Dec. 7th

     I love it when God reaffirms something He has put on my heart.  Often, I get these nudgings from Him to do something and for some reason sometimes it is really hard to obey.  Whether it is calling someone, sending a card, donating money...whatever it might be, some of my insecurities or worldly doubts come in to play.  When I do obey, I always feel blessed.  So why is it so hard?  I just don't know. 
     What isn't hard though is when God not only puts it on my heart but on my husbands' as well.  Then I know I had better do it.  And often, when it is something bigger that really affects us both, I will pray that He will have the same desire as mine.  This happened recently.  God put something on my heart and I felt excited to do it when the idea first hit and then I started second guessing whether I really should, if I had the time or the energy, all those excuses we make for ourselves when trying to justify not obeying God.  But then He put it on my husbands heart as well and I knew I couldn't ignore it.
     Through all this, when people ask "how can we be sure that God is real?"  I know from my interactions with Him daily, that He is real, powerful, loving, on our side, protecting us.  And it gives me hope.  Hope despite the difficulties of the world.  Hope for our future in heaven.  I look forward to that day for sure!
(if this post seems a little unorganized, I am tired and have a cranky kid screaming at me so I apologize.)
  

Dec. 5th and 6th

Okay, this weekend, I dropped the ball a little.  But I do have a good excuse.  I was in class most of the weekend and then recuperating what little I had left with my kiddos.
I think last night as I was driving home, utterly exhausted, I just felt grateful to God that He knows our needs.  Some needs we know and some we don't.  Last night for me, it was sleep.  And I got it.  The best night's sleep I had had in a week.  Granted, it was a little less than 7 hours but that was enough somehow for me to feel refreshed. 
Now I am hoping for that same kind of thing tonight.

Dec. 4th

It's late.  I am tired.  I almost forgot about this.  And that is exactly why I am doing this.
Tonight, I feel hopeful.  Even feeling tired, overwhelmed, stressed, I know I have rest and peace in Jesus my Savior.  What an empty life it would be without Him.

Dec. 3rd

Seriously, I am having a week.  A week where I forget what time my son gets out of school.  A week where I almost put a post on my wrong blog.  One that would not go over well with some people who read that blog.  Why this blog is more private.  Anyway, I figured out finally that I posted on the wrong blog, deleted it and now get to type it all over.  Fun times.  And it's only Day 3 (Jesus is the reason, Jesus is the reason...I have to keep saying that to myself)
Here we go:
God's love.  I think people just really don't understand it.  I am not saying I fully understand it myself but it saddens me to think of so many people in our world who live without knowing God loves them.  Today I read a discussion page (on Amazon of all places) where someone brought up the topic "why do Christians pray for Obama to die?" I actually know people who feel that way.  By that, I mean I know strong Christians who feel that way.  Really?? How can someone profess God's love on one hand and pray for the death of another human being on the other? I don't get it. It is easy to try to justify it, I mean there are people like Hitler, Sadam Hussein, Mussolini who were truly horrible people (among many others in history) who brought death and destruction to their countries.  If were under any of them, I might pray for their death.  But I honestly find it hard to believe that Obama is in those categories. But that doesn't really matter does it?  It doesn't matter that they are the most horrible peron on earth or just someone who is misguided.  The truth of the matter is God loves us.  Period.  We are all sinners.  Every...single....one....of....us.  And I truly believe that killing a person is the same as a lie in God's book.  Not in a human book.  Someone who murders should go to prison, someone who lies should not necessarily.  But God loves us all.  Equally.  He loved us enough to send His son as a baby to die for us.  He knew.  He knew His son would eventually be tortured and put to a horrible death.  And He did it anyway.  I don't think that I, as a mother, could do the same.  Could have a baby knowing something like that.  But He did it.  For you.  For me.  For Hitler even.  He did it.
God's love.  Amazing.

Dec. 2nd

This was a busy day for me and I almost forgot to post.  Honestly, if I can't even do 2 days in a row then I am in trouble:-)
I was going to write about my kids (again) but something happened today so will write about the other thing later.  It wasn't anything big, it wasn't even something I officially prayed for.  But it happened.  Like it happens a lot, the small, quiet things.  God took care of me.  So simple really.  But He does it a lot and I think I don't give Him the credit as much as I should. 
I am taking a year long class to get Certified in Manual Therapy which probably doesn't mean much to you but it is a big deal for me.  It is one weekend a month for 10 months.  Yes, 10 months.  One entire weekend.  8-5 on saturday and 8-3 on sunday.  Okay, so no big deal right?  Except that I work, have three kids and along with that comes an abundance of jobs.  One weekend a month is a big chunk of my precious time.  But God opened the door for me to take this class and I know He wants me there.  Did I mention I have to study?  Yes, study because we have quizzes.  So that big chunk of time the class takes is added on to by the studying.  Which I don't really have the energy for and don't make a priority (until the big test in April). 
    I know you are wondering my point here.  I am really tired, sorry.  My point is that on my 10 hour work day, I was scheduled for 12 patients.  How many actually showed?  5.  Times that by approximately 45 minutes and you get less than 4 hours.  What did that leave?  About 5 hours of studying time (I took a break for lunch and a trip to the store).  5 hours of unexpected, have nothing better to do, getting paid for...study time.  What a gift!  God is so good!

Dec 1st

Last night as I went to tuck my beautiful children in for the night, I had an urge to just sit and watch them sleep and then I had an urge to pray over them.  What a gift.  Prayer.  It has not always been my focus and often it has become my last resort.  When I am weary, brokenhearted, despairing - that is when I have found myself crying out to God.  Fortunately more recently it has come to my mind before I get to that point.  It didn't come easy at first, to pray more often, to pray proactively and sometimes, I feel I am just saying the same things over and over.  But with help from a terrific prayer partner and God's leading, I have been praying more and more.  How amazing is it, that our God listens to our prayers, that He answers them, that He never tires of listening to us.  How amazing that He sent His son to be our intercessor!  As I prayed over my children, I was reminded that He loves my them even more than I do and how blessed I am that He watches over them without ceasing.  Surely I can at least attempt the same with talking to my Lord.
"Therefore, let us come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need" Hebrews 4:16

Blog challenge to myself

Over the past month there have been lots of blogs out there celebrating daily what they are thankful for.  I thought I should do something like that but it was already the middle of November and Thanksgiving was coming fast and I realized that it would be more beneficial to me, to try daily blogging in December.  I love Christmas.  It has always been my favorite holiday.  But it is so easy to get caught up in the worldly aspect of Christmas.  Especially because I love to give gifts (I even enjoy receiving them a little:-), send Christmas cards and I love to bake and before I know it, I am stressed out about giving the right gifts, baking enough of something and getting things in the mail...sigh, I hate going to the post office.   And I start losing what Christmas is all about.  So, here is my challenge for the month of December: my daily blog will be something to help me stay focused on Christ.
     I am good at starting up on these challenges I give myself and then not following through so I am hopeful I can do it this time.  We will see.