There are at least 100 things I want to blog about but ultimately when the time comes that I can actually sit and do this, I can't blog about everything...so I usually blog about whatever is currently going on, even if I have missed lots of good stuff in between...so, today, what is on my mind mostly is what we went over in Bible study tonight--I usually have waaaayyy to many words to hit all that I am thinking about so I go with posting none...but I just cannot do that tonight --so here goes....I warned you!!...we have been doing Breaking Free (the new edition) by Beth Moore and tonight, alot of what she talked about really hit home with me...my experience is a common one, I believe for alot of Christians...I grew up in church and lots of the Bible and church became 'what you did' not really because of your personal relationship with God but for whatever reason--you just get numb to church talk, church songs, Bible verses...you hear them and they go in one ear and out the other...I lived a morally good life, but the relationship was missing. I did not love God with all that I had...I rode the fence just enough so that I could fit in with the 'world' without getting harassed to badly and was good so I fit in quite nicely at church....I wasn't spending any alone time reading my Bible, or talking to God...but I was soo 'good'---mostly did and said all the right things to look like a good Christian. And I did love God or so I thought I did. (she said in the lesson tonight..."One of the biggest and least addressed obstacles to truly loving God--is thinking you already do, when, truth be told, you really don't"). WOW. The older I got, and knowing that my life should mirror my Savior's, I began praying and saying, Lord, I know I am supposed to be like you and I want to be like you and you do ______ and you say __________ but I am just not feeling it, so what is wrong with me?? Basically, I was going through the motions and I loved God in my churchy, cliche way, but I was not truly LOVING GOD with all of my heart and soul..I was not in love with Him and I did not love Him above all other things....so anyway, I have had some wonderful time with the Lord lately and have found myself several times lately just saying to Him...I just love you...I just love you SO much.....(they were much more than these little sentences could do justice) these have been different and unlike times I have had before....well, tonight was about *seriously* loving the Lord...she said there were times when she would just say, God, I love you and that God just impressed upon her one night to say to Him.."I love you, too", because if it weren't for His love for us, we would not be able to love Him at all..."We love because He first loved us!!" 1 John 4:19--to you that may not sound very profound but tonight, for me, it was...I cannot love him on my own...love is from God...there is NO good thing in me...SO, because of his great love for measly little old me, I can say..."Lord, I LOVE you, too:)" I think, as she said, the first thing is just to be real...if you are going thru the motions-just be real--tell him that you want Him to be the love of your life and that you know that He isn't...the Bible says in 1 John 5:14,15 that if "we ask anything according to His will, He hears us and if we know that He hears when we ask, we know that we have the requests we have asked of him". It is God's will for us to LOVE him with everything we have, so if we go to him honestly and lay it all out, admit that we haven't really loved Him and ask for Him to give us that love that He talks about in His word, HE WILL ANSWER....
Just had to get that out...and it may not make a lick of sense to anyone who reads it, but HE is SO good, people!!!!!! Loving Him doesn't mean there are no hard times ahead, but it means you can say with CONFIDENCE, bring it on, my God is MIGHTY!!! I may just shout right here!!!
On a different note....other current consuming thoughts are about this awesome little orange book...IT is a MUST READ:
Don't be alarmed, I have plenty to say about this book....just can't do it tonight...I have to sleep at some point so I can be a decent mommy tomorrow, but there WILL be more to come....
God is moving and it is awesome...ok, I have to stop...another day, another post....
On a very LIGHT note...the remainder of my 'holiday post'...
This is how I spent alot of the past week...with our new camera, breaking it in good...(I posted this because it looks like there might be a hint of an arm muscle in this shot..haha)
Charlie asked me "Mom, will you post some of me on your blog...like some of me doing tricks and getting air??" Now, how could I refuse him???
Max got up this week and it was awesome...he was such a trooper and just kept trying and he GOT IT!!....
Weird pic, I know...this would be Max in the air...'Uncle Dave' was throwing him a little high...HE LOVED IT!!
Davis and Lucy cheesing it up...
Davis and Lucy on the 4th, ready for church...
Lucy being Lucy...she is so great...thank the Lord she is mine:)
Lucy and her partner in crime, Max...
The boat that gets the job done....we fill it up for sure, but it is so much fun!! (Regan is taking the pic, she was with us too)
A little fishing time...
A little river time...
A little snuggle time...
And now for a little laughing time...compliments of me....
I am not nearly the risk-taker I used to be....
I love to ride and relax on the boat....have a little time to myself to think and ponder things...I love to cheer everyone on as they ski and wakeboard, swim...whatever is going on....not a huge fan of losing my life to a mysterious creatures that lurk in muddy water, but that is ok.... I am, however, a competitor at heart...I do love a challenge and once in a while I just get an itching to make sure I could do something "if I wanted to"--plus, my kids were chanting "Here we go, mama, here we go, clap, clap"....it has been 10 years (at the very least) since I have skied. Was I scared??...um, yes...I was scared my feet were going to get ripped off at my ankles, that the ski would hit me in the head and I would have to go to the emergency room (I am accident prone...even more now that I am grown up)...and more than anything I was scared for my pride's sake that I couldn't get up on the skiis...so anyway....my range of emotions were very evident...and, of course, there was NO WAY I was going to do it unless someone had a camera so that I could prove it...so here goes....these pictures are NOT pretty but they are hilarious and I HAD to let you all get the good laugh that we all got around here....I don't remember making so many faces, but I guess it is true....
Here I am, in the water...saying to myself 'keep it cool, Jen, you can do it...."
This is right before take off...apparently the worry was setting in and I must've forgotten she had the zoom lens...
Up, but not soo sure....
Playing it cool, and thinking of how I could land without getting by feet torn off as mentioned above....
The look of accomplishment, after a brief freak out while the boat was coming to get me (thinking that I looked like shark bait to the creatures below got the best of me...yes I know there are no sharks in the river...got ahold of myself and made it to the boat...)
My foot kicked something...Charles says it was the ski handle but it felt like an alligator tail....I lost it....my kids weren't quite sure about me but that is not a first....
Poor Lucy started boo-hooing the moment I put the skies on..(how to you spell skiies??)...she cried through the whole ordeal...she was worried about me and didn't like it one bit that I was out there...by the time it was over...here was her puffy little sweet face:) I am loved!!
Goodnight ya'll....:) I am smiling--hope you are too....
Guangdong Time
I am smiling! :) Precious pics!! So FUN!
ReplyDeleteCute pics. Regarding your bible study I'm definately suggest our girls do that one next. We are currently on Beth Moore's Here and Now, There and Then study. David Platt is a wonderful preacher and I can't wait to read his book. We just read one that you may want to look at if you haven't already read it. It's called Crazy Love by Frances Chan. It was a wake up call for sure. I definately want to grow in my relationship with the Lord and not be lukewarm. Sometimes we need that reminder. Can't wait to hear more about your sweet family and your journey to Alice.
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