Oh, Come All Ye Faithful

Christmas has come and gone. I love Christmas! I only wish it would snow down here in the south. When I sing "White Christmas" people think of snow. But I think of cotton, white icing, and white fluffy clouds. I know I haven't posted in a while. I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

 

 We had three adorable girls come over and decorate a gingerbread house and make gingerbread cookies.

My nephew "Trey" was really excited about opening his presents.

My dad's side of the family over on Christmas Eve.

My famous peanut butter balls. I made about 115 Christmas week.

My gift to Trey. He loves watching Andy Griffith.

Family photo 2011

My daddy

Turtle cheesecake

I love red roses. God's amazing creation.

My cousin "Kole" and my nephew "Trey" awaiting to open their presents at my Maw Maw's house.

Look what Maw Maw gave us!! They were really excited about this present!!

 

Excerpt from Before You Meet Prince Charming by Sarah Mally

Directions are not any help unless you know not only where you want to end up, but also where you are now. Some young people need a spiritual GPS module to give them some guidance. They have no purpose in life. They do not know what they want to do with their future, how to get there, where they are now, or why then are here. Without purpose in life we wander aimlessly, either allowing slothfulness to take control or finding ourselves "busy" but accomplishing very little.
  Take inventory and ask yourself where you are right now. Why does God have you here? What is His purpose for you today? What is His calling for your life? And how are you going to get to your next destination?
  Maybe you're all confused about your life and have no idea what the Lord's plan if for you. After returning from a Christian conference, I asked the Lord what do you want me to do? I want to serve you Lord. But how? Here is the important point: I didn't know what the Lord had in store for my life, but I DID know that there were some areas in my life which I needed to be obedient. First, there were some people I had wronged, and I knew the Lord wanted me to go and ask their forgiveness. Then there were some spiritual disciplines (such as Bible reading,Scripture memorization, prayer, etc.)  that I knew I needed to more diligently apply in my life. As I began to obey the Lord in these "small" areas, He began to open more and more ministry doors for me.
    It will be the same for you. The Lord usually doesn't show us the whole picture of our life right away, but He is always faithful to show us the next step. Each act of obedience opens new doors of ministry and reveals the next step God wants us to take. This is walking by faith--- trusting the Lord with all your heart, acknowledging Him, and knowing that He will direct our paths. It requires obedience on our part. But we must not think that we can skip any of the steps along the way. Obey now and you will reap the rewards later.
  As a young lady, you probably believe that God is calling you to be a wife and mother. This is a very noble calling. In fact, there is no assignment more important than raising a new generation to serve the Lord. Yet, marriage cannot be your ultimate goal in life. You must have a life purpose bigger than marriage. If you don't, you won't be fully prepared for marriage.
  Of course, I don't mean just any "life purpose." I am definitely not referring to seeking after a career. Our culture, driven by the modern feminist movement, is pressuring us as girls to be a successful in the world's eyes, get graduate degrees, be independent, move up in the business world, have small families, and do men's work.This standard of success that the world pushes does not even compare to the calling God has for your lives as wives and mothers. God made us the be helpers to our husbands and to bear and train little ones for the kingdom of God This far more important and fulfilling than any career could ever be.
  So what do I mean by "a life purpose bigger than marriage"? I mean that our life purpose must be to serve the Lord, to give our entire lives to Him, and to bear much eternal fruit in order to bring God glory (Jn. 15:8). Unless we are focused on this "great work" (Neh. 6:3) for God, we will never be fulfilled in either singleness or marriage.
  There are many people God brings into our paths each day who desperately need the gospel, teaching, and encouragement. Purpose to have a ministry mindset everywhere you go. 

How to make a immodest dress...modest

  I bought the pink dress at a thrift store. It was too short so I wore a black skirt underneath. 

It was too low so I wore a tank top underneath.

I don't wear sleeveless that often so I wore a shrug.

Just a few ideas on how to make an immodest dress...modest.

This is how I wore my hair today.

I got this book today!! I can't wait to read it!!! I really love the story of Bonhoeffer.

God watered the flowers today

Here are a few things that I like to do on a rainy day...

Reading. Learning new words. Using my imagination.

While listening to the rolling of the thunder...

Writing letters to far away friends...

Listening to the raindrops falling...

And writing in my journal. 

 Reading, writing letters, and writing in your journal is just a few ideas to do on a rainy day. It's some of my favorite things to do on a rainy day.

"When wisdom enters your heart, And knowledge is pleasant to your soul, Discretion will preserve you; Understanding will keep you, To deliver you from the way of evil,From the man who speaks perverse things."
Proverbs 2:10-12

 

 

Divided - The Movie

This is a wonderful movie about the church being "divided".  A challenging look at modern youth ministry. I highly recommend it!!

It's only available till Sept. to watch online for free!!  So please watch it NOW! It's worth your time!


http://www.dividedthemovie.com/#watchlink

What is it to be discreet or to have discretion??

         

Websters 1828 Dictionary

Discretion-------

Prudence, or knowledge and prudence; that discernment which enables a person to judge critically of what is correct and proper, united with caution; nice discernment and judgement, directed by circumspection, and primarily regarding one’s own conduct.

Discreet------

Wise in avoiding errors or evil, and in selecting the best means to accomplish a purpose; circumspect; cautious; wary; not rash.

Strong’s Concordance - KJV

Discretion-------

Ps. 112:5 - A good man showeth favour, and lendeth: he will guide his affairs with discretion.

Pr. 1:4 - To give subtlety to the simple, to the young man knowledge and discretion.

      2:11 - Discretion shall preserve thee, understanding shall keep thee:

      3:21 - My son, let not them depart from thine eyes: keep sound wisdom and discretion.

      5:2   - That thou mayest regard discretion, and that thy lips may keep knowledge.

     11:22 - As a jewel of gold in a swine’s snout, so is a fair woman which is without discretion.

     19:11 - The discretion of a man deferreth his anger: and it is his glory to pass over a                      transgression.

Isa. 28:26 - For his God doth instruct him to discretion, and doth teach him.

Jer. 10:12 - He hath made the earth by his power, he hath established the world by his wisdom, and hath stretched out the heavens by his discretion.

Discreet-------

Gen. 41:33,39 - Now therefore let Pharaoh look out a man discreet and wise, and set him over the land of Egypt.-- And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, Forasmuch as God hath shown thee all this, there is none so discreet and wise as thou art.

Tit. 2:5 - To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed.

Discreetly------

Mark 12:34 -  And when Jesus saw that he answered discreetly, he said unto him, Thou are not far from the kingdom of God. And no man after that durst ask him any question.

How does Chinese sound?" I asked as we pulled out of the driveway. "Hey, that's great," Eric replied with his typical enthusiasm. I'd only just met Eric and his wife, Leslie, but has already noticed Eric's exuberance and excitement about everything----- even my restaurant suggestions.
"That all right with you honey?" he gently asked Leslie, who was sitting in the back seat. "Sure," she replied sweetly.
Eric and Leslie had stopped by to visit me during a drive through the Northwest. A friend in Colorado had told me about these newlyweds and the little book they had written. Their book told the story of how they had met and grown to love each other without following the typical pattern of dating.
You'd be hard pressed to find two or more romantic people. They adored each other, and it showed. Eric rarely took his eyes of off Leslie. Sitting in the passenger seat on the way to the restaurant, he slipped his hand behind the seat, and Leslie reached forward and clasped it. Holding hands when one person is sitting in the front seat and the other is in the back? I'd never seen that before.
After dinner, while we cracked open our fortune cookies, I had a question. "You two can't keep your hands off of each other,"I began teasingly. Leslie blushed. "Was it difficult keeping the physical side of your relationship pure while you were engaged?"
Eric took Leslie's hand and smiled at her before he answered. "Of course the desire for that was present---- it always will be," he said. "But no, it wasn't a struggle. Leslie and I decided very early in our relationship that we were going to refrain from physical contact until we were married. Our first kiss was at the alter."
My jaw dropped. "You didn't kiss until you got married?"
"Nope," Eric said, beaming. "The most we did was hold hands. And, Josh, we know that kind of standard isn't for every couple. We didn't make that decision to be legalistic; it came from the heart. Everyone, even our parents, told us we should kiss. But we both decided it was what we wanted to do. It was a way to show our love, to protect each other before we were married." And then with a twinkle in his eye, he said , "Let me tell you, Josh, that first kiss was the most incredible, beautiful thing in the world. I can't even begin to describe it. "

This is an excert from I Kissed Dating Goodbye by Joshua Harris. An excellent book. The book that Eric and Leslie Ludy wrote ( the couple in the story above ) is His Perfect Faithfulness. Another fantastic book!

Do you love Me?... Tend My sheep. John 21:16

"If you love me," says Jesus, "Feed My sheep." "Don't make converts to your way of thinking, but look after My sheep, see that they are nourished in the knowledge of Me." Our Lord's first obedience was to the will of His Father, and He said "As the Father has sent Me, I also send you." It sounds the right thing to say that Jesus Christ came here to help humankind: but His great desire was to do the will of His Father, and our Lord was misunderstood because He would not put the needs of people first. He said the first commandment is "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength."
 Jesus Christ is source of deep offense to the educated trained mind of today that does not want Him in any other way than as a Comrade. Many do not want to be devoted to Him, but only to the cause He started. If I am only devoted to the cause of humanity, I will soon be exhausted and come to the point where my love will falter, but if I love Jesus Christ I will serve humanity, though men and women treat me like a doormat.

Excert from Daily Thoughts for Disciples by Oswald Chambers.

Waiting for Gods best

Waiting can be one of the hardest things to do. Sometimes we want don't want to wait for Gods way but we want to do it our way.  To all you girls who are having a hard time waiting for  to "Prince Charming" here are some keys that may help you.

~ Give up your own dreams and expectations. Actually, you don't have give them up; but rather, exchange them. Exchange your dreams for something far better------ God's perfect plan. Choose to will what God wills ( Matthew 10:39 ).
~ Stop. Be still and know that He is God. Consider the awesome power of the God that you serve. What seems impossible to you is nothing for Him. Be still and watch Him work ( Psalm 46:10 ).
~ Get our a sheet of paper and begin to list the benefits that you are experiencing through this time of waiting. Don't just make a list in your head. It is helpful to actually write out the benefits. Don't stop until you have at least ten benefits on your list.
~ Rejoice in this time of waiting. I know it is hard. It's hard for me too. As I mentioned, waiting is one of the most difficult things God asks us to do. Sometimes it feels like you just can't wait any longer . But struggles and trials are important parts of our lives. Scripture commands us to rejoice in theses time of trials ( James 1:2, 1 Peter 4:12-13).
~Redirect your focus. Don't focus on waiting: focus on the Lord.
~ In the little events of daily life, learn to look to the Lord to supply your needs and carry your burdens. Have the attitude of David who prayed, " On Thee do I wait all the day... My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from Him " ( Psalm 25:5, 62:5).


Excert from Before You Meet Prince Charming by Sarah Mally.