My Hopes for 2012:

I have always loved the fresh and new feeling a new year holds. The chance to start with a clean slate so to speak, to grow and change for the better. A chance to set new goals and reflect on the previous year. I think looking back and reviewing how God has increased our understanding of and love for Him and provided for us is so important as a follower of Jesus Christ. Remembering where we've come from and where God's brought us increases our faith and encourages our hearts. My goals for 2012 are simple. I like to keep things simple as it's less overwhelming. ;0)

My verses for 2012: "Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should." ~ Ephesians 6:19&20

My song for 2012: 'My Desire' by Jeremy Camp...

My hopes and goals for 2012:

1.) To be more aware of God's constant presence and blessings in my life and to fall more in love with Him. I want Him to blow the roof off of my limited understanding of who He is and to be in awe of Him every day and stop taking Him for granted. I want to be thinking and talking about Him and His Word more in my every day life.

2.) I want to be a better wife...to cook more, encourage more, be more patient, love better, and be less self-centered in our marriage.

3.) I want to be kinder to and take better care of this body God has given me....eat more veggies & fruit, eat less junk, exercise at least 3 days a week....take more brisk walks outside, etc. I'd also really like to run some 5K's this summer. :0)

4.) I want to be more purposeful with my time-management, spend less time on the computer and more time reading and writing notes of encouragement, etc.

5.) I want to be a better sister and a better friend, to invest more of myself in my friends and family.

Above all else I want to grow as a daughter of the the King of kings, to become more like Jesus as I continue to become the woman He wants me to be...I am very much looking forward with an expectant hope to all that God has in store for this new year!

5 minute Friday...as inspired by my friend, Alison:

I am copying this idea from my good friend, Alison whom I have had the privilege of knowing for the past 17 years. The prompt for today's post is the word grateful and I am to write for five minutes straight on that subject without editing or re-wording anything. For someone who is a perfectionist when it comes to blogging/writing, this is NO small feat. :0P I have a hard time communicating through the written word without re-reading everything I write over and over again, oftentimes ever AFTER I've hit the publish post button. I just like to make sure that I am comuunicating clearly and in the best way possible....from my heart. Ok now I have one minute to write about the actual prompt. LOL.....Grateful: I am grateful for my very favorite Thanksgiving memory/tradition that my family had practiced each year for a while now. We all sit down together at some point on Thanksgiving day and share things we are deeply thankful to God for. This year for the very first time, we also went around the circle with my 16 member family (and growing!) and shared something we appreciated and are thankful for about the person seated 2 seats over from us. I had my 14 year old baby brother Joel. There are a million things I love and appreciate about that kid, but the first thing out of my mouth was that I am thankful and look forward to getting a hug and kiss on the cheek from him every time I walk through my parent's door. How many 14 year old kids do you know who do that? I don't know ANY! #blessedfamily. :0)

Sowing Seed in the Midst of Tears...

"God will give us victory, but sometimes He will require every ounce of energy and cooperation we have in the process."

"Blessed, merciful God, Your Word promises that those who sow in tears will reap with songs of joy. If I go out weeping, carrying seed to sow, I will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with me. (Psalm 126:5-6) Help me to see that the promise is not made to those who simply have tears but to those who are willing to sow seed in the midst of their tears. Your Word tells us in Luke 8:11 that the seed is the Word. If I'm willing to keep believing and sowing Your Word, even when I am desperately hurting, You will bring me forth from the difficult season with songs of joy. Because of Your faithfulness, with joy I will draw water from the wells of salvation." (Isaiah 12:3) ~ Beth Moore in Praying God's Word Day By Day, October 18.

Thoughts on yesterday's sermon from my journal...

God is the one who gives us encouragement and endurance. (Romans 15:5.) There is no such thing as pulling ourselves up by our boot straps as Believers. If we really understand who we are as human beings and who God is as our life saver and only hope, we know we don't even have bootstraps!

"The giant step in the walk of faith is the one when we decide God is no longer part of our lives. He is our very life."


"...so I wouldn't get a big head, I was given the gift of a handicap to keep me in constant touch with my limitations. Satan's angel did his best to get me down; what he in fact did was push me to my knees. No danger then of walking around high and mighty! At first I didn't think of it as a gift, and begged God to remove it. Three times I did that, and then He told me, My grace is enough; it's all you need. My strength comes into its own in your weakness. Once I heard that, I was glad to let it happen. I quit focusing on the handicap and began appreciating the gift. It was a case of Christ's strength moving in on my weakness. Now I take limitations in stride, and with good cheer, these limitations that cut me down to size—abuse, accidents, opposition, bad breaks. I just let Christ take over! And so the weaker I get, the stronger I become."
~ II Corinthians 12:7-10 (The Message)

"Complete self-confidence is not merely a sin, complete self-confidence is a weakness."

"Self confidence should not even be a part of our vocabulary as Believers." "We put no confidence in the flesh."

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your path's straight." ~ Proverbs 3:5-6

" We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves. Each of us should please our neighbors for their good, to build them up. For even Christ did not please Himself but, as it is written: 'The insults of those who insult you have fallen on Me.' For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope.
May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had, so that with one mind and one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ... May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." ~Romans 15:1-5&13 (NIV)

"Our focus should be off of ourselves and on others."

"For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of His glorious riches He may strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
Now to 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, for ever and ever! Amen." ~Ephesians 3:14-21 (NIV)

Revelation 4

I know I post this song a lot....however, it never gets old for me. I know that this is going to be our anthem in heaven, and I am more than happy to practice this anthem here on earth! I love picturing what it will be like when all of us who have trusted Jesus Christ as our Savior will kneel around the great throne in heaven worshiping Almighty God with all the angels and heavenly beings, saying....

"Holy, holy, holy
is the Lord God Almighty,’
Who was, and is, and is to come.”





" After this I looked, and there before me was a door standing open in heaven.
And the voice I had first heard speaking to me like a trumpet said,
“Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.”
At once I was in the Spirit, and there before me was a throne in heaven
with someone sitting on it.
And the One who sat there had the appearance of jasper and ruby.
A rainbow that shone like an emerald encircled the throne.
Surrounding the throne were twenty-four other thrones,
and seated on them were twenty-four elders.
They were dressed in white and had crowns of gold on their heads.
From the throne came flashes of lightning, rumblings and peals of thunder.
In front of the throne, seven lamps were blazing.
These are the seven spirits of God. Also in front of the throne
there was what looked like a sea of glass, clear as crystal.
In the center, around the throne, were four living creatures,
and they were covered with eyes, in front and in back.
The first living creature was like a lion, the second was like an ox,
the third had a face like a man, the fourth was like a flying eagle.
Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around,
even under its wings. Day and night they never stop saying:

‘Holy, holy, holy
is the Lord God Almighty,’
Who was, and is, and is to come.”

Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor and thanks to him
Who sits on the throne and who lives for ever and ever,
the twenty-four elders fall down before Him who sits on the throne
and worship Him who lives for ever and ever.
They lay their crowns before the throne and say:


“You are worthy, our Lord and God,
to receive glory and honor and power,
for You created all things,
and by Your will they were created
and have their being.”

~ Revelation 4 (NIV)

Be Still My Beating Heart...

Dear Friends,
I write this to you to ask you to pray for me. My dear friend Kristi is writing a book about responding in a godly manner to disappointment/suffering. I met Kristi ten years ago when I was a freshmen @Baptist Bible College and she was working at the shool as the Student Activities seceretary. Kristi has been serving in Berlin, Germany as a missionary with the Association of Baptists for World Evangelism for almost 6 years now. Her ministry there is THRIVING, and God is doing some VERY exciting things through Krist in the lives of the people she is serving. God had laid it upon her heart to write a few chapters herself and then have dear brothers and sisters of hers in the Lord write chapters that deal with suffering in other areas of life. Kristi has also found it important to have all the contributers be 35 and under as she falls into that age bracket herself. Sometimes we as younger generation Christians are caught off guard and find ourselves reeling a little bit when we are hit with some of life's devastating circumstances such as disappointments due to sudden loss of close loved ones, chronic physcial illness, infertility, miscarriages, broken relationships, etc.

Long story short, Kristi asked me over a year ago to write the chapter about chronic physical illness. My first response was yes, and then came the onslaught of self doubt...."You have struggled so hard during your battle with Bipolar disorder and have often screwed up, made mistakes, sinned, doubted God's presenece with you, etc. I have voiced these fears to my Mother, and to Kristi, following with ..."but I know God wants me to do this....and this is about Him.....NOT me." God has done amazing things in me heart, thinking, life, etc. over the past 4 years since my battle with this illness began. I have shared those amazing things on my blog, in person, and in personal journals. I have prayed that God would help me to walk this road well, that He would give me the strength to honor Him, and glorify Him on this journey He has me on. Never in my life has something scared me this way, but my Heavenly Father has not given me a spirit of fear, but of love, peace, and a sound mind. Deep in my soul I know without a doubt that this is of God. He will do with what I write as He sees fit, and as I pray over every word, and ask Him to get me out of the way....He can accomplish great things! His WORD and the anchor hold He has on my life are what need to be shared. Will you pray with me? The chapter is "done" and ready for me to email to Kristi....She has had EVERY other chapter completed, edited, etc. for months and has been more than patient with me as she is excited to get it to the publisher. Please pray that it won't be authors' stories that readers will walk away remembering. Pray that they will be blown away by the person of Jesus Christ and the work He has done in each of our lives. Please pray that their lives will be saved and changed as a result. Thank you in advance for praying with me! ~ Melody Joy

Isaiah 53

Isaiah 53

"Who has believed our message
and to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?
He grew up before him like a tender shoot,
and like a root out of dry ground.
He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to Him,
nothing in his appearance that we should desire Him.
He was despised and rejected by mankind,
a man of suffering, and familiar with pain.
Like one from whom people hide their faces
He was despised, and we held Him in low esteem.

Surely He took up our pain
and bore our suffering,
yet we considered Him punished by God,
stricken by Him, and afflicted.
But He was pierced for our transgressions,
He was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was on Him,
and by His wounds we are healed.
We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
each of us has turned to our own way;
and the LORD has laid on Him
the iniquity of us all.

He was oppressed and afflicted,
yet He did not open His mouth;
He was led like a lamb to the slaughter,
and as a sheep before its shearers is silent,
so He did not open his mouth.
By oppression and judgment He was taken away.
Yet who of His generation protested?
For He was cut off from the land of the living;
for the transgression of my people He was punished.
He was assigned a grave with the wicked,
and with the rich in His death,
though He had done no violence,
nor was any deceit in His mouth.

Yet it was the LORD’s will to crush Him and cause Him to suffer,
and though the LORD makes His life an offering for sin,
He will see His offspring and prolong His days,
and the will of the LORD will prosper in His hand.
After He has suffered,
He will see the light of life and be satisfied;
by His knowledge my righteous servant will justify many,
and He will bear their iniquities.
Therefore I will give Him a portion among the great,
and He will divide the spoils with the strong,
because He poured out his life unto death,
and was numbered with the transgressors.
For He bore the sin of many,
and made intercession for the transgressors."

II Corinthians 12:7-10

"...so I wouldn't get a big head, I was given the gift of a handicap to keep me in constant touch with my limitations. Satan's angel did his best to get me down; what he in fact did was push me to my knees. No danger then of walking around high and mighty! At first I didn't think of it as a gift, and begged God to remove it. Three times I did that, and then He told me, My grace is enough; it's all you need. My strength comes into its own in your weakness. Once I heard that, I was glad to let it happen. I quit focusing on the handicap and began appreciating the gift. It was a case of Christ's strength moving in on my weakness. Now I take limitations in stride, and with good cheer, these limitations that cut me down to size—abuse, accidents, opposition, bad breaks. I just let Christ take over! And so the weaker I get, the stronger I become."
~ II Corinthians 12:7-10 (The Message)

"...in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But He said to me,'My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. ~II Corinthians 12:7-10 (NIV)

Memory Verses March & April 2011:

March 1, 2011
"The LORD your God is in your midst,
A victorious warrior
He will exult over you with joy,
He will be quiet in His love,
He will rejoice over you with shouts of joy."
~Zephaniah 3:17 (NASB)

March 15, 2011
"But we have this treasure in jars of clay
to show that this all-surpassing power is from God
and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side,
but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair;
persecuted, but not abandoned;
struck down, but not destroyed."
~II Corinthians 4:7-9 (NIV)

April 1, 2011
"Not to us, O LORD, not to us
But to Your name be the glory
Because of Your love and faithfulness."
~Psalm 115:1 (NIV)

April 15, 2011
"Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit.
Rather, in humility value others above yourselves,
not looking to your own interests,
but each of you to the interests of the others."
~Philippians 2:3-4 (NIV)

Kids say and do the most profound things sometimes...

I am the oldest girl in a family of eight children. I started babysitting when I was eleven. I've been nannying/teaching, or working with children since 2003. All of this to say, I've spent a significant amount of time with the youngest among us. I have a long list of some of the most hilarious things they have said to me over the years. I have alonger list of the profound things they have said to me and done in my presence. Today was no excpetion.....
As mentioned in a previous post, my dear friend Larua took on three young foster children a few months ago. They are siblings and were removed from their home as both parents are alcoholics and Daddy is a drug dealer. Abby is 4, Conner is 2, and Alex is 1. (The children's names have been changed for HIPPA/privacy purposes.) For the past few weeks, I have been giving Laura a hand with them, as she has her hands full with her 4 older children, 14, 12, 9, & 6. Every time I show up, I have a grand time with the kids. All three are understandably angry and that anger manifests itself in some ugly ways sometimes. Despite that, these three darlings have captured my heart, and taught me much.
I believe with all of my heart that on more than one occasion, God has used children to speak and confirm truth to my mind and heart. My youngest brother, Joel, is 14 now, and God has been using him since he could talk to teach me more about Himself. God used 2 year old Conner today....Conner's anger manifests itself in the ugliest way out of the three kids. He throws a nasty tantrum most times he is told no. Today he only threw 1 in the 6 hours I was with him. (A small miracle to be sure. :0) He told me today about an hour after I arrived that he really liked me. Each day when I arrive, he and his sister run excitedly for the door and yell "Mel is here!" Never fails to make my day! Today was special though. Conner would be playing and then several times throughout the day he would drop whatever he was playing with, run over to me and give me a hug and kiss on the cheek. He also climbed up in my lap several times and just cuddled with me all on his own....In all honesty, I am not all that different from Conner. I throw angry tantrums in my own way when God says no. Jesus loves me still. Oh that I would have the faith of a little child to trust implicitly that come what may, no matter how many times He says no, my heavenly Father ever, always has my very best interest at heart. He knows that in order to become all that He intends me to be, I must be told no....Oh that I would seek Him out to spend time with Him and express my love to Him several times throughout the day, simply because I long to be near Him and bask in His reassuring presence. God used a mini vessel to teach me that today. A rambunctious, brown-eyed toddler to be precise. God is good.

"Whatever It Takes..."

I recently found a prayer journal I kept in the summer of 2007. Those brief summer months were a time of intense spiritual growth for me. God led me to Beth Moore's book, "Praying God's Word." He used it to grow me and root my mind and heart in His Word. Each morning, I rose early and went outside and spent time reading, journaling, and talking to my Savior. They were precious, precious times. A few weeks ago, I read through some of my entries in my prayer journal. Each prayer contained a similar theme....""Father today I ask that You would bring me to a better understanding of how powerful and awesome You are. Let me fall more in love with You today Lord Jesus, please have Your way in me." Another entry read "Whatever it takes Father, please accomplish Your will and Your way in my life. Thank You Jesus!" When I wrote "whatever it takes," I meant it with all my heart. I honestly had no idea what that would look like over the course of the next 3 1/2 years. That July, the symptoms of Bipolar disorder manifested themselves with intensity. I have realized since that time that my battle with insomnia, depression, and manic phases were the "whatever it takes" that God used to increase my understanding of and dependency upon Him. I have experienced some of the darkest days of my life over the past 3 1/2 years, and God has shown His lovingkindness, compassion, faithfulness, and mercy over and over and over again. He met me in my darkest hours. His mercies truly are new every morning, His compassions never ever fail, His grace is sufficient, and His power truly is perfected in our weakness. I would never have come to know how personally kind, loving, and faithful my Savior is had I not walked this road. God answered my prayer. He did and is continuing to do "whatever it takes" to accomplish His will and His way in my life, and I love Him all the more for it! Thank you Jesus for loving me as I am, but loving me too much to leave me that way!

The LORD is a Warrior....

I love this verse and song...



"The LORD your God is in your midst,

A victorious warrior,

He will exult over you with joy,

He will be quiet in His love,

He will rejoice over you with shouts of joy."

~ Zephaniah 3:17 (NASB)






The Lord is a warrior

The Lord is mighty in battle

The Lord is a warrior

The Lord of hosts is He



My Lord is a fortress

He is a Sun and a Shield

The Lord is a Deliverer

To those who put their trust in Him



He gives strength unto His people

He guards His own with His Right Hand

The Angel of the Lord camps around the ones who fear Him

And delivers them



The Lord of hosts is He



~ Ark Angel

Godliness:

"The practice of godliness is first of all the cultivation of a relationship with God, and from this the cultivation of a life that is pleasing to God. Our concept of God and our relationship with Him determine our conduct. Devotion to God consists of three essential elements: The fear of God, the love of God, and the desire for God."

"The reverent, godly Christian sees God first in His transcendent glory, majesty, and holiness, before He sees Him in His love, mercy, and grace."

"In our day we seem to have magnified the love of God almost to the exclusion of the fear of God. Because of this preoccupation, we are not honoring God and reverencing Him as we should.

"Only the God-fearing Christian can truly appreciate the love of God. He sees the infinite gulf between a holy God and a sinful creature, and the the love that bridged that gulf through the death of the Lord Jesus Christ."

~ Jerry Bridges ~ The Practice of Godliness

Prayer for Peace...

Hear me, LORD, and have mercy on me. Help me, O LORD. You have turned my mourning into joyful dancing. You have taken away my clothes of mourning and clothed me with joy, that I might sing praises to You and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give you thanks forever." ~ Psalm 30:10-12 (NLT)


"Lord it is night. The night is for stillness. Let us be still in the presence of God. It is night after a long day. What has been done has been done; what has not been done has not been done. Let it be. The night is dark. Let our fears of the darkness of the world and of our own lives rest in You. The night is quiet. Let the quietness of Your peace enfold us, all dear to us, and all who have no peace. The night heralds the dawn. Let us look expectantly to a new day, new joys, new possibilities. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen"

Memory Verses for February 2011:

" Just as a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear Him. For He Himself knows our frame; He is mindful that we are but dust." ~Psalm 103:13-14 (NASB)

" ...So speak and so act as those who are to be judged by the law of liberty. For judgment will be merciless to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment."James 2:12-13 (NASB)

Psalm 103

It's 4:30am and the Lord woke me up out of a dead sleep to spend time with Him in Psalm 103, my anchor passage. I absolutely love when He does this. I have been struggling and feeling rather dry spiritually, so this is timely. Tears streamed down my face just now as I read the Psalm aloud and let the deep and powerful truths of this passage flood my soul. God is so good!

"Bless the LORD, O my soul, and all that is within me bless His holy name. Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget none of His benefits; Who pardons all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases; Who redeems your life from the pit, Who crowns you with lovingkindness and compassion; Who satisfies your years with good things, so that your youth is renewed like the eagle.


The LORD performs righteous deeds and judgments for all who are oppressed. He made known His ways to Moses, His acts to the sons of Israel. The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness. He will not always strive with us, nor will He keep His anger forever. He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His lovingkindness toward those who fear Him. As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us. Just as a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear Him. For He Himself knows our frame; He is mindful that we are but dust.


As for man his days are like grass; As a flower of the field so he flourishes. When the wind has passed over it, it is no more, and it's place acknowledges it no longer. But the lovingkindness of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear Him, and His righteousness to children's children, to those who keep His covenant and remember His precepts to do them.


The LORD has established His throne in the heavens, and His sovereignty rules over all. Bless the LORD, you His angels, mighty in strength, who perform His word, obeying the voice of His word! Bless the LORD all you His hosts, you who serve Him doing His will. Bless the LORD all you works of His, in all places of His dominion; Bless the LORD, O my soul!"



~Psalm 103 (NASB)

More than a conqueror....

For three years I fought against the reality of my Bipolar Disorder diagnosis. I didn't want it. I wanted my "normal" life back. I wanted things to be the way they were before July of 2007. But that was not to be. Last Fall I began reading through and studying a book by Jerry Bridges called "Trusting God Even When Life Hurts." God used this book mightily in my life. I finally realized that I needed to stop kicking, screaming, and fighting against this diagnosis, and I did. I have now been praying and working toward getting on board with what God wants to do in and through me as I learn how to live with and manage Bipolar Disorder. I finally realized that all of my kicking and screaming against it wasn't making it go away, it was still there. I am learning how to manage it and asking God to help me see His hand at work through it. I want to walk this path well, and I know that God wants to teach me many glorious and wondrous things about Himself through this journey. I will trust Him in this because I know that He has His greatest glory and my best interest at heart. His ways are so much higher than mine, and I trust that He has a wonderful plan and purpose for this difficulty in my life.

"This I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed, for his compassion's never fail. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. I say to myself, 'The LORD is my portion; therefore I will wait for Him.'" Lamentations 3:21-24 (NIV)


"And we know that in all things, God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose. For those God foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those He predestined, He also called; those He called, He also justified; those He justified, He also glorified.
What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all---how will He not also along with Him, graciously give us all things? Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died---more than that, who was raised to life---is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: 'For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.'
No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all of creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." ~Romans 8:28-39 (NIV)

Memory Verses for January 2011:

I am sure many of you have heard of Beth Moore. She is one of my favorite authors. God has used her writings and Bible Studies to impact and change my life on several occasions! I also follow her blog @ http://blog.lproof.org/ and have decided to participate in her Scripture memorization program for 2011. I thought I'd share the two verses I have selected for January.

"Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland." ~Isaiah 43:18-19 (NIV)


"...Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed, for His compassion's never fail. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. I say to myself, 'The LORD is my portion; therefore I will wait for Him.'" ~ Lamentations 3:21-24 (NIV)


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KBm5aSsp6o0

Help us LORD!

Oh God, my brother is in such pain and the Doctors keep on treating his symptoms as they cannot seem to find the source of his difficulties. Father, help us in Jesus' Name! Thank You that You have saved Peter and therefore hold him in the very palm of Your hand. Father thank You that You are all powerful and all knowing and that this is not a surprise to You! Please let Pete somehow sense Your constant, comforting presence with Him even in the midst of his great pain! LORD please help those of us who love Pete to trust You with all of our hearts. Keep our eyes focused on You and grant us peace, comfort, wisdom, and rest. We love You Jesus, and it's in your matchless Name I pray, Amen!

"Merciful and faithful Lord, because of Your great love I am not consumed, for Your compassion's never fail. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. I say to myself, 'The LORD is my portion; therefore I will wait for Him.' Lord, You are good to those whose hope is in You, to the one who seeks You." ~Prayer taken from Lamentations 3:22-25

Oh No He Never Lets Go!

Last night I went with my parents to take my brother Peter to the Emergency room in Danville, PA. Pete has been extremely ill since Christmas night and this was our third trip to the ER with him in just a little over a week. If I had to be honest, I was scared as we drove. Sitting up makes Pete very sick, so he decided to lay with his head in my lap and asked me to rub his head to ease the pain. The sun was shining brightly, so I held a blanket over his eyes to keep it from hurting his head even more. Any of you who know Pete know how sick he would have to be in order to do these things. He never gets sick and has a higher pain tolerance than the rest of us kids combined. I started to sing quietly about Jesus and His many promises as we drove along....more for my own comfort than for Pete's. I was trying hard not to cry, but a tear slipped down my cheek in spite of my efforts. I couldn't help but flashback to when Pete was just a newborn and we were making another trip to the ER, but that time was for my mom. I sat with him in the backseat and held his binky in his mouth while Mary Truitt drove us to the hospital in Tunkhannock. I was eleven and Pete was a week old. I was just as scared then. It hurts more than I can express to see the ones you love in so much pain. As we drove along yesterday and the words of the hymns I was singing sank into my soul...Jesus began to remind me how faithful He has been to our family over the years. As scary as that time and this time have been, He has never forgotten or forsaken us. I cried out to Him on Pete's behalf, and He comforted my soul.



I've said it before and I'll say it again, God is bigger and stronger than any circumstance we may face in this life and He never let's us go.



"'My sheep listen to My voice; I know them, and they follow Me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of My hand. My Father who has given them to Me is greater than all, no one can snatch them out of My Father's hand. I and the Father are one.'" ~John 10:27-29

Hopelessness vs. Unbreakable Hope...

Sleep is eluding me tonight, so I am reading....I came accross this quote by Beth Moore, and it really spoke to me. I doubt that many of you who read this struggle with feeling hopeless. As someone who battles bouts of depression from time to time, I do struggle that way. Perhaps once you read the quote, what I am saying will make more sense....



"Hopelessness is never of God. Never. Nothing is too difficult for Him. Nothing is beyond His reach. His restoration. Even His reconciliation...May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." ~ Beth Moore



Amen!