in the morning if you look to God and not to yourself or others!

The Steadfast Mind

"The way to walk through demanding days is to grip my hand tightly and stay in close communication with Me." ~ Sarah Young from Jesus Calling

"Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance." ~ James 1:2-3

"I can do all things through Him who strengthens me." ~ Philippians 4:13

"The steadfast of mind Thou wilt keep in perfect peace, Because he trusts in Thee." ~ Isaiah 26:3

Be encouraged today that no matter what you are going through, God is with you!

What if We Knew

What if we knew a trial or difficult time was coming? Would we prepare for it? I think oftentimes we proceed with life as if life will be great and easy and then something happens and we feel we simply aren’t strong enough to handle it. We know God won’t give us more than we can handle, but sometimes it feels like He does. Is there a way to prepare for tough times, and to feel stronger through them when they come? I believe there is. It’s not really a brilliant thought, but I think we as Christians often forget. We almost always turn to God when tough times come, and our relationship with Him starts to get stronger because we are spending more time with Him. We feel weak, so we know we need God. But what if during the easier times we were preparing our hearts for the tough times? If a famine or war was coming and we knew it, we would be gathering food and weapons. In the same way if we knew a difficult time was coming in our personal or Spiritual life wouldn’t we prepare for it? I’d like to say of myself of course that I would, but in reality do I? The truth of the matter is we know the Lord says we will have trouble in this life. We know the Christian walk is not always easy and we will go through trials and temptations. I’m not sure I can say I always am prepared though. You may say, how can you really prepare? I mean you can’t know when the rough times will come. Don’t difficult times usually come by surprise? How can you always know when you’ll lose your job, a loved one will die, a friendship will end, or a disaster comes and takes away your home? Well, I think the best way to prepare is basically to always be prepared. That sounds ridiculous, right? Too hard and wouldn’t you just always be worried and thinking about when the bad will come? What I’m talking about is more a matter of where your heart is. I mean what if we were always close to God and didn’t just turn to Him in the hard times. What if we didn’t ignore Him during the easy times? Let’s get to work putting God first in our lives at all times in the good times and the bad times. I know if we do this we will be better prepared for the difficult times. It doesn’t mean they will be easy, but at least we won’t be at a place of reacquainting ourselves with God again. I think we really need to ask ourselves where God ranks in our lives. What’s most important to us? What do we spend the most time doing in our free time? How much do we value praying, reading His Word, serving others, seeking His will for our lives? I know for myself it’s not enough. So often other things distract me too much, such as, movies, books, shopping, frivolous thinking, fun entertainment, or even friendships. It’s not that all of these things aren’t good sometimes, but are any of these things distracting me from God and all He has for me? This should be something you ask yourself frequently. It is so easy in this life to get too busy for God. Our world is so me/fun centered that we really so often put God second. If God was really first and we were learning from Him every day, I know we would be stronger through the hard times because we would have less of the world’s attitude and more of God’s attitude. I am so much happier when I focus more on God and less on entertainment. Why do I ever forget this? Even during the good times when God is first in my life, life is even better. The simple truth is that God brings joy to your life when You love Him with all your heart, soul, and strength. Why do we ever forget this? I don’t want to just get close to God so the tough times are easier, but so that all life is lived for God. Living for God is a pure joy. Why do we forget this?! Go live DAILY for God! You will never regret it!

Spring and such!

I love the beginning of spring! It is a time for spring cleaning and organization, beautiful flowers and trees, and new beginnings! Currently I am helping my mom de clutter the house and I love organizing and throwing out things we don’t need. Also helping my mom organize her writing and set up facebook accounts and hopefully set her up with a blog. Her dream has always been to be published and I would love to see that dream become reality. I am in between school and work at the moment, and trying to enjoy the break. I have already been sick three times since school ended though (even now I have a cold), so it has been difficult to get all the things done I wanted and also try to enjoy some relaxation. I also have had a lot of migraines, so between those and colds it has been a different year than I expected. I am continually trying to remind myself that God works all things together for His good. I am not a patient person by nature, so these delays in moving to the next step in my life has been frustrating at times. I think it has been good for me though. When you are at your weakest, sometimes you rely on God’s strength and wisdom more. I am praying about whether to continue school and/or get a full or part time job. So many decisions and I still don’t have clear direction. Still haven’t even celebrated my college program that I completed in December. Looking forward to that! Love parties and celebrations!

The same, yesterday and today, yes and forever.

"You can feel secure, even in the midst of cataclysmic changes, through awareness of My continual Presence."
~Jesus Calling by Sarah Young

"Jesus Christ is the same, yesterday and today, yes and forever."
(Hebrews 13:8)

May you all remember that God never changes even when your circumstances do.

Pure and Discerning

"Even a child makes himself known by his acts, by whether his conduct is pure and upright."
~Proverbs 20:11

This morning I read a great devotional on being pure and discerning. It was so good! I want to include a few excerpts here.

"Only God knows what's really in our hearts, but we get clues about what's in there, and those clues are revealed in our behavior. Proverbs 20:11 offers us a purity barometer, a test we can apply to help us grow in godliness and protect ourselves in it....A pure heart grows from a willingness to take a good, hard look at our actions and then humbly allow what we see to teach us about ourselves...As soon as we recognize it, the first thing is to take it straight to the cross."

~Lydia Brownboack from Purity: A Godly Woman's Adornment

What a great reminder this is to me to constantly be examining my heart and taking any impure things I see to the Lord. My actions speak louder than words, so Lord help me to be on the lookout for any negative actions that would reveal where my heart is at. Help me to be pure in Your sight.

Happy St Patrick's Day

Here are a few pics from our St Patrick's Party today!

Oregon Christian Writer's Winter Conference

I had such an awesome day yesterday at the Oregon Christian Writer's Conference in Salem, OR yesterday! Davis Bunn was the keynote speaker and he was awesome! What wisdom he has and I learned some amazing writing tips. I am so grateful that I decided to go! What a blessing! Got some new books too! So excited!

St Patrick's Party Planning

My sister and I had fun this week at Starbuck's party planning for our upcoming Saint Patrick's Day party on Sunday. It's gonna be such an awesome weekend!

Average or Extraordinary

Do you ever stop to think about your life and wonder if you are doing something beyond the ordinary—something beyond just barely getting by. So often life is so full of working to earn a living, doing chores, schoolwork, taking care of your children, working out, and eating healthy; but you don’t even have time to ask yourself whether you are living just the average life. Lately, I’ve been thinking that I want to live beyond the average or ordinary, even shall I say, extraordinary. To think that I could live an extraordinary life almost sounds prideful, but let me explain what I mean. I so often feel that all I am doing in this life is for me. I go to school because I want a better job, I clean my house because I want to live in a clean and orderly manner, and I take care of my family because I love them. All of that is all well and good, but my desire, especially recently, is to do something beyond that--to help others that don’t give back to me, people that aren’t just my family and friends. I want to make a difference in people’s lives. I want to live like Jesus did. It’s not that I don’t feel like I am doing something with my life right now. I feel that I am a good friend, daughter, and sister, and I am even doing some volunteer work. It’s just that I feel God has something more for me. I feel I need to stretch myself and really pray about God’s will for my life.

I am at a crossroads in my life at the moment and I feel that the road I take could really make a difference in whether I live an average, or extraordinary life. Have you ever felt this way? This is not entirely a new thing for me. I’ve felt this way before and done something about it, and now I am in this place again where I have to go beyond myself once again. At times like this it is easy for me to stress out and want quick answers, but answers don’t always come instantly. I have found this out many times. I have to be patient and trust that God will show me why I am feeling this way, and what exactly I should do about it. I know the answers will come. They always have before. God is an awesome director of your life if you will let Him take control. Relying on His timing and direction for your life is always the best thing anyone could do. So if you too are at a crossroads in your life, ask God about it. He WILL show you.