Some things God is teaching me...

Jeremiah 31:3-4:

"The LORD appeared to us in the past, saying: 'I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness. I will build you up again and you will be rebuilt, O Virgin Israel. Again you will take up your tambourines and go out to dance with the joyful.'"

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1 John 3:1

"How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him."

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Romans 5:3-5

"...but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us."

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John 15:9-11

"'As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.'"

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John 16:27

"'...the Father himself loves you because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God.'"

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"God loves you with an everlasting love...

You are valuable to Him not because of what you do but simply because you are.

His thoughts of you outnumber the sand on the shore...

He lives to hear your heartbeat.

He loves to hear your prayers.

If something is important to you, it's important to Him.

He has never taken His eyes off you--not for a millisecond.

He's always near...

So be kind to yourself.

God thinks you're worth His kindness.

And He's a good judge of character.

He thinks your wonderful."

(excerpts from God Thinks You're Wonderful, Mom! by Max Lucado)

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Life to the Fullest

"I have come that they might have life, and have it to the full." --John 10:10

Your future is full of...

Joy because God has a plan for you.

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord,"...plans to give you hope and a future."--Jeremiah 29:11

Peace because God will be with you wherever you go.

"I am with you always."--Matthew 28:20

Hope because God is working on your behalf.

In all things God works for the good of those who love Him.--Romans 8:28

Love because God deeply loves you.

How wide and long and deep and high is the love of Christ.--Ephesians 3:18

Strength because God gives you everything you need.

I can do everything through Him who gives me strength.--Philippians 4:13

Confidence because God made you who you are.

God saw all that He had made, and it was very good.--Genesis 1:31

Courage because God can do more than you can imagine!

With God all things are possible.--Matthew 19:26

(Holley Gerth, DaySpring Writer)

Thought for the day...

"Stop telling God how big your storm is and start telling your storm how BIG your God is."

(author unknown to me)

All I can say is WOW!

One of my good friends is in town for a short while and invited me to go to a conference with her this weekend that was held at my sister's church. It was amazing! I had never heard of IHOP (not the pancake place) before. (IHOP stands for International House of Prayer.) The IHOP-KC (Kansas City) came and led the One Thing conference. For the last couple of years, I have not really been deepening my intimacy or relationship with God. During this time of worship and teaching, I realized just how apathetic I have become and was convicted. I am renewed and have a fresh fire and desire to grow and dig deeper into the Word. It is hard to put into words exactly how I feel and what my experience was like...actually is like since I still feel it! My prayer is that it will not weaken, but become increasingly stronger.

Thought for the day

"God knows our situation; He will not judge us as if we had no difficulties to overcome. What matters is the sincerity and perseverance of our will to overcome them."

C. S. Lewis

Father's Day (and Mother's Day too)

We celebrated both Mother's Day and Father's Day on Father's Day this year. We had lunch at my sister's house. It looks really nice. They are almost finished remodeling and adding onto the house. Besides adding onto their house, they have added four little kittens. They are so cute.

My niece and one of the kittens.

My brother

My niece with grandpa (my dad)

After lunch, my dad, niece, and I went to the park and walked around. I was surprised to find out that my dad had not been to this park before. He did really well walking around, even over a bridge that led to the Old Fort.

My dad and me

My niece and I find an inch worm.

The weather was great and we all seemed to have a great time.

New Environment

I am sitting at the public library checking my e-mail and looking for job postings. What a different atmosphere than what I am used to (quiet office after work)....here it is noisy children and teenagers using language and values that I am not used to being around. Many into things I never even knew existed until my mid to late 20s! The world is becoming less and less innocent. While the internet has become very helpful in keeping in touch with friends and finding information on various things, it has also (in my opinion) help lead to a down-fall in family values. Just in glancing around to find an available computer, I noticed many adults and teens on sites that would (or should) make anyone blush or become embarrassed. I wish I could go back to the days of my naitivity to these things...however, compared to the standards of this day and age I am VERY naive! All this coupled with all the natural disasters (is it just me or does it seems that they are ever increasing!?!) makes me think the return of my Savior is near. I've always been selfish not wanting Him to come back until I have the experience of being married and having children. Now, though I do want to experience those things, would welcome meeting Jesus face-to-face. Again that thought can be self-centered as well...not wanting to have to continue in this negative and depraved society. It would be horrible for those who will be left behind because of their lack of belief and trust in Jesus as their Savior. There is my observation for the day...now I must go back to looking for a job before my time runs out on the computer.