I’ve got so much to thank Him for

So my friend over at Amazing Things Can Happen truly inspired me to examine my life on a deeper level yesterday. She has challenged everyone to thank God for the hardest times in their lives. This is in fact, no easy feat. We like to tell people who are going through hard times “God has a plan”, “trust God”, or “something good will come of it”. But do we implement that thought process when we ourselves are going through rough times in our lives?

Along with her challenge, she is posting examples from her categories. You can read the entire post about the Give Thanks Challenge here. I plan to follow her in this journey so that God can shine the light on the ‘bad’ experiences I’ve had in my life.

“I’ve got so much to thank Him for
So much  to praise Him for
You see He has been so good to me
When I think of what he’s done
And where He brought me from
I’ve got so much to thank Him for.”

This week I have done nothing but complain. I’ve been working 2 jobs and am trying desperately to find someone to replace me at my 2nd job so that I can spend more time with my son. I’ve been so tired lately because I feel like I’ve done nothing but work. I don’t have any energy to play with my son in the evenings, my house is topsy turvy, and I’ve not fed my family a decent meal but once this week.

Yesterday I began to basically wallow in self pity as I looked around the cyclone I currently call home. God spoke to my heart. It was as if he said, you have a home, and a warm place to sleep. I realized those dirty dishes meant we all have full bellies. The laundry strown everywhere means I have clothes to wear. My son going crazy playing in the living room floor. He’s healthy. My tiredness means he’s given me the strength to work all week.  And those 2 jobs He allowed me to have means we can provide for our son. It wasn’t so long ago I didn’t have a job at all, let alone 2 to complain about.

It is only human to complain and gripe about these things, but to let myself get to that deep dark place where I only complain is only giving the devil victory over my life. I want to thank GOD for all he’s done for me this week! I am blessed beyond measure and if no one sees anything else in my life, I want them to see God and all his glory!

Don’t forget to head on over to Amazing things can happen and join in the give thanks challenge!  I will be over there joing in this challenge this month! She also has some other “Amazing” stories about her personal miracles!

Blue light special!

So I’ve had a dead tag on my car since July. It is now November. I guess it’s about time for that one to catch up with me. Yesterday while on my journey to work I finally got pulled over.

Everyone suddenly becomes a great driver who is extremely safety conscious at all times…. why is this? I do it myself, you see the police, you check your speed and sometimes some people are trying to buckle up settle the kids down, put their phone up and so on… we even pray they don’t notice we have a dead tag….

How many times do we do the same thing when we see the preacher out in public? Or church folks? How many times are we careless until we feel someone is watching us? Then we try to clean up and look like everything is right real quick like they’ll never notice.

Friend, the harsh reality is unlike a state trooper, God watches us always. He knows our every move, our every thought, even when we are asleep, he sees ALL.  The good news is, he knew how rotten we were BEFORE he walked up Calvary BUT he did it ANYWAY!

I know my last post was extremely similar but I’ve had this on my heart for a while, God has shown me I need to clean up my life more and live every day like it’s my last because it just may be. This thing is not going to last much longer!

How clean is your bathtub?

While sitting here drinking my coffee and getting my day in order this morning, my mind wandered back….
I remember talking with a friend. It was a great conversation, about visiting family members and how no one has time for much of that any more… then she said something that shocked me.

“When I use someone’s bathroom I always pull the curtain back to see how nasty the bathtub is.”

My first thought was, why in this world would you do that? And who cares?
Now, I’m sure I’m the only person who does this, but if unexpected company shows up at my door and my bathroom is a mess I throw the towels, toys, and/or dirty clothes in my bathtub and close the curtain. It never occurred to me that someone would pull that curtain back and look to see what’s in there.
This made me wonder as Christians, how many times do we try to hide our ‘pet’ sins from others. Of course God knows all and sees all but how many times are we the only Bible some people read? And they see those things that we think we have hidden? but they’re peeking around the curtain looking to see how clean we really are?
I’m afraid I fail at this daily. We all say and do things that we shouldn’t on a daily basis….let’s face it, we’re imperfect.  But we all have those things that we know are wrong or are getting in the way of us doing right that were not so keen to remove from our lives…
We need to make a conscious effort to always keep our lives in a shape so that we don’t have to try to hide the clutter. This made me very aware that I can try to hide the clutter in my life but there will always be someone pulling back that curtain to see what’s there….

Now, as far as my bathtub goes…yeah I’ll probably still be hiding stuff there 🙂

The Greatest Gifts cannot be wrapped.

“On that resurrection morning, when all the dead in Christ shall rise. I’ll have a new body. Praise the Lord, I’ll have a new life, eternal.”

I’ve contemplated starting a blog for sometime now. I feel like this would be an effective way to de-stress and relax in the evenings while keeping me sane all at the same time!

I am first and foremost a child of God, then a mother, then a wife, and finally a nurse.

I am a pretty random person, so to say this blog will have a specific content, I cannot. But I can say that it will include my random crazy thoughts, personal beliefs, and general child rearing struggles….along with whatever else may pop into my mind! 🙂

So to begin this wonderful journey, I would like to share my testimony.

I was in the 11th grade, I felt like I was on top of the world! A+ student, dual enrolled at the local community college and getting a jump start on my career. I thought I had it all… I was taking  a psycology class at the college which was currently teaching totally and completely against my raising. I had been raised in church somewhat, but not consistently until about the 7th grade. I thought the Lord had saved me when I was a young child, but I had never felt conviction, just someone asking me to repeat after their parayer and BAM! you’re in. I was also in an English class with a new teacher who made fun of Christians. She actually requested that the class hel her make fun of Christians one day. I was under conviction…. if you’ve ever been there, you know what I’m taking about.

I questioned the very existance of God. I wondered if these teachers were right while simultaneously being scared to death that I would die at any given moment. If I were to die I would inevitably lift my eyes in a firey Hell, because nothing I had ever done could warrant going to Heaven. I had nightmares for a week. I was afraid to sleep for fear I wouldn’t awaken. I sat through church that Wednesday night scared and what I thought at the time ‘confused’. Sunday morning was no different. By the time sunday night rolled around, I was a nervous wreck. I dont remember what the preacher preached on. All I remember was them singing “I’ll be waiting at the River for You”. I tried and tried to visualize that river, but nothing….My heart was beating out of my chest and I knew it was the Holy Spirit telling me I was lost and I had to be saved. It felt like an eternity standing there gripping the back of that pew. The first step to that alter was the hardest to make. After the first step I really couldnt tell you how I got there. But I did. I knelt in the alter and begged God to save me. (I dont know about you but Heaven was just a plus for me at the time all I wanted to do was avoid Hell).On that Sunday night in the Spring, Jesus saved me. This is the greatest gift I have ever recieved in my life. It didnt cost me a dime, and no one can take it away. Without my Jesus I would have no hope and no purpose for my life!

Since this wonderful night, there have been ups and downs in my life. God has blessed me with a Husband and a wonderful little boy (years later of course).  We go through hard times just like everyone else, the only difference is, we have the Lord to help us through it all. He has never let me down!