You Are Being Loved

You are being loved…right now…at this very moment.

Zephaniah 3:17 (Amplified Version)
17The Lord your God is in the midst of you, a Mighty One, a Savior [Who saves]! He will rejoice over you with joy; He will rest [in silent satisfaction] and in His love He will be silent and make no mention [of past sins, or even recall them]; He will exult over you with singing.

Zephaniah 3:17 (New Living Translation)
For the Lord your God is living among you. He is a mighty savior. He will take delight in you with gladness. With his love, he will calm all your fears. He will rejoice over you with joyful songs.”

This is one of my favorite verses. How awesome is it to think that right now at this very moment He is loving us and singing over us!!! When I am in my car I love listening to Steven Curtis Chapman’s song that goes right along with this verse. It is called “You are Being Loved”. I tried to get the youtube video loaded but the embedding was disabled. However, you can go over to youtube.com and listen to it. Just type youtube.com and then search for "You are Being Loved" by Steven Curtis Chapman. You will be blessed.

Have a blessed day!

Peace during Uncertain Times Ahead

No matter how the election turns out, we must remember that God is in control and He works everything out for the GOOD of those who love Him and are called according to his purpose (Romans 8:28).

I am very thankful that we have the opportunity to vote and I realize that it is not always going to turn out the way we would like, but we have to remember that God is sovereign. Does that mean I don't worry about voting? No. As a follower of Jesus, I believe that we have the God-given responsibility to vote according to His Word. After reading Ephesians 1:15-23 I asked Him to make me intelligent and discerning in knowing Him personally and to open my eyes to His Word so that I may know exactly how he wanted me to vote. It was a no-brainer. Still having some uncertainty in my heart about the times ahead of us, I continued to ask Him for peace. I am so thankful that no name or no power are exempt from his rule and that he is in charge of running the universe, everything from galaxies to governments.

Lord,
Thank you that you are in charge and have final say on everything.


Ephesians 1:15-23(The Message)

15-19That's why, when I heard of the solid trust you have in the Master Jesus and your outpouring of love to all the followers of Jesus, I couldn't stop thanking God for you—every time I prayed, I'd think of you and give thanks. But I do more than thank. I ask—ask the God of our Master, Jesus Christ, the God of glory—to make you intelligent and discerning in knowing him personally, your eyes focused and clear, so that you can see exactly what it is he is calling you to do, grasp the immensity of this glorious way of life he has for his followers, oh, the utter extravagance of his work in us who trust him—endless energy, boundless strength!
20-23All this energy issues from Christ: God raised him from death and set him on a throne in deep heaven, in charge of running the universe, everything from galaxies to governments, no name and no power exempt from his rule. And not just for the time being, but forever. He is in charge of it all, has the final word on everything. At the center of all this, Christ rules the church. The church, you see, is not peripheral to the world; the world is peripheral to the church. The church is Christ's body, in which he speaks and acts, by which he fills everything with his presence.

Random Things that Make Me Happy

Random Things that Make Me Happy

1. My husband’s sense of humor.
2. My back porch swing
3. Chic Chats and coffee with my little girl.
4. The beach
5. Scrapbooking
6. My little boy’s prayers
7. Blogging
8. The fact that my husband loves to watch chic flicks with me.
9. Mommy and Daughter dates
10.My can opener
11. My mother-in-law’s cooking
12. My Keurig coffee pot
13. The season of Fall
14. Watching my little girl pretend to play school every day when she gets home from school.
15. Krispy Kreme doughnuts
16. My mother-in-laws house during Christmas and any other time of the year because it is always warm and cozy.
17. Flavored coffees.
18. Spending time with the ladies that I work with.
19. Dates with my husband.
20. Lifeway
21. Books-A-Million
22. Libraries
23. most bookstores
24. New Pajamas
25. My heart friends
26. Taking pictures
27. Christian music – Steven Curtis Chapman, Jeremy Camp, David Crowder, Tenth Avenue North, Casting Crowns, Chris Tomlin, Matthew West
28. Running
29. Hot tea with my hubby
30. Late night chats with Granny Gold
31. When Granny Gold comes to stay a week at our house.
32. Midnight shopping adventures with Granny Gold.
33. Hanging out with my sister, even during the tough situations we have been through lately. I always enjoy her company
34. Being with my family
35. Office supplies
36. My ipod
37. My husband’s hysterical laughter at “America’s Funniest Home Videos”.
38. Family night dart tag
39. Diet Cokes and Mt. Dews
40. A Clean House
41. Playing basketball and watching it
42. Vanderbilit and UK basketball games
43. church or community cookbooks
44. Bible studies
45. My church family
46. My Bible
47. Jack’s little funny sayings
48. Christian music concerts
49. Sunday afternoon coffee with my mentor
50. Phone conversations with my dad

The Most Important Issues In the 2008 Election

Just wanted to share a video with you today from John Piper concerning the 2008 election. God is in control!

Pumpkin Patch with my little Jack-O-Lantern

I love taking pictures of sunflowers.

Braxton and Jack

Jack, Christian, and Braxton


They loved the corn maze as well as the hayride.

This is Wilbur the Pig, my favorite.


This is Jack's first grade class.


Me and My boy!

It took him forever to pick out this pumpkin. They all looked the same to me.

Today, I went with my little first grader, Jack, to the pumpkin patch. I don't know about you, but I have been to many pumpkin patches over the past few years with my kids. Some good...some not so good. So I was not very excited about it at first. However, once we got there, everything changed. The weather was absolutely beautiful. The animals were delightful. Did I say delightful? Jack and I had a great time together. I started realizing that some day I would look back on this time and wish that I had it back. At one point, I reached over and held his hand, wondering if he would be embarrassed. But no...he leaned over and hugged me and held my hand through the hayride. Tears rushed to my eyes. Thank you God for this precious gift that you have given me.

Psalm 127:3

Children are a gift from the Lord; they are a reward from him.

Lord, plant Your Word firmly in Jack's little heart and increase his faith daily. Enable him to abide in Your love and derive strength from the joy of the Lord this day and forever.

My Girl

My Girl

This is my precious little girl, Haylee. Only she is not a little girl anymore. She is growing up so fast and since her birth I have continually asked God to slow time down. I pray that God will spare her of my painful mistakes that I made while growing up.

We constantly have “Chic Chats” on our back porch swing over coffee. And yes, I let her drink coffee with me. She loves it, just like her mom. It is probably more cream and sugar than anything. She is a lot like me in many ways. I tell her to pick up on my good habits, but leave the bad. I pray that she will have a hunger and thirst for God like no other. It will be impossible for me to pass down a heritage of faith to her unless I am consistently in God’s Word and walking closely with Him myself.

It scares me to think of the battles we have ahead to counteract the negative influences of today’s culture. A culture who believes there is no absolute truth (that will be another post for another day). What am I talking about? Today, our daughters face so many negative influences through television, movies, internet, magazines, and books (even children’s books). It is amazing to me what is out there. And yes, there are going to be times that I have to take a stand and make different decisions for her even when others don’t agree with me. I have to do what I think God has called me to do.

For an example, I had to say no about watching certain tv shows and movies. I think I finally got through to her one day. Our conversation went like this:

Haylee: “Mom, why can’t I watch this show? It is not that bad. Even, some of my church friends get to watch it. It just has a few bad things in it. Most of the show is good and it's funny.”

Mom: “Haylee, would you eat a brownie with just a little bit of poopoo in it, even if the rest of it is good?’

Haylee: “No Mom.”

I think she got the point.

If you haven’t read “Your Girl -Raising a Godly Daughter in an Ungodly World” by Vicki Courtney, it is a must. She addresses the times in which our daughters live, the high calling of motherhood, and the necessity to enter battle to counteract the negative influences of the culture. Also she has a website called Virtous Reality.

We must rely on God’s word when raising our daughters in an ungodly world.

Deuteronomy 6:5-9
5 Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. 6 These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. 7 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 8 Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. 9 Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.

By the way, my six year old took the pictures of us. Not bad....

Need I say more.....