"Girls Nite OUT!"

Something about hearing "Girls Nite Out" gets women excited. It's a night to be around friends, food, conversation, love and laughs!  It's like a breath of fresh air, a comforting sigh, or like a warm cup of tea. You can dress up, you can dress down. You can curl your hair, you can throw it up in a pony, you can wear make up, you can come "unpainted" but all in all no one cares about how you came, just as long as you're here! 

I have a real heart for unity....so why not have a "GIRLS NITE OUT" .  A night to gather old and new friends and really get connected with one another.  The preparing was the fun part....now you don't have to go all out when having friends over, after all friends aren't interested in the presentation but in YOU! But there are times you like to go the extra step! Sydney helped with some of the prep work. We had a dish full of red and pink candy selections from the bulk barn, and two beautiful bouquets of red and pink roses.  I have a book of amazing quotes, and whenever I hear a new one I write it down in this book. A lot of these quotes, are challenging and motivating. We took some recipe cards and wrote some of these inspiring verses on them, and posted them along the bathroom mirror, on the fridge and other places around the room. If there was a quote or verse that ministered to you or was speaking to you, you were to take it home with you.  (I got this idea from a friend, but the girls loved it!)

I thought I'd post some of those quotes on my blog today. Some might not speak to you at all and others might be just the thing you need! So have fun, if you couldn't make it to girls NITE....make yourself a cup of Hot Tea, cozy up on the couch and read away!

Wiping a child's face is like shining a diamond...

Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life. Provebs 4:23

The King is enthralled by YOUR beauty! Ps 45:11

Direction is more important than speed......

We can teach what we know, but we can only reproduce who we are. Ronald Reagan

God made woman in His image:  Glorious, Captivating, Powerful....

The more we depend on God, the more dependable we find He is....

Find out what you want your children to be...then become that person. Michael Pearl

Our children are our most precious resource. As responsible adults we must create homes in which the future generation can grow and flourish.  ~Criswell Freeman~

"A woman is like a teabag. It's only when she's in hot water that you realize how strong she is. Nancy Reagan

Nothing and no one can take YOU out of the will of God but YOU!

"Nobody can make you feel inferior without your permission." Eleanor Roosevelt

Don't be more concerned about your goals than your offspring.

Charm is deceptive, and beauty does not last; but a woman who fears the Lord will be greatly praised. Prov 31:30

Be Fun to live with....

As for the rest of the night, it was a good time! If you don't have the "UNGAME" I would highly recommend it! (with a box of kleenex of course) What a way to unite and to get to know one another. The spread of food the gals brought was endless. The conversation was challenging, comforting and full of many good laughs!  

YOU make a difference...

Many of us know we've been designed for such a time as this. Or we've heard many times that we have a unique plan and calling on our lives. I received this short but moving clip from someone the other day and hadn't opened it until today.  WOW....I know we all make a difference, and I know those of you who have made a tremendous difference in my life. And for many of you who think you go unnoticed you are usually the ones I notice the most.  Those quiet behind the scenes friends, supporters and servants who diligently give of yourself.  I want you to know, in my life many of you have made a difference and impacted me in ways you'll never know. From those of you who were there when I grew up and were the solid..funny...friends that helped mold my creative crazy character. To my moms friends who were always the ones welcoming me into their home for dinners, play dates and tea (when I was a teen and my car ran out of gas...) To my many coaches who were hard on me but taught me to never give up and give all I have in all I do.  To those of you whom maybe we haven't always seen eye to eye, through those instances I've been stretched and grown in character and patience. To my friends...and also my much older and wiser friends who were there for the first years of parenting and marriage. You've all made a massive difference in my life and helped me be the woman/mom I am today. God has placed many people in my life from all walks of society and allowed them to pour into me. Thank-you. You have made a difference in my life.

I'd especially like to speak into the lives of the ones younger than me. You've impacted me in more ways than you know. The things you've taught me through what you've gone through, and continue to go through amazes me.  Never think you aren't making a difference. Keep going, keep pressing on and keep pressing in to all God has for you. You make a difference in my life! Know that I love you and appreciate you.

Watch the short but super amazing clip.....  www.blueribbonmovie.com

Holy...Holy...Holy....

What an amazing and Holy God we serve.  Tonight I was reading the word, and I was reading Isaiah 6.  I love verse 3, and I love hearing songs, worshiping to songs or just soaking in His presence as I hear Holy..Holy..Holy. No matter how many times I hear those words they send goosebumps through my whole being.  Our God is SO Holy.  

I think in the culture and in the attitude of society we don't truly grasp how Holy our God is. We've referred to Him as our Homeboy or our buddy. I love hearing him referred to as the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.  That speaks volumes to me..he is indeed above all else.  He is Holy, he is wonderful, magnificent.  I love how Isaiah in that chapter when seeing the Lord Almighty says Woe to me! I am ruined.  For I am a man of unclean lips. It's like when the Lord showed up a mirror was placed infront of Isaiah and all that was in him was revealed. 

Jesus came to fill in the gap. He brought grace and mercy, which I am truly thankful for or I dont' think I'd be here today!  But by Gods grace I am.   Sometimes I see and feel that we abuse God's grace. We come before Him knowing he'll forgive, so many times our repentance isn't genuine but comes out of mere routine. Often times we mix up guilt and repentance. True repentance is being broken...not because you were caught, but because you've broken the heart of the One you love. 

Just sit and think on Him, His goodness, His very being, meditate on how amazing He truly is...He is infact Holy!

A Call To DIE...

I really felt a push to get deeper into the word, more meditation and actively waiting on God. No matter how far you've come or how long you've traveled as a follower of Christ there is still a ways to go. The closer I walk with Him, the more I need to throw off. We have a book called "A Call to Die" we bought it several years ago, but I've never gone through it. It starts off with a commitment, being committed to spending at least 1 hour each day in the presence of God, for 40 days.  Now for some that sounds like a walk in the park, and for others of you it might sound like to much of  commitment.  I take commitment really seriously, and that's why this book was never done years ago, because I wasn't at a place where I knew I could keep my covenant. So as I was searching the bookshelf in our closet, it caught my attention and I pulled it out.

The first day was talking about taking up your cross and following the Lord.  Now I live a pretty clean lifestyle, Im not a wild partyer, drinker, gambler etc...but sometimes those outward actions are easier to throw off then the ones that no one sees.  There are things we do in life that are by no means bad, but from time to time we should offer them up to the Lord in order to make sure they don't become or aren't idols in our lives.  For some of you it could be your cell phone, your email, facebook, TV shows, books instead of the Word, games, music etc. We all have those things that sometimes take the place of the voice of the Lord. 

Im thankful in those tough growing times.  When God shows me things in my life that need to be changed. I thank him for revealing things to me that might be trying to sneak in and take his place, because to me that's showing he cares. He cares enough to show me. He cares enough to reveal it to me.  As I tell and pour my heart out to him letting him know I want to follow him whatever the cost, it gives him room to reveal things and say "What if it meant this??" or "What if it meant giving up that" His desire isn't to strip us of "things" or to keep us from having things. His desire is to make sure things don't have us.  It's a call to die, to die to selfishness, selfish desires.

The one thing I had made a committed to was for a period of time each day...and I found myself bartering. "What if I "put in" my time with the Lord before then, then what's the big deal. Well, the deal is that I would rush my time with God or squish it in as a chore instead of a desire, or a longing to be with him.  I don't know about you, but I love to offer myself for things instead of being offered.  Being offered sometimes takes the joy out of whatever you're doing. It's like that with the Lord. If we feel obligated it takes the joy out of spending time with Him, but if we are longing or desiring to meet with Him, we eagerly await that time we can intimately share together. 

I challenge you today, to find those things that might not be "BAD" but that are becoming an idol or taking more time out of your day than they should. Find those things that force you to "squish or hurry" you through your daily time with the Lord. It happens easily, and subtly. So if as you're reading this and something comes to mind that you should give up or cut back on, and you are justifying it in your head, that's probably the thing the Spirit is concerned about....when you're saying oh that's not a big deal I can control that, it doesn't have me. That might be the very thing the Lord is tugging on you about. Stomp on those selfish desires before they stomp on you...

Be encouraged my friends...you can do all things through Christ.  I encourage you to Take Up Your Cross and Follow Him.

When He asks the question will you follow me whatever the cost... How will you respond??

Garbage Compressor

This morning I was at the church doing my normal cleaning routine. (I'm the church cleaner). Now before you go feeling sorry for me, I love to clean. And what better house to clean than my Fathers!  Our church is always well kept so it usually makes the job enjoyable. Now don't get me wrong...I have my days where Im tired and I have those days where there's a thousand other things I could be doing, but for the most part it's enjoyable.

Well today I was putting a few small garbage bags into one big bag so it was easier to carry to the garage. Now in order to do this you know you have to compress the air out of the bags or they'd never all fit into one. And....well...you know how there are those things you do in life that no matter how many times you do it, you never seem to learn from? Well having my face over the garbage while I compress it is one of them! Yuk! Oh what a smell.  The smell instantly made my hair curl!  I stood there for a second and said, what can I learn from this? As I was laughing in my head....I was thinking...um HELLO! MOVE YOUR HEAD...or at least don't inhale! But I felt the Lord showing me something.  When that garbage bag was just sitting there, there was no smell...or no smell that got my attention.  But when it was compressed it gave off a foul smell. And I thought, so many times in our Christian walk we are doing really well, and it's not until we are compressed, bumped or moved around that we see what's really inside of us, or inside of one another. It's in those times of testing or in those trials that we choose to send out an aroma of bitterness, wrong attitudes or unwholesome talk. Or in those times of testing we have the power to rise above, or allow the Spirit to work through us to rise us above and give off a pleasing aroma to those around us. It's in those pressing times when people around will see what we are really filled with. 

I challenge you this week, to watch what comes out.... see what comes out when you are pressed on every side, when you are being persecuted....

 

For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks.....Matt 12:33

Frizzle...Frazzled!

Do you...well I know you do, we all have those days or those moments in our lives where we feel we've been wound up like a top...and that at any moment if God let go, or we let our flesh take over, we would spin out of control crashing into everything and everyone around us within close proximity?!? Well today my friends was my day.
I got a little rattled....and if you know me well nothing much shakes me, I don't really worry about a whole lot, and I kind of like it that way. My theory: If He can't fix it, nobody can..so there's not use worrying. But today all of a sudden I got hit. It felt as though I was so tense that one by one the hairs on my hair were going PING...PING...PING and frizzing out standing on end all over my head! Now I know, we are to cast our cares upon the Lord. I usually do it pretty well. I've always been designed to never over think...just leave it with Him. But today it caught up with me. In these situations we have the power to choose to either try and escape or to seek the Lord. Well, I'll be honest I tried to escape. But as I went to go upstairs, I ran into the baby gate which was blocking the upstairs access....we had our carpets cleaned this morning, which meant no escaping to my room. So as I sauntered to the dishwasher and began to unload, I started thinking YES...a nice hot scalding up to my eyeballs in suds bath! That's just what I need. So I hurriedly finished my task only to realize the tub too was upstairs which was OFF Limits, not to mention the bathrooms were piled high with furniture from the bedrooms (sigh).
Now a little more irritated then before, I instantly thought of opening up a cake mix, you know the double chocolate fudge kind, so I could indulge in the left over batter (all the children were in bed, so I was sure to have as much as I needed..which at this point was enough that there wouldn't have been a cake! (wink wink) Obviously realizing this too was not the answer I was in need of. So I headed over to the living room where I turned on a worship CD and plopped myself down on the sofa with my bible and closed my eyes. Instantly I started relaxing in His presence. What an amazing God we serve....knowing that when we come to Him so overwhelmed He instantly consumes us, and we can feel the cares and pressures of this world rolling off. How you can feel fully clothed in your Fathers presence, you can feel the assurity of who you are in Him, and the peace you feel because you know the promises He's given you. I then rolled myself off the couch and onto the floor and just laid there soaking in His presence, His love and His indescribable peace. As my focus turned from circumstances and situations back to Him, and as I sought out His words and His promises for my situation and my life, I could almost instantly feel His loving arms wrapped around me. His presence puts everything into proper perspective. What an amazing God we serve! Always there attentive to our every need and our every concern. Always there to comfort and love us along the way.
I challenge you this week to shut yourself in with God. Commune with him daily, hourly and moment by moment. When it seems the troubles of this world are coming against you, stop what you are doing and just shut yourself completely in with Him. Seek Him for counsel and direction. Rest and soak in His presence and almost instantly your perspective will be realigned with His, and you will be filled with a peace and an inner joy that only He can fill you with.

....Friends....

.....Friends....
I've been blessed with an amazing week. Nothing extraordinary happened, but it seems it was a week where I had more time than most to reconnect and visit with those friends and those in my life that are important to me. What a blessing friends can be! David and Jonathan were an excellent model of what a true friendship can be.
Often in the business of life and our daily routines we don't always have the time to connect with those we'd like. But when we finally connect it's like a warm cup of tea....just relaxing and enjoying each others company. Being able to share and impart what God has laid on your heart, and hearing all that God has laid on theirs. It stirs up your passion, your desire to press on and press through. And to realize "We're all in this together". We need those relationships. We need to have people in our lives that support and walk alongside of us. I love the variety of friends I've been blessed with, the soothing ones, the gentle ones, the funny ones, the spontaneous ones......man God has created some really awesome people, and I am so thankful He chose my path to connect with theirs!
Sometimes throughout life, we feel like we are alone. And sometimes there are seasons in our lives that we are....but I challenge you to look at those key relationships in your life, and really be the friend you desire to have.
And to all my dear friends young and old. I pray special blessings upon you and your families..and all you put your hands to. And I thank you for having a hand in molding me to be the woman of God I was called to be.....