Reader? :)

What Kind of Reader Are You? Your Result: Dedicated Reader   You are always trying to find the time to get back to your book. You are convinced that the world would be a much better place if only everyone read more.
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3 guides for resolutions

I read on LifeWay the following 3 things that we should be using as our guide for making resolutions: 

1. "For the body, assume you have had a heart attack; now live accordingly."
2. "For the heart, assume everything you say about another, they can overhear; now speak accordingly."
3. "For the spirit, assume you have a one-on-one visit with your Creator every quarter; now live accordingly." 
   As a believer, we don't have to wait three months to visit with God. we can, and should meet with Him constantly. However, the thought of scheduling a regular "performance review" with the Lord could and should have an impact on my daily decisions and thus my life.

Kind of interesting - eh?

The author of that artical also said: Once a person reaches the point that he or she sees no value in seeking to become better by resolving to change, that person has given up on living life and has settled on simply existing. This, if you think about it, is in and of itself a resolution –- a resolution to settle for mediocrity.

Let's not settle for mediocrity - but always strive to change and to become more like Christ.  Which also reminds me of this Oswald Chamber's 12/2 entry - thanks Kate for pointing it out to me - and it was from my birthday! ;) 
"Christian perfection is not, and never can be, human perfection. Christian perfection is the perfection of a relationship with God that shows itself to be true even amid the seemingly unimportant aspects of human life... I am called to live in such a perfect relationship with God that my life produces a yearning for God in the lives of others, not admiration for myself. Thoughts about myself hinder my usefulness to God. God’s purpose is not to perfect me to make me a trophy in His showcase; He is getting me to the place where He can use me. Let Him do what He wants!

This is the opposite of mediocrity - and it's what we are called to. So lets make our resolutions - consistant with what we are called to - and lets stand by them! No small task but we are able - in our weekness He is strong.

New Year's Resolutions

I know it's dangerous... thinking that is.

New Year's resolutions... everyone does them - how many keep them? The research I've read say about half of us keep them past the 2 month point. Kinda interesting - but probably not surprising. So I made a few - just like always, one of them is that I've started trying to take a picture of everything I eat... could be entertaining - probably will be very dull to most...  The other has to do with my relationship with God, I am going to read from God's Word every day. In the past I do well with this for a bit - but in the end - it usually slips away, don't get me wrong, I read it - when I have time... or when something comes to me... or at church... or when I know I'm going to talk to someone that will require me to have some scriptural backing... you know what I mean. But one thing that I struggle with is having a routine - getting in the habit of doing things - mostly doing things that are good for me. Going to be on time, getting up in time to actually have a morning routine and not just getting up and rushing to work, eating right - naturally as well as spiritually - and lets face it - it takes more time to do that, you have to plan and actually work to eat right, you can't forget and "just grab something somewhere..." and you can't just sit on the couch and watch whatever is on. You have to prepare food ahead and you have to put effort into reading instead of watching TV. My friend Joie does much better at this than I do, but she is a good example for me.

So here is one of the things that I'm working on to keep myself on task, I've started reading Oswald Chamber's My Utmost for His Highest and actually reading the scripture and praying and thinking about what it's talking about, not just reading it every once in a while when I'm bored... That's the hope for my morning routine.

Snow...

So as I mentioned before - I love snow. Yesterday I took this picture on campus (it's of our new football field)

And this morning I woke up to this (and yes - it was shoveled by my shoveling angel!!):

Here is the street - down and then up...

Do you see the little path up the sidewalk? (that's the shoveling angel up at the top of the hill!)

And this is what my house looks like now:

Isn't it beautiful??? Snow is amazing, and it always reminds me of this song:

White as snow, white as snow
Though my sins were as scarlet
Lord, I know, Lord, I know
That I'm clean and forgiven

Through the power of Your blood
Through the wonder of Your love
Through faith in You
I know that I can be
White as snow

God is so good - so faithful - always taking what is ugly and making it new - clean - white! I'm so thankful for all that God does in my life, He is constantly helping me, refining me, taking what I screw up and healing, changing, covering - with this white, beautiful, new thing!

I guess I haven't been bloggin lately because I've been busy - but that's the normal excuss. I've been kind of lame (as in sore leg.. ;) not dorky - though I am that kind of lame all the time! ) and busy with company and work. Also - for those that have been reading awhile I have a new prayer request, I got a call that I have been moved up on the list for adoption. So I'm very excited about that and blessed that it's is starting to move again...

Gotta run!

another year older

ok - so I haven't blogged in about a month - and this is going to be short - but I thought I would just let everyone know that I'm coming to terms with becoming 30... it has taken a bit - but I'm ok with it now. I also wanted to give a great big shout out to my friends Ceta and Trits from the south that came to make my b-day extra special - God has truly blessed me with wonderful, faithful friends - from all over!

I also want to say - I love winter. I love snow, I love knitting, I love warm soft blankets, I love shoveling, I love pictures in the snow, I love driving in it... The list could go on and on. I will add photo's later.

New side playlist

Hey all - I just found a nice new thing to add to my page! On the right hand side of my blog - you will see something called "my playlist", check it out - let me know what you think!

Great sadness.

It is with great sadness that I watch the election results tonight. I thought Obama would win, but I never thought it would be by this much. And I'm also very disappointed in Iowa... WHAT WHERE YOU THINKING??? I pray that God will have mercy on us. I pray that God would bring peace to those that fought hard and lost, it was not God's will that we win this one. I guess that just means that the time is getting shorter, as in the day's of Noah...
All I know is that I'm looking for a new bumper sticker: "I voted McCain - so don't come cryin to me!" May God save the children and not give us, as a nation, what we deserve for this election decision.

"A new dawn of American leadership is at hand... the true genius of America is that we can change..." ~ President Elect Obama
Lets see where he leads this nation.

Palin Rally

I went to the Sarah Palin rally yesterday. It was amazing to see someone in her position with so much passion for the issues that are important to me.

I took a few pictures,

me and Tate almost got trampled,

I touched greatness,

and I have some of the coolest "family" ever!

It was quite an experience. I voted for life and I am still praying for those that will fight for life and stand up for those values that are so close to God's heart to have victory today!

Fireproof - for single people?

(Becca asked me if I would write something on how Fireproof impacted me - as a single person... This is what I came up with - for better or worse!)

SPOILER DISCLAIMER - THERE MAY BE THINGS IN THIS POST THAT WILL GIVE A WAY VITAL PARTS OF THE MOVIE - DO NOT READ IF YOU DON'T WANT TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENS!

Fireproof, a story about love. I was truly moved by the movie, it is yet another example of love being a choice - not a feeling. Of course the film is about a married couple, but it is even more about the relationship we have with the Lord. Are we choosing to love Him, even when we don't feel like it? When we can't see His face, or feel His presence, or when we just don't know if He is even speaking to us. We much choose love. We must choose life, everyday making choices to let God know that we love Him. It's a slightly strange concept to me, but God made us so that He would have a companion, so why wouldn't we need to continually show our devotion to Him.

In the movie, Caleb made a decision to do what His father requested - which was to go through this book called "The Love Dare". His heart wasn't in it to begin with, but he was willing to do it for his dad. Somewhere along the way something changed in His heart - and he choose to follow the instructions in order to make his wife know that he loved her. He had to put away the idols in his own life so that nothing would come between them. In the process, Caleb realized that his relationship with God was the same way, that he was turning away from God continually, and that the reason he couldn't love his wife the way she needed to be loved was because he didn't know what true love was. True love isn't a feeling, it is sacrificing yourself, it is putting that person before your own needs.

Truthfully, when Becca asked me to write a bit about my perspective about the movie - you know writing how a movie about marriage could be pertinent to a single person, I thought - well of course it will give me a view of how I should love in the future with my husband. But now I know - the true meaning of the movie was about loving God, truly loving God, putting His will before my own. God has loved us fully - and gave His life for us, to be a Christian is to be like Christ, to do that we need to love Him, truly love Him. The tag line for the movie is "Never leave your partner behind." He doesn't ever leave us behind - can we say the same?

my desires

Sometimes - even when I feel that my desires are starting to become more about God's will, it turns out that maybe I'm not as close to His will as I hoped...
Let me explain, I thought that God opened a door for me to go to my favorite place on earth this year, I could get off from work - there was going to be a way on the other end for me to work through the time I was way, and I had the funds... So God was opening the door - right?
Well then I get a stipulation - you have to travel with someone else.... but no one else is going when it would help me!!! - So this is the point where if my desire is really for God's will - I would just lay it down and not worry about it. But I'm really sad that I can't go... so I'm working on really just surrendering my desires to God's infinantly more wise will.
Well - God knows more than me even when I think I'm pretty smart... ;)

this obviously isn't a photo of me - but rather one of my very best friends - Drew... but I thought it was appropriate!