To all the service men and women, WE SOLUTE YOU!!  Thank you for keeping our country safe and for the sacrifice you and your families make.  May God pour down blessings on each one of you. 

Christ the Lord is Risen today!!   Hallelujah!  Today I spent some time reading in all 4 gospels the accounts of the crucifixion.  It was really neat to get all the perspectives.  Though there were differences, they all told the same history, a different perspective.   Christ died to set us free!  That is what Easter is all about.  A sinless, blameless man walked the earth and died a brutal death so that we could be reconciled with God.  We are free, redeemed, adopted, chosen, blessed, loved, accepted and renewed! 

Phoebe has been asking alot about being baptised and becoming a Christ follower.  Last Saturday night a young lady at church accepted Christ and was baptised.  She stood before family and friends and professed the faith she has in Jesus!  Everyone clapped, cheered and sweet Phoebe looked over at me, with a big smile, but in a question stated, “it’s that easy?”  I smiled back and said “yes, it’s that easy, you just have to believe”  Now, I did explain that being a Christian is hard, we are called to be different.  We are not to have worldly standards but live by God’s word, which is Truth.  We are not perfect but strive to be like Jesus.  We have a Savior that we can go to and ask for forgiveness and because of what was done on the cross whatever “it” is..is not remembered.  Thank you Jesus!

 This Easter do you need some renewal?  Do you need a fresh start?  Do you need to follow through with a commitment?  Do you need a change?  What is your need?  Take it to the cross.  Lay it at the base and humbly give yourself and it to God.  He will meet you there. 

I pray that you rejoice in our risen Savior.  The rock is rolled away and Christ is alive!

Ephesians 3:12 

 In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence.

 

Acts 2:24 

But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him

 

Spring is here!  We have had a busy few weeks.  School activities, church activities.   Bible study is coming to a close and boy has it been good!  We have our huge brunch on Thursday.  It is a feast and so delightful.  Such a terrific group of women that are seeking and growing a relationship with Jesus.

With summer coming I thought it would be fun to share tips and ideas for getting in shape, not only physical but spiritually too.   So whenever you see the logo above you will know that’s what we are chatting about.  I just want to toss out what has worked for me.  I am in no way certified, hold no degree’s and do not have any credentials behind my name.  I am just a gal that struggled with her weight, lost the weight (with lots of hard work and lifestyle change) and has maintained the weight.  I also have found that when I am out of bible study, because most studies take a summer break,  I tend to fall into pits.  With that said, let’s share!

First, I want to tell you that I am looking at new habits to toss into my daily schedule.  I don’t want to take things away cold turkey because I know I will fail, but if I implement a new good habit, maybe the old will fade. 

1.  Start drinking more water.  I am an ice tea drinker.  Not sweet tea, I use Truvia.   So I bought a new water bottle and drink 3 bottles a day.  Cut down on my coffee too.

2.  Start a summer bible study.  This is will be a new adventure.  I am going to host and it will be in the evening so dad’s can be with kids.  Gotta stay in God’s word.  It is crucial to our spiritual health and growth.

3.  I have started making smoothies in the afternoon to curb my munchies.  I like to toss in a scoop of protein, good for your muscles.  I found this website with tons Smoothy Recipe’s and this site for other skinny recipes.

4.  Sign up for a 5k.  Now, I am not an outside runner.  I can run on a treadmill but if I run outside I get horrible knee and hip pain.  So I will be briskly walking a 5k.  On the hunt for one in my area. 

5.  Resistance training with weights.  I have really come to enjoy tossing around weights.  I love to challenge myself.  Do you lift weights?  It is the best way to transform you body.   

Again, I am no expert.  I just want to share what I have learned in my journey to get healthy and stay that way. 

Have a wonderful week.  Share what you are going to do to get healthy, in your faith, nutrition and fitness!

I am truly enjoying scripture memorization.  To be honest, I have been terrified to try it.  I always told myself I couldn’t do it.  What a lie!  We can remember songs, passwords, birthdays, anniversaries and more.  If we can remember those things surely with the Lord’s help we can plant scripture deep in our hearts.  It is pleasing to Him.  So here is mine for the 15 of February:

1 Peter 4:10
Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.

That is my prayer right now.  That I discover the gifts that God has given me so  I may serve others, furthering His kingdom and glorifying His name!   This takes some time with Jesus, praying that he reveals the gifts given.  We have to be aware and alert.  We need to have clear minds and eyes to see what is going on in our hearts and lives.  It is a process, but one that I am so excited to be on. 

So what’s your verse for SSMT #4?

Isaiah 42:16 

I will lead the blind by ways they have not known, along unfamiliar paths I will guide them;I will turn the darkness into light before them and make the rough places smooth.
These are the things I will do; I will not forsake them.

I find myself living in fast forward.  Do you?  Always worrying about tomorrow or next week.  I sometimes worry about months down the path.  Recently I was reminded I need to quit trying to do things in my own strength.  I needed to trust Christ and rely on His strength.  I don’t do this deliberately, it’s just habit.  Well, time to make a new habit.  God will light my path.  His word says so.  I get so nervous of not having control that I want a to know what’s going to happen or better yet, I try to control what’s going to happen.  

God tells us he will light the stone that is right in front of us.  Not 20 feet down the path.  We want a floodlight so we can see what’s coming, but think about it.  If we had that than we wouldn’t seek Him.  We could see into the future.  Do you notice that it takes one letter on the word see to change it. 

See

Seek

We need to constantly be seeking Jesus to seeJesus and his ways.  We need to be allowing him to invade our lives, empowering us through his word and equipping us for the journey.  Do we continually project into the future and miss out on the present.  Allow each day to be an adventure with Christ.  It is given freely as a gift.  How are you going to receive it? 

Psalm 119:105 

         Your word is a lamp for my feet,
         a light on my path.

It’s funny, you read someones blog and get a feeling you know them.  I have a few blogs I follow out there in bloggy world getting to peek into someones life, their adventures.  It’s fun, you get ideas, you laugh and sometimes you cry. 

I cried when I read the recent posts on The Simple Wife.  This gal is a mom, homeschooler, wife, friend, sister, daughter and sister in Christ.  Normal is the word that comes to my mind.  About a week ago her 12 year old daughter found her lying beside the treadmill, with it still running, seizing.  She was suffering  a stroke.  Click on the Praying for Joanne button to the right, to read the entire story.  You will need to scroll down to get to the beginning. 

This just broke my heart.  We are never guaranteed anything here on earth.  We live in real time, real world.  We go about our days, sometimes thinking things like this will never happen to us or our family.  Then, it does.  But, but, but…GOD!  God, if we cry out to  Him, reaches down from the heavens and brings people, tons of people to our lives, sometimes people that don’t even know us.  Prayers are lifted up, cards are sent, encouragement given, meals taken, childcare arranged…people are moved to act.   Please click on Joanne’s button and look around.  Pray that whatever God lays on your heart to do, you are obedient.  Don’t let the thinking that you don’t know her play out in your head.  She is a fellow sister in Christ.  Step up, step out and step into action.  

A girlfriend of mine recently started a tween group in her home.  These young gals meet, talk about life, Jesus and just have a good time.  Recently one of the gals, Bizzy, was diagnosed with Non Hodgkin’s Lymphoma.  Again, broken hearted for this young girl and her family.  Please pray for this 6th grader, yes I typed 6th grader.  Once again, no one is immune to catastrophes in life.  The one thing we are confident in is Christ,  his love for us, his provision for us and his grace.  I pray that Bizzy recovers completely and has a platform to tell others what Jesus did and continues to do in her life.  How awesome is that gonna be and just think of the numbers of young people she will influence for His kingdom. 

Lists, we all make them, we all check things off .  Well, I ask that you add these two prayer requests to your list and DON”T check them off.  Continue to cover them in prayer!

This terrific  idea is on this gals blog.   To see the photo’s click on the blog. 

BLESSING BUNTING TUTORIAL:

Materials: sewing machine, double-sided bias tape, scrapbook paper

Step 1: Type up messages on your computer…I divided my document in two columns and ran four scriptures per page. Make sure to allow room at the top of each flag to attach the bias tape.You can also have people hand write messages on the flags.

Step 2: Cut scrapbook paper into 8.5 x 11 inches. This way you can feed it normally through your printer. I varied how I printed the messages. Some I printed over the patterned side, some on the blank side.

Step 3: Cut out the flags.

Step 4: Arrange the flags in the order that you want them sewn. I alternated which side some of the messages appear. So that if we hung it up mid room, you could read things on both sides. Once you have them in the order that you like, stack them up and set them next the sewing machine.
 Step 5: Place your first flag in between the fold of the bias tape. Using zig-zag stitch, stitch across the flag. Immediately put the next flag in place and continue sewing. Repeat until the end.

You’re done! 

Thought this was a great way to make a cold hospital room more cheery.  You could also cut out material in the shape of flags (like a triangle), provide visitors pens and have them write scriptures, prayers and notes.  Some how sew or stitch-witch them together and there you go..TRUTH decorating and covering a room! 

“Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.” – Colossians 4:2

Hi friends,

It has been a while since my last post. Things here have been so busy. School is winding down for the year and we are gearing up for summer!  There are tons of end of school activities.  Plans to  be made for summer.

What summer plans do you have?  We haven’t planned an official vacation but we are looking at some places. Where are you going this summer?  Natalie will be attending a summer day camp twice a week and Phoebe is going to VBS and church camp! She is really excited about church camp. It is only one night (for kindergarten and first graders) but the cool thing is, it is the camp I went to when I was a kid. I have heard it has changed and been updated. When I went we slept in modified barns, having to drape a sheet over the rafters to keep the bugs out. We did have running water for showers and toilets but we saw spiders the size of kittens…of course I haven’t told Phoebe about any of this or she would totally back out. Not a bug liking girl.

I really just want to relax this summer. I don’t want to have my days so planned out that there is no wiggle room. I want to be able to sleep in, rest, spend time with family and friends, enjoy our evenings grilling and just relax. Is that even possible? How do you plan on relaxing this summer?

I love to read. There is a group of gals that’s reading Growing Grateful Kids by Susie Larson.  It is really good and Susie has such a passion for Christ. We are reading 2 chapters a week and hopefully going to be able to meet throughout the summer to chat about what we are reading and learning. I have 6 more books in line to read (not all this summer) but I just placed a book on hold at our local library and can’t wait to get it this upcoming week. It is by the season 5 winner of The Biggest Loser, Ali Vincent. She wrote, Believe it, Be it. I enjoy Biggest Loser and have watched it since season 3.  I will let you know how the book is and be sure to watch the season finale of Biggest Loser Tuesday at 8pm.

Have a great weekend, throw out some tips on having a relaxing, fun summer!  What do you do to make summer memorable?