To God be the Glory by Fanny Crosby

To God be the glory, great things He has done;

So loved He the world that He gave us His Son,
Who yielded His life an atonement for sin,
And opened the life gate that all may go in.

Refrain

Praise the Lord, praise the Lord,
Let the earth hear His voice!
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord,
Let the people rejoice!
O come to the Father, through Jesus the Son,
And give Him the glory, great things He has done.

O perfect redemption, the purchase of blood,
To every believer the promise of God;
The vilest offender who truly believes,
That moment from Jesus a pardon receives.

Refrain

Great things He has taught us, great things He has done,
And great our rejoicing through Jesus the Son;
But purer, and higher, and greater will be
Our wonder, our transport, when Jesus we see.

Refrain

Isaiah 51/Sobering thoughts

I have been married for 18 1/2 years to a man who was raised Roman Catholic by the couple who adopted him when he was 7 years old. Not only am I not Roman Catholic, but I am also his second wife. As a result, I have never been accepted by his family, nor apparently are our children.

Through the years, some very unkind things have been said to me, and done to me, things that have been very hurtful. Monday night I was very upset over another hurtful thing done, this time to my daughters and I. As I was crying out to the Lord, He brought me to Isaiah 51. That chapter has brought great comfort to me since then. Just a few minutes ago, as I was continuing to be hurt by this, I took it to the Lord, and as I was reading Isaiah 51:6, I had some very sobering thoughts regarding my mother in law and I was humbled.

Isaiah 51:6

Isaiah 51:6 Lift up your eyes to the heavens,
and look at the earth beneath;
for the heavens vanish like smoke,
the earth will wear out like a garment,
and they who dwell in it will die in like manner;
but my salvation will be forever,
and my righteousness will never be dismayed.

The Lord did not HAVE to save me, he CHOOSE to save me through election, me - a filthy sinner. My sins are covered by the blood of Jesus, but hers are not. She is nearing her 90's, and has been a Roman Catholic her entire life. She THINKS she is saved.

Proverbs 14:12 There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death.

For the first time, I am truly grieved that she is lost. She is going to have to pay the penalty for her sins. This is heartbreaking - to have her think that she has been saved her whole entire life, when in reality she is lost. By the grace of God, I have a Redeemer, she doesn't.

As I read further, the grief became worse with the next verse.

Isaiah 51:7-8

Isaiah 51:7 “Listen to me, you who know righteousness,
the people in whose heart is my law;
fear not the reproach of man,
nor be dismayed at their revilings.

Isaiah 51:8 For the moth will eat them up like a garment,
and the worm will eat them like wool;
but my righteousness will be forever,
and my salvation to all generations.”

I am humbled that the Lord would save me, and I will continue to pray for her salvation, because there is always hope that He will save her. I will continue to pray for her until the day she dies, praying that the Lord will save her, the rest of his family, and my own family.

I can rest in the Lord, and trust Him that He is working all of this out for my good, and His glory. It's also humbling to know that the Lord cares for me, and will take care of my enemies.

Romans 8:28-39

Romans 8:28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.


Romans 8:29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.


Romans 8:30 And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.

Romans 8:31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?

Romans 8:32 He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?

Romans 8:33 Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies.

Romans 8:34 Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.

Romans 8:35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?

Romans 8:36 As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long;
we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”

Romans 8:37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.

Romans 8:38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers,

Romans 8:39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

I cannot deny these things are still hurtful to me, but now I know that I need to look beyond my hurts, and look to this lost woman who, unless she repents and turns from her sins, and places her trust in Jesus Christ for eternal life, she will die lost, and spend an eternity in hell. And the times that I start feeling that hurt rise up again, I will pray for her, and turn to Isaiah 51 for comfort. I will also remember, as my pastor reminded me, that Jesus was rejected also.

Memorial Day - Observing it today, the TRADITIONAL day

If my parents were still alive today, they would be celebrating their 61st wedding anniversary. They purposely chose Memorial Day (the traditional day - May 30th) to get married on. Here is a good link about the History of Memorial Day. The day has since been changed to the last Monday in May to ensure a three day weekend for Federal holidays. That is NOT what Memorial Day is to be about. It isn't about getting a day off from work, having a three day weekend, cooking out, etc. Instead, Memorial Day was originally meant to be a day to "set aside one day out of the year for the nation to get together to remember, reflect and honor those who have given their all in service to their country". If you believe that we should get back to honoring those who have given their lives in service to our country, there is a petition you can sign here.

I'm thankful to those who were willing to serve our country, and who lost their lives as a result. I thank those who have willing served our country, and all of those who are serving now. Let's remember to pray for our troops, and to pray for their families as well.

The below videos are in honor of those who gave their lives for our country, to those who were in the military, and to those who are serving now. I post them also in honor of Jaron Holliday, the son of a lady I was on a list with, who was killed in Iraq on August 4, 2007, and the first video is a tribute to him.









Please watch all four of the videos, the last two are two different ones of Lee Greenwood's song, God Bless the USA. The last two I could not choose between because they were both equally good.

Thank you to the troops who are serving now, and to those who have served our country in the past.

Also, in honor of my dad, Charles A. Brown, Jr., who was retired from the United States Navy.

Dad, I'm still a proud Navy brat.

UPDATE: My younger daughter and I just got back from a cemetery, where we put small flags on each grave of those who served our country, at least until our flags ran out. I hope this will become a tradition for us. Those men who fought in wars caused me even more to be glad that I am an American, and dare I say a proud American. One reason I am proud is because of those who have willingly served our country, some losing their lives.

Tea time with my daughters

Today has been an enjoyable day. For quite some time now, my home hasn't been a pleasant place to be in but today it was so nice. There hasn't been arguing all day. We had a tea time together, something we haven't done in a long time. We got all dressed up, and wore hats. I got out the tea set they and my husband bought me for Christmas in 2005. My younger daughter's birthday was May 21st, and we had some left over cake. Brooke and I had peppermint tea, while Heather had iced sweet tea. I didn't eat the cake, but I had cheese cubes with mine, which surprisingly enough, was good together. The girls had the cake, and then ate some cheese cubes. I wish my camera battery had been charged because I would have taken pictures. After we had eaten, and they were still drinking tea, I read Chapter One of the book by called Beautiful Girlhood. I have the book but here is the link for it online, this is the book by Mabel Hale.

We plan to have these little tea parties (as we call them) during the week when my husband is at work.

I have some books lined up that I'd like to go through them. One of the bible studies I want to go through with them is by Susan Hunt. It is for both teens and pre-teens and is based on two books, both by Susan Hunt. The two books needed to do the study (for the leader only) are The True Woman, and Spiritual Mothering. Both books are cheaper at Amazon but you can read excerpts of the books if you click on the links on each title. I am almost finished reading The True Woman and highly recommend it. I will start on Spiritual Mothering after I finish The True Woman.

The other books I plan to go through with them, and not necessarily in this order, are:

Beautiful Girlhood by Mable Hale, and the updated version by Karen Andreola

Raising Maidens of Virtue by Stacy McDonald

Girltalk by Carolyn Mahaney and her daughter, Nicole Whitacre

The Look: Does God Really Care What I Wear? by Nancy Leigh Demoss

We have started things like this in the past, but never followed through because at the time I don't think they were interested. They are now 15 yrs. old and 10 yrs. old and I'm praying that this time we will be consistent, faithful, and successful.

A Tribute to Maria Sue Chapman video

I saw this video at Kim's blog, Lifesong. I wanted to post it here as well so that it will always be here for me to go back to. My heart breaks for the Chapman's, and I won't forget the date since my daughter turned 10 years old on that day. The video left me in tears, it's a wonderful tribute to a beautiful little girl.

Heart issues

As you guys know, I haven't written a post since February 17th. The reasons are many, one of which is that I was too heavy hearted to post much about anything. During this break, I've been studying biblical womanhood, as well as sins of the tongue. I'm not through studying either of these issues, but I have learned some things.

I'm reading the book, War of Words, Getting to the Heart of Your Communication Struggles, by Paul David Tripp. On page 54, he posted the following verses:

Luke 6:43 For there is not a good tree that produces bad fruit, nor a bad tree that produces good fruit.

Luke 6:44 For each tree is known from its own fruit. For they do not gather figs from thorns, nor do they gather grapes from a bramble bush.

Luke 6:45 The good man brings forth good out of the good treasure of his heart. And the evil man brings forth evil out of the evil treasure of his heart, for his mouth speaks out of the abundance of his heart.

Luke 6:46 And why do you call Me Lord, Lord, and do not do what I say?

On page 55 he says "If we are going to understand our trouble with words, we must begin with the heart. Our tongues are a restless evil because the 'heart is deceitful above all things and who can cure it?' (Jeremiah 17:9). Word problems reveal heart problems. The people and situations around us do not make us say what we say; they are only the occasion for our hearts to reveal themselves in words."

There are those who in my household who do all they can to provoke me to anger, and when I do get angry, they gloat with their little smile. It's so easy to blame them for causing me to become angry, when in reality, they can't make me angry. I get angry because of the ugliness in my own heart. That isn't a very pretty picture of what's in my heart. Yet, it gives me a reason to rejoice. I don't want to be in the situation I am in, and have fought against it for nearly twenty years, until last week when I finally gave it all up, and surrendered it all to the Lord. The battle became more fierce within me for the past year or so.

And, then today I read that piece I quoted above. I have reason to rejoice because:

Romans 8:28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

Romans 8:29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.


Romans 8:30 And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.

Romans 8:31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?

Romans 8:32 He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?

Romans 8:33 Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies.

Romans 8:34 Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died--more than that, who was raised--who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.

Romans 8:35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?

Romans 8:36 As it is written, "For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered."

Romans 8:37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.

Romans 8:38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers,

Romans 8:39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

It surely isn't by choice that I am going through the things that I am in my home life, but rather God's, and He has a plan and a purpose. It is all for His glory, and my good. And if this is what it takes for Him to conform me into the image of Christ, I will say with Jesus, through tears, with many more I'm sure to be shed:

Luke 22:41 And he withdrew from them about a stone's throw, and knelt down and prayed,

Luke 22:42 saying, "Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done."

I also cling to these words, and find hope and encouragement through them:

2 Corinthians 1:1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, To the church of God that is at Corinth, with all the saints who are in the whole of Achaia:

2 Corinthians 1:2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

2 Corinthians 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort,

2 Corinthians 1:4 who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.

2 Corinthians 1:5 For as we share abundantly in Christ's sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too.

2 Corinthians 1:6 If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; and if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we suffer.

Psalm 84 is an encouragement to me also, especially verse 10:

Psalm 84:10 For a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness.

I close with this hymn by Karolina Sandell-Berg called Day by Day. I had never heard it before last week when we sang it in church. It has become my lifeline.

DAY BY DAY

Day by day, and with each passing moment,
Strength I find, to meet my trials here;
Trusting in my Father’s wise bestowement,
I’ve no cause for worry or for fear.
He Whose heart is kind beyond all measure
Gives unto each day what He deems best—
Lovingly, its part of pain and pleasure,
Mingling toil with peace and rest.

Every day, the Lord Himself is near me
With a special mercy for each hour;
All my cares He fain would bear, and cheer me,
He Whose Name is Counselor and Power;
The protection of His child and treasure
Is a charge that on Himself He laid;
“As thy days, thy strength shall be in measure,”
This the pledge to me He made.

Help me then in every tribulation
So to trust Thy promises, O Lord,
That I lose not faith’s sweet consolation
Offered me within Thy holy Word.
Help me, Lord, when toil and trouble meeting,
Ever to take, as from a father’s hand,
One by one, the days, the moments fleeting,
Till I reach the promised land.

HOW FIRM A FOUNDATION

How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord,
Is laid for your faith in His excellent Word!
What more can He say than to you He hath said,
You, who unto Jesus for refuge have fled?

In every condition, in sickness, in health;
In poverty’s vale, or abounding in wealth;
At home and abroad, on the land, on the sea,
As thy days may demand, shall thy strength ever be.

Fear not, I am with thee, O be not dismayed,
For I am thy God and will still give thee aid;
I’ll strengthen and help thee, and cause thee to stand
Upheld by My righteous, omnipotent hand.

When through the deep waters I call thee to go,
The rivers of woe shall not thee overflow;
For I will be with thee, thy troubles to bless,
And sanctify to thee thy deepest distress.

When through fiery trials thy pathways shall lie,
My grace, all sufficient, shall be thy supply;
The flame shall not hurt thee; I only design
Thy dross to consume, and thy gold to refine.

Even down to old age all My people shall prove
My sovereign, eternal, unchangeable love;
And when hoary hairs shall their temples adorn,
Like lambs they shall still in My bosom be borne.

The soul that on Jesus has leaned for repose,
I will not, I will not desert to its foes;
That soul, though all hell should endeavor to shake,
I’ll never, no never, no never forsake.

This was taken from the site, Cyber Hymnal.

Thoughts on Psalm 20:4

Since being sick with the flu I was behind with my reading the Bible through plan that our church is doing. I was able to catch up with my reading this morning, and this Psalm was last. This is my prayer for you.

Psalm 20:1 To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. May the LORD answer you in the day of trouble! May the name of the God of Jacob protect you!

Psalm 20:2 May he send you help from the sanctuary and give you support from Zion!

Psalm 20:3 May he remember all your offerings and regard with favor your burnt sacrifices! Selah.

Psalm 20:4 May he grant you your heart's desire and fulfill all your plans!

Psalm 20:5 May we shout for joy over your salvation, and in the name of our God set up our banners! May the LORD fulfill all your petitions!

Psalm 20:6 Now I know that the LORD saves his anointed; he will answer him from his holy heaven with the saving might of his right hand.

Psalm 20:7 Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.

Psalm 20:8 They collapse and fall, but we rise and stand upright.

Psalm 20:9 O LORD, save the king! May he answer us when we call.

As I was reading over this Psalm again just now, I thought I would share something about verse 4 that I learned within the past year. Here is verse 4 again:

Psalm 20:4 May he grant you your heart's desire and fulfill all your plans!

Back in 1995 I was going through a difficult time, which continues today. I have my old Bible from that time, and it was one that I frequently wrote notes in, as well as highlighted many verses in. Our family was going to an Assemblies of God church at the time, and I was heavily steeped in their theology. When I read verses like verse 4 above, I thought it meant what "my" heart's desires were, and that He would fulfill all of "my" plans. The key word there being "my." I had no idea my life was to be lived to the glory of God, nor that when I became a believer it wasn't about "me" and what "I" wanted, but that it was all about God, and what HE wanted. I need to insert here that during that time I believed myself to be a believer when in reality I was not. I came to realize after I was saved that God DOES grant us our heart's desires and fulfill our plans because as Christians our lives are no longer our own, and it is no longer our wills we want, and our ways, but HIS. That was simple, yet profound for me when I grasped that.

A Christmas Story - A Triple Dog Dare You

I came across this on Fox News a few minutes ago. If any of you have watched the movie, A Christmas Story, with Peter Billingsley as Ralphie, you will get a good laugh at this article. I have a 9 year old daughter, and can't imagine her doing something like this. Here is the link, but I don't know how long it will be on there.

Indiana Boys Left With Bleeding Tongues After Licking Flagpole

Saturday, January 26, 2008

CHESTERTON, Ind. — Two fourth-grade boys mimicking a scene from the movie "A Christmas Story" wound up with their tongues stuck to a frozen flagpole.

Gavin Dempsey and James Alexander were serving on flag duty at Jackson Elementary School Friday morning, with the job of raising and lowering the school's flags. They decided to see if their tongues really would stick to the cold metal.

"I decided to try it because I thought all of the TV shows were lies, but turns out I was wrong," Gavin said.

Karen Alexander, James' mother , said her son told her he got the idea from the movie, which is based on stories about a boy growing up in the northwest Indiana community of Hammond in the 1940s.

"I can't believe he did it, but they learned their lesson," she said.

James said he plans to eat a lot of ice cream to help nurse his wound.

"When you're young, you're just messing around," he said.

Billie Dempsey, Gavin's mom, said a nurse called them to tell them the boys' tongues were bleeding.

"The nurse asked them, 'OK, who double-dog dared who?"' Billie Dempsey said, a reference to a phrase that a character in the movie used to dare another child to stick his tongue to the pole.

Hailey Pictures/Evangelism.

Here is a picture of our daughter in law, and granddaughter that was taken at Christmas.



Our son and daughter in law will be married ten years in February, and we are very blessed to have her in our family. They've been together since they were in high school. Our son came over with the baby today, and I laughed and told him this is a big year for both of us. He'll turn 30 in March, while I will turn 50 in May.

Our church is taking the School of Biblical Evangelism class from The Way of the Master. We just finished up the third week, and it's been an exciting class so far. Years ago I took Evangelism Explosion in an Assemblies of God church believe it or not. I learned alot from EE, and it was a good program, but for me it was hard to implement. I'm finding The Way of the Master easier. I've even been successful with memorizing bible verses so for, and for that I thank the Lord.

Ray Comfort and Kirk Cameron teach the law and the gospel. Until someone understands the bad news, they will never understand the good news. I look forward to implementing more of what I'm learning.

In the first lesson, they had three questions they wanted us to ask at least two others. I'm going to throw the questions out there, and would be interested in your responses. I'll list the questions, along with my answers.

1. Do you share your faith regularly? No

Do you go out of your way to verbally share the gospel with strangers? No

2. If not, is there any reason why you don't? Yes

3. What is the main reason you don't share your faith more often? The main reason is fear - the fear of saying the wrong thing, and the fear of not being able to answer their questions. Another thing is that I seem to run into JW's and Mormons.

I also used the excuse that because I am a housewife, I don't encounter people often. It's an excuse because I DO get out. It's not like I'm locked up in my house day after day, I do go to the grocery store, and places like that.

So, what are your thoughts, and answers?

To God Be the Glory

To God be the glory, great things he hath done!
So loved he the world that he gave us his Son,
Who yielded his life an atonement for sin,
And opened the life gate that we may go in.

Praise the Lord, praise the Lord,
Let the earth hear his voice!
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord,
Let the people rejoice!
O come to the Father through Jesus the Son,
And give him the glory, great things he hath done!

O perfect redemption, the purchase of blood!
To ev'ry believer the promise of God;
The vilest offender who truly believes,
That moment from Jesus forgiveness receives.

Great things he hath taught us, great things he hath done,
And great our rejoicing through Jesus the Son;
But purer, and higher, and greater will be
Our wonder, our transport, when Jesus we see.

Raising Teens

My daughters and I did surprise my husband the night before his birthday. It didn't go exactly like we had planned, but it went well enough. He was very surprised and when the girls jumped out of the car and yelled SURPRISE, he was looking for whoever it was visiting us, lol. We're enjoying this car very much.

Now on to what's been on my mind lately. Raising children is not easy, and so many times I feel like I'm just floundering, especially now that we're raising a teen, with a younger daughter watching, and following, her example. And I just happen to be seen as Mrs. Mean Mom, and that's not an easy thing to be seen as. I guess you could say I've been in the Woe is Me state of mind lately, and having quite a pity party. I'm not quite sure that I actually was, but I do know the Lord gave me much encouragement this morning in that whatever it is I'm doing, I'm on the right track. I still feel like I'm failing in so many areas, but I did find myself encouraged this morning.

I searched online to see if I could find something that might help me in raising my daughters, and I came across a very good article on parenting teens on the NANC site with excellent articles. It was a most convicting article for me to read. Here is a link to the article, and just a portion of the article itself:

The Bible tells us how frequently God displayed His awesome power and majesty in the Old Testament. How He showed His love and concern for His people in His one-sided covenants, knowing that we would fall, but He would be true to His Word. He knew that we would frequently reject His counsel and then need to come back to Him and repent. We know,
understand and appreciate all this as long as it is about others, or even us -- just not
our children. Please, God, not our children. We have raised them better and they don’t
appreciate “how much we have done for them.”Beloved mom and dad, (I hate to tell
you this, but...) one sinner marries another sinner and they produce little sinners. I could go on. I could probably make you thoroughly depressed and anxious if I discussed all the counseling cases I have had with rebellious teens and their parents. The forces we are fighting against are
incredible. The evil that our teens are exposed to can literally overwhelm them. So much so that, by the time most parents come in to see me about their children, they are hopeless and reflect the countenance of the Proverb that says, “Hope deferred maketh a heart sick”
(Proverbs 13:12).

The highlighted part seemed to hit me the hardest, although the entire article was helpful, but convicting. Lately I've been dealing with a lot of disrespect from them, and even outright telling me no on some things. This morning I had a talk with them, (and they were bored to tears) and the talk was more like the highlighted part, a woe is Mom kind of talk.

I've been thinking about getting a couple of books by Paul Tripp, one is Age of Opportunity, and the other one is War of Words. Have any of you read those two books, and would you recommend them?

I tried to correct the paragraph that isn't lined right, but I couldn't fix it, but I'm leaving it that way.

Psst - Let Me Tell You a Secret - Shhhhhhh

I have been keeping a secret from my husband since last Thursday afternoon. I kept it from my daughters until yesterday. This little secret has not been easy to keep. I told only one other person, my online friend Mrs. Cheese (teehee).

Last Thursday was one of the best days I have had in a long time. I went out to lunch with a friend, and you can read about that here. In that same post, I told you I had a surprise for my husband. I'll let you in on this little secret, which he'll find out about tonight.

After I got home, I got a call from another friend of mine from church. She told me that her father had a car that he was GIVING away because he was buying another one. He asked if she knew anyone who needed a car, and she immediately thought of us. We have an old 1989 minivan that is on it's last legs, and it was the only car we had. The power steering went completely out during the summer and I was unable to drive it, my husband can but it's getting more and more difficult for him. So, I have been unable to drive for a long, long time. The window on the passenger side, my side, would not roll down, and the air conditioning had broken down last spring. So it was one long, hot summer. Because of all of that, I just stopped going anywhere and rarely left the house. We were planning on buying a used car with our tax money sometime in the middle of February. So we were in desperate need of another car. Another thing is that our van had only lap belts in the backseat that my daughters used. Whenever we went anywhere I trusted the Lord that He would protect them.

My friend and I made arrangements for yesterday, that she was going to pick me and the girls up in the morning to pick our new car up. I still had not told the girls, but I did tell them I had a surprise for them. I sort of blew it when we got near her house because I said something like "so when I leave, I turn right, right?", and my older daughter, being the smart girl that she is, picked up on that. What was pretty funny though is the girls were sitting on the couch, and Toni gave them a late Christmas present. They opened it up, and it was those Lifesavers in a book things, and my younger daughter looked like "that's it, that's the surprise?", lol. When Toni's father pulled up, I told the girls to get up to come see our new car. Brooke, my younger daughter's eyes got big, and her mouth was open wide. She was so surprised and just couldn't believe it. She has been praying for the Lord to provide another car for us, and this has been such a good faith builder for her. Heather was surprised too, but Brooke's expression was priceless!

Our new car is a 1992 Chrysler Fifth Avenue New Yorker, and it is absolutely beautiful! It rides so nicely, and I absolutely love it. It is in excellent condition, and I am so thankful, and grateful to the Lord for blessing us in this way. I pray He will bless Toni's parents too. They are so sweet, her dad reminds me of my late father. If I can figure out how to do the disk to the computer from my new digital camera, I will take a picture of the car and post it.

I parked the car out front, almost to our next door neighbor's. Having a car parked there is not unusual because sometimes our neighbors have friends who park there. So, here's the plan for telling my husband. We're all going to go out tonight, and the girls are going to go out to the car first and hide, and I'm going to sidetrack him while they do that. They're going to get into our new car, and when my husband and I come out, we'll go to the van, he's going to open my door (like he always does), he'll look in and see that the girls aren't there. Then, the girls are going to open the car door and yell SURPRISE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tomorrow is his birthday, and so this car is a combination late Christmas present for all of us, and an early birthday present for him. It's going to be our family car.

You guys just don't know how thankful I am - both to the Lord and to Toni's parents.

An Enjoyable Day

I went to lunch today with a good friend of mine from church, and we had such a good time. It was so nice to be able to do that. I enjoy her company, and I have not done anything like that in a long time.

My husband's birthday is coming up on the 11th, and boy have I got a surprise for him, Lord willing. And, no it doesn't have anything to do with babies, or anything like that, lol. So if anyone from church is reading this, or anyone else who knows him, shhhh don't tell him. All I can say is I have heard of things like this happening, but never to us, but it will be truly a blessing.

I'm reading Winnie the Pooh to my younger daughter, and tonight we read about Pooh and Piglet's encounter with a Heffalump, which is one of our favorite chapters. I may be an adult but Winnie the Pooh is a favorite of mine, all of the books by A. A. Milne.

I read to my younger daughter every night before she goes to bed, and I need to find something that I can do with my older daughter. She's 14 years old, and one of the things we have in common is a love of theology.

We've been going to our church for over two years, almost three years. We've been praying that the Lord would bring a girl around her age to our church, and He did that a couple of weeks ago. Her name is Elizabeth, and she's 15 years old. That was such a praise report.

I did get a call from our son today telling us that our granddaughter has pneumonia. He said our daughter in law noticed that she was not being herself, so she took her temperature. It was around 101.9 so they took her to the doctor, and was told she had the pneumonia. They put her on antibiotics, and thankfully, she is doing much better now, and that is another praise report.

Thoughts on Trials

While thinking about trials this morning, I read the following verses from James:

James 1:2 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds,

James 1:3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.

James 1:4 And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

We're told to "count it all joy" when we go through trials. I don't know about you, but I have to admit I have been anything but joyful while going through these trials. It hit me hard this morning that my less than joyful attitude is sin. It shows a lack of trust in the Lord, a lack of trust that He knows what He is doing, and of what He wants to accomplish in my life. I'm sure I've been aware before this that my less than joyful attitude was sin, but it seemed to just scream out at me this morning. What pride to think that I'm wiser than my Father in Heaven. I had to repent of that attitude.

Tonight, while thinking about it some more, I thought of my granddaughter. As my children did before her when they were babies, she too fights sleep. She fights something that is good for her, something that is best for her, something that she needs. Yet she fights it. Like my granddaughter, and like my children did when they were babies, I fight. I fight against the trials, I fight against them because I don't want these trials. I want my own way. I think I know what's best for me. A little while ago I was reminded of a Rich Mullins song called Hold Me Jesus, except in my case, it's something I, at least in my own mind, think I want.

Well, sometimes my life
Just don't make sense at all
When the mountains look so big
And my faith just seems so small

CHORUS:
So hold me Jesus, 'cause I'm shaking like a leaf
You have been King of my glory
Won't You be my Prince of Peace

And I wake up in the night and feel the dark
It's so hot inside my soul
I swear there must be blisters on my heart

CHORUS

Surrender don't come natural to me
I'd rather fight You for something
I don't really want
Than to take what You give that I need
And I've beat my head against so many walls
Now I'm falling down, I'm falling on my knees

And this Salvation Army band
Is playing this hymn
And Your grace rings out so deep
It makes my resistance seem so thin

CHORUS

You have been King of my glory

A Praise Report of God's Protection

While my heart is still pounding, and it's still fresh in my mind, let me tell you of God's protection towards our family just now.

I was planning to bake a pumpkin pie, so I turned on the oven to get it heated while I got my ingredients together and mixed it up. I needed to open a couple of cans, so after I got my ingredients together, I walked over to the sink. As I walked towards it, I happened to glance at the stove, which had smoke coming out of it. I opened it up, and there was a fire inside the oven. I immediately called my husband into the kitchen, and he blew it out. It was not a small fire inside, and I thank the Lord that He had me walk over there at that time. And I thank Him for His protection. For some reason our smoke alarm didn't go off.

My husband cleaned out whatever it was that caused the fire, so now I'm off to get my pie together and bake it, all the while my heart is still pounding.

Thank You Lord for your protection over our family today.

Happy New Year! The past two days I've been reflecting on the past year, and how the Lord has brought me safely through it. My meditations did include the blessings He bestowed upon our family as a whole, but I wanted to focus here on His mercy and grace towards me.

The past several years have been pretty rough ones for me in many ways, but I see the goodness of the Lord in them too. It is only through His mercy that I am here today. The biggest thing I learned this year was this: "it's not about you, it's about Him," said to me by a very dear online from of mine. Mrs. Cheese knows who she is.

I want to thank Mrs. Cheese because those words were a life saver to me. During those times that I became discouraged, ore even despondent, and I hate to admit this but there were many days I felt like that, and they still come, her words came back to me, and do come back to me, sometimes to haunt me lol. There were times I didn't want to hear that little voice, and wanted it to go away, lol. But, I am so glad she said them to me because they have never failed to bring me hope, and back to my senses.

The trials the Lord has brought into my life, and continues to bring, are not fun, they hurt. But every day I see more and more how the Lord is taking the crutches, ie the idols I had, and still have, in my life, away so that I am left with the ONLY thing that really matters in this life, and that is HIM. Sometimes I don't think I can be crushed anymore, and then boom - there it is again. Through it all, the Lord has proven Himself to be so faithful, full of grace and mercy.

I want to leave you with two things. First, a reminder that it's not about us, it's about HIM, and HIS glory.

Finally, I want to leave you with this to ponder today, and this passage is 1st Chronicles 16:8-37:

1Ch 16:8 Oh give thanks to the LORD; call upon his name; make known his deeds among the peoples!

1Ch 16:9 Sing to him; sing praises to him; tell of all his wondrous works!

1Ch 16:10 Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice!

1Ch 16:11 Seek the LORD and his strength; seek his presence continually!

1Ch 16:12 Remember the wondrous works that he has done, his miracles and the judgments he uttered,

1Ch 16:13 O offspring of Israel his servant, sons of Jacob, his chosen ones!

1Ch 16:14 He is the LORD our God; his judgments are in all the earth.

1Ch 16:15 Remember his covenant forever, the word that he commanded, for a thousand generations,

1Ch 16:16 the covenant that he made with Abraham, his sworn promise to Isaac,

1Ch 16:17 which he confirmed as a statute to Jacob, as an everlasting covenant to Israel,

1Ch 16:18 saying, "To you I will give the land of Canaan, as your portion for an inheritance."

1Ch 16:19 When you were few in number, and of little account, and sojourners in it,

1Ch 16:20 wandering from nation to nation, from one kingdom to another people,

1Ch 16:21 he allowed no one to oppress them; he rebuked kings on their account,

1Ch 16:22 saying, "Touch not my anointed ones, do my prophets no harm!"

1Ch 16:23 Sing to the LORD, all the earth! Tell of his salvation from day to day.

1Ch 16:24 Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous works among all the peoples!

1Ch 16:25 For great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised, and he is to be held in awe above all gods.

1Ch 16:26 For all the gods of the peoples are idols, but the LORD made the heavens.

1Ch 16:27 Splendor and majesty are before him; strength and joy are in his place.

1Ch 16:28 Ascribe to the LORD, O clans of the peoples, ascribe to the LORD glory and strength!
1Ch 16:29 Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name; bring an offering and come before him! Worship the LORD in the splendor of holiness;

1Ch 16:30 tremble before him, all the earth; yes, the world is established; it shall never be moved.

1Ch 16:31 Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice, and let them say among the nations, "The LORD reigns!"

1Ch 16:32 Let the sea roar, and all that fills it; let the field exult, and everything in it!

1Ch 16:33 Then shall the trees of the forest sing for joy before the LORD, for he comes to judge the earth.

1Ch 16:34 Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever!

1Ch 16:35 Say also: "Save us, O God of our salvation, and gather and deliver us from among the nations, that we may give thanks to your holy name, and glory in your praise.

1Ch 16:36 Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting!" Then all the people said, "Amen!" and praised the LORD.