The candles are broken

So advent might be over at our house... I was being so faithful to do the daily readings and light the weekly candles. 

Crazy two year old...I turn my head for just a few minutes and this is what I found. It seems there is always something that breaks around Christmas to remind me of what to focus on. 

I guess fishing was what we were called to do. 

Lord, lead him and guide Him all of his days and fill his nets with men who receive your salvation. 

 And Jesus may you catch us this Christmas when our candles are broken and we are fishing for something to replace them. Lord Jesus you have sent your angel to testify to us these things. You are the bright and morning star. You are so much more that a wreath of candles. 

Thank you and amen. 

No fruit on the vines?

 

It lingers in the my mind and times of out loud singing can't be helped...This is my Father's world and to my listening ears...this is my Father's world, I rest me in the thought...This is my Father's world He shines in all that's fair... 

 

Yet, this world seems so unfair and full of human selfishness and seeking and the prevalence of evil and wickedness is so easily seen and heard.

 

*I fight the working world to be home and love and defend and train my children up. They fight, they disobey, they cry, they love, they obey, and we try to praise.

*Facebook shows perfection and people at their best...yet pain and brokenness cannot be hidden. A marriage is divided, a lil boy was molested and the judge released the man, the bitter cold brings out the bitterness in others...seems evil is stronger...

*I speak Truth with a capital T and I am told I am the only one with that perspective and advice...loneliness could set in...

*A single mom blames me for betrayal after I have loved and cared and prayed to be the hands and feet of Jesus - evil seems to be prevailing and building walls to keep God's plan of salvation and true love from her...

*I walk into a room full of women during prayer and only 2 out of 20 women have there eyes closed in reverent prayer...where is the fear of the Lord and the desire for more?

*I attended an informational testimonial event of human trafficking and my heart broke to hear of all the fatherless homes and hurts...when evil removes the Father...is it over?

*Pictures and videos of orphans pain my heart...will they ever say mom or dad and be embraced?

*A self defense class taught me how to gouge eyes, knee groins, slap ears, and kick inner shins all because this world is not safe and evil may grab and we must be ready and aware.

 

But yet in all of this difficulty and all this inner and outer turmoil, my soul cannot be silenced and my heart continues to sing...

This is my Father's world though let me ne'er forget that though the wrong seems oft so strong God is the ruler yet. This is my Father's world the battle is not done that earth and heaven be one. I will not be afraid. I will not be afraid. This is my Father's world. No I will not be afraid when this world doesn't know who Jesus is. This world doesn't accept the way, the truth, the life. When this world doesn't accept that it was a baby that is holding them...

This is my Father's world and Christmas bring to us Emmanuel, God with us. 

So let your feeble arms stop trying to hold the cries of our babies, the cries of our broken homes, the cries our of schools where common core seems it could destroy, the cries of our evil world...for their is a cry that will never cease and it came as a baby to hold you and me. This Jesus declared victory! It's victory! It is victory. We are set free. We will bow the knee and forever sing

This. is. my. Father's. World.

This writing was inspired from reading Habbakuk 3:17-19 . It is my modern day version of those verses from the occurrences and thoughts of my own life in the past month. 

When you think you will never have a moment alone...the need is still real.

It's a daily battle. Yet it's a daily joy all the same. The lack of doors I get to shut and the lack of locks I get to turn. It hit me as my hand smoothed the water running down the shower curtain as I strained to see my 2 year old sitting on the floor getting into daddy's books on his nightstand. I smiled and he sheepishly grinned back knowing my reflection was blurry. And to him it was only a game of hide-n-seek and a chance to be curious George without being caught.
 All I needed was a shower.
Needs.
So many needs in this life. Needs of a 5 year old, a 4 year old, a 2 year old, and needs of a tired hard working husband. As fun as the game of hide-n-seek and thoughts of, "oh no, I can't see him...what is he into now?"...
It's so easy in this life to get confused with what I really need and what I really want. I guess the truth was I needed a shower but I wanted the privacy. Sometimes I wonder if I could just turn all my needs into wants and to be honest I try. Denying myself and sacrificing for my family would be so much easier if I thought of it as a want. Wouldn't it?
If I could use the bathroom in peace, quiet, and privacy? If I could sit in my Jesus chair and hear more than that small voice, "me want to cowor" and then watch the scribbles cover overt he Holy words. Seems I am often straining through to get to what really matters. I find myself in frustration and self pity sometimes over these lack of closed doors and unturned locks. But today I find myself lying in bed fighting the tears and then feeling them dampen my pillow.
Oh Jesus, I want so much to deny myself and take up my cross and follow you. Why is it so hard to deny my needs?
And as I write this, it is 6 a.m.
I hear the cry from my 2 year old in his crib, "I want daddy. I want daddy." I continue to write hoping it's just a dream...I prayed through the heart wrenching cry from down the hall...
Oh I wish I didn't have needs.
I lifted myself from my Jesus chair to heed the call of my son and it hit me. I want to need. I want to need because Jesus didn't die for nothing. I am so thankful that I have needs. I can lay in my bed and call out, "Daddy. I want daddy. I want daddy." And He comes to me and walks with me and talks with me. All because my door is still open and unlocked.
And so now I sing this song even when I wish I could shut the door and lock it but there are needs around me constantly...
Lord I need you, Lord I need you.
(click on this link and worship with me and thank God for your need)

A letter for my friends

To each women that God brings into my life, 

I want you to know that I am so delighted and excited to know you. I want to know your story. I want to see the heartbeat of God in your life, I want to talk to you with so much deep down ecstatic joy that you will wonder if I had too much caffeine. I want to laugh and be loud, to cry and go deep, to pray and walk with you as you work out your salvation. I want to be with you wherever it is that you breathe in Jesus for the first time. I want to run through the muck with you knowing that it is temporary. I want to talk until we run out if words. And I want to love Jesus so much you think I have lost it. Call me crazy and I will tell you it's true love that captivated me; not a slave to sin but a servant freed! My chains are gone and I can't contain myself. 

This is not good

It was good. 

It was very good. 

That is what God said in the garden about us, his creation, bearing his earthly image. But my heart and mind can't always say it is good. 

This will happen. Jesus promised that trial, tragedy, war, and hardship would come. He says to not be frightened. I want to be strong but the obvious is the natural pull. To be afraid...afraid that the world will swallow and steal and destroy so much. So what do I do when life is consuming? When the world screams to grasp anything but truth. When all I want is to be approved of God but find myself trying to get approval from men.  The comparison trap becomes my measuring stick and it keeps slapping me towards legalism and failure or at least enough confusion and frustration that I want to give up. 

I claim whose I am. I am not my own. I was chosen. I am beloved. I am on the potters wheel still. I am a work in progress and the creator God almighty continues to put breath into my body and wake me up each day. 

In this world of information overload, the opinions and ideas multiply by the seconds. The deceiver is scheming to trap us. I find myself ensnared. From nutrition to parenting to education to spirituality; I jump from blog to blog, from peer conversations to intentional change hoping that I will gain. But I notice that life isn't getting back to good and Gods words are reigning true supremacy. It has to happen. The path is narrow and the workers are few. I cannot afford to be horizontally distracted when the very core of my entire being is connected directly with heaven. And I know I am not home yet. I yearn for the day when the fight to rest on The Lord instead of my independence ceases. I yearn for the day when I can stop casting my anxieties and cares on the Lord because there will be no more. I yearn for the day when perfection will shine brighter than the sun and worship will be all I know. I well up with tears knowing that my bridegroom is coming back for me. Yet I burn with a passion deep inside knowing that deception is constantly around us, a passion that shouts, "cling to the truth and let yourself be vertically embraced by the one and only Jesus Christ who saves you and crushes the enemy once and forever. You and I do not have to be consumed or pulled down. For you ohLord  God are so much more than good you are great and your love endures forever. You faithfulness to me In my faithless times cannot be stopped. Your protection and guidance is my plea in a world wandering so far from good and evil seems to prevail. You Lord Jesus  have my heart and will keep my feet fitted to stand firm until the trumpet sounds and the clouds divide. I cannot imagine. Oh keep me watching and waiting and all the while serving you as my audience of one.

Confirmations

"Where you send me, Lord, I will go." So here I am after 5 long years of birthing pains and known impossibilities made possible.

I am right where I am supposed to be. 

And the battle rages. 

God made a way and called us to it. 

A life that takes my breath away when I get tackled and jumped on as I attempt to give airplane rides on my legs stretched up to the ceiling. A faithful husband who works so hard providing more than a paycheck ... The stability and assurance that is seen with every daily welcome home squeal from the kids. The comfort of my mans embrace as I sigh relief that I made it through  yet another with a meal cooked and ready to eat and three resilient kids remembering only the joys of the day and not a weary moms impatience or lack of.

I am right where I am supposed to be.

And the battle rages on.

 Most days i feel the pull of this world to run with the ways of American Dreams for more stuff, better business, and bigger feelings to follow. 

Yet, in the midst of the tug of war; for some reason finding this...

Mess! 

and then just minutes later finding him in this...

Mess! (He found some peanuts in my purse and started an early breakfast?)

God has confirmed it.

 I am where i am supposed to be.

And the battle rages stronger still.

God's confirmations come through the perfect timing of loneliness and friendships, the gut wrenching strengthening and battles of fighting for a biblical unified marriage, the push against the grains of culture to sit down and eat a family meal with giggles and spills and so much noise you can't hear yourself talking out loud. 

When the battle weighs so heavy and the economy takes every penny and more to keep up with fresh blueberries and string cheese. When the future picture with current circumstance offers no hope of a fenced in backyard or house to call our own. It is hard to not want to run for change. 

I am right where I am supposed to be. 

And the battle rages stronger and stronger. 

It is easy to take pride and independence and run with it...but that won't win the battle. When God answers a man's 4-year long prayer, it is going to take perseverance and faith to endure. The battle is not our own ...

And we are right where we are supposed to be.

So bring on the raging battle.

We are sticking in the palm of Gods Almighty hand even if it means blood, sweat, tears, and constant tug of war. 

God is on the move and I want to go with.

Oh Lord carry us on and keep us from getting ahead of your journey of perfection and completion. You are Jehovah Jireh! Amen. 

Can you claim it?

I sing it to my youngest every night, "...yes Jesus loves you yes Jesus loves you, the bible tells me so." And sometimes he sings along but he doesn't say 'you' he sings, "yes Jesus loves me." It caught me by surprise to hear him singing me when i was singing you. Normally, he is listening and copying everything he hears and sees. But in just 22 months of life on this earth he is claiming it as his own.  My heart was comforted. Afterall, It is a song being sung just to him in the quietness and dimness of his lil bedroom with truth pouring over Him. But tonight as I heard him sing me I followed suit. Because today I realized I needed to claim it for me too. To let the stresses of the day wash away, to allow God's great love for me sink in deeper...and I tried to allow his little toddler hand comfort me as it wrapped around my neck. The faith of a child is innocent and contagious! So tonight as I lie in bed to go to sleep I am asking God to treat me as His child and rejoice over me with singing not because I deserve it but because He longs to be gracious to me and Jesus loves me this I know for the bible tells me so! 

Zephaniah 3:17 He will quiet you with His love; he will rejoice over you with singing. 

When the Rain Boots Hold a River

 

"Mom, there is a river in my boots," Miracle said with a great big grin and giggle. The joy of the running water and the splashes overflowing into the boots was just enough to remove the gloom of the weather. My hair wasn't combed that day and yesterday's braid was still in my hair just pulled back with a different ponytail to pull back all the hair that had fallen from the loose braid. It was a 'roast belongs in the crockpot' type of day. But joy spreads rapidly when the rain boots hold a river. I was smiling. Spectators slowed down as they drove by, honking, and waving, with a face that spoke, "I want to be doing that today!" All in agreement of the unmentioned thoughts: "let's play in this all day...pray the puddle doesn't dry up. ever." The rain is unwanted at this point but this puddle...more than a blessing. It was creating a new forever memory and more that day. Reminds me of what God's love can do; create a river in my boots that I just want to continue to swim in. The splashes change my hairstyle and my face drips as if it's raining again. Life can feel so full of blessing that they just kept running and jumping and splashing. Then it was time to pull the boots off and dump the water off and capture the river. The suction was so strong they giggled and fell over and laid down trying with all their might to take their boots off.

 

 

And that is just how it is with God's love. Suctioned to our souls. our hearts. our minds. We can choose to be frustrated and want to change our soaking wet dirt specked socks lives. Or we can just roll and giggle and love the river that's flowing and moving around inside that will. not. come. out.

 

2 Thessalonians 3:5

"May the Lord direct your hearts into God's love and Christ's perseverance."

 

There is so much that happens in the blink of an eye...the puddle dries and they are BIG and God's love never ends. Amen

Blind Faith Offers Heightened Senses

I don't know very many blind people, but the few testimonies that I have read or heard from blind individuals is that they believe they are greatly blessed because they are so much more aware of the other senses they do have. They also have such a heightened intimate relationship with Jesus Christ that it appears that they can actually SEE what we all would like to see. Oh how I long to be in this place with my Jesus...but yet I am so far from it.
I am walking through this life right now with blind faith and the only one that can guide me is the Lord Jesus Christ. But lately, I so often have changed from walking out my blind faith to living within what only my human eyes can see in the temporary. I am completely overwhelmed when this happens. I place myself right in a muddy puddle of meltdown tears and pity parties. The fear, worry, anxiety, and confusion whirl around inside my heart and mind and I lose all heightened sense that I should have.
When I am walking in blind faith, I can echo the words from

Psalm 119:105-112

Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light for my path.

I have taken oath and confirmed it, that I will follow your righteous laws.

I have suffered much; preserve my life, Lord, according to your word.

Accept, Lord, the willing praise of my mouth, and teach me your laws.

Though I constantly take my life in my hands, I will not forget your law.

The wicked have set a snare for me, but I have not strayed from your precepts.

Your statutes are my heritage forever; they are the joy of my heart.

My heart is set on keeping your decrees to the very end.

So, for today (when all I know and feel is revealing to me that I am living in the temporary) I am choosing to allow the Lord to blind the eyes of my heart that I may walk in blind faith. With Jesus, I can support my husband and be his #1 helpmate, I can be a stay at home homeschool mom and do it well...This is not to say that life will get easier, but at least I will have heightened senses of secuirty, peace, joy, understanding, and wisdom and with those I will be greatly blessed.

Burden cleaner

 

Sometimes a lil black dirt is good to uncover. It reminds me that there still is richness for pure natural beauty to grow...you know the good ol' country farm dirt, earth worm filled, black moist soil with a smell that only your nose can explain.
I had the privilege to do some good farm house yard work. The kids were running around sort of helping me and suddenly I found myself alone. Just me with purple work gloves keeping my hands from dirt beneath my nails, the warm hum of bees pollinating the trees way high up, and a big rock garden of burdens that needed a good spring cleanup. My parents have created a spiritual journey throughout their farm with different stops with a word or two that is elaborated upon as people are taken through on a one of a kind prayer walk. So there I was in the burden stop thinking of the irony of cleaning up the waste and debris amongst the burdens trying to uncover the black dirt and rock burdens.
It was quite therapeutic in a few ways. One, I was finally getting a literal fresh breath of air in the spring breeze with a much needed break from my calling and 24/7 role as mom. Two, God met me there. Sometimes I try to just clean up my burdens on my own and make them look comfortable and almost right. My pride keeps me from letting go. And as I start to justify and decorate the burden, seems life just gets messier and impossible.
God is the #1 mr. clean. He is the restorer and rebuilder. He wants to take my burdens but he has to use the rake or his hands or his words and uncover the burden and dark rich soil before he can take it And make it something beautiful.
The job was sweat making with dirt filled gloves, and one lady bug (freaked as if it was a wood tick) crawling up the inside of my pant leg kind of job. But the end result was immediately noticeable and so refreshing. Clean burdens are easier to see, pick, and remove. Burdens lead me to Jesus. Jesus says in Matthew 11:28-30 "come to me all who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."
I don't know about you but I am bringing my burdens to Jesus. He will clean them up with utmost gentleness and humility. And when the rocks are cleaned up and replaced with lighter burdens, I will look and see the beauty of The Lord in this joy filled but trouble filled life and rest (after the ladybug is out of my pants of course.) so maybe it's time to get cleaned up and expose that life giving dirt.

 

Seek and He Will Be Found

The UNO cards just became an ice rink for the kids to slide and dive in. i noticed the rubber band for them around my wrist. The cards were one of the many things I was trying to find as the dinner hour was approaching. Hoping my energy burst would soon kick in, the anticipation of my man walking through the door, the excited voices and little legs running to greet their daddy. I don't want to forget these days where it seems I am constantly seeking.

I am grasping the truth that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ. It is ok. i am ok.

I am more than ok as I lie in the middle of my bed at 7 a.m. with two preschoolers fast asleep squishing me as if I was the cream in the Oreo. I have been beating myself up for not getting up for morning quiet time or exercise but today I close my eyes to seek The Lord for the way He planned my day. It isn't my plan but a way everlasting. It is unlike this moment where I can feel the tiny breadths hit my face and their lil arms rub my own. I know it won't be this way forever.

I know there won't be many more days where I find the three kids jumping on my freshly made bed that they totally stripped of bedding. I jump on along and then find myself belly down all cozy into the mattress reading books to my daughter as the boys wrestle amidst the story. They giggle and fall and my one year old sits upon my back.

I accept the grace that security was established in my children today and it was more than just the pajamas that my 5 year old wore all day long. It was the bible stories that we read at breakfast, the many twirls I did with each child in my arms until we were so dizzy the room was spinning and I collapsed on the couch. it was spontaneous random hugs in the middle of the reading lesson as my daughter giggles and begs to get back to her reading.

As I open the fridge to start the dinner, I grin to see the plastic Easter egg as the kids are actually playing on their own ... Hiding and seeking the Easter eggs. And so I ponder our verse for the week; Excited that we have made it all the way to the letter S with the verse from Isaiah 55:6 Seek The Lord while He may be found. I think The Lord showed me a whole new way to that truth today. Now where did all those UNO cards go?

I never want to forget

Please note: this writing to is for my personal documentation of a foundational conversation and truth blast that is pivotal in our lives for the Glory of God. Please read with this in mind and know that I am not writing for an audience of blog readers. But still I choose to keep my blog public because I love people and believe God speaks to us in mysterious and unforseen ways and life experiences of others.

I never want to forget...the realization that I had to explain to my 5 year old..I cannot keep it from her anymore. As scary as it is. It is reality. It isn't discussed because it isn't understood by the world. It's all written and explained in one book yet more than just any book. The living holy word of God and even those words are not going to be believed and accepted by many. I realize this hard heart wrenching truth. Even now as I write this my eyes are full of tears because this world is a battle ground.
Where countries are consumed by selfish deceit of hopes of authority, wealth and prosperity.
Where men are being lied to and cheated out of their identity as God created them for. Where women are pressured to one up career status quo.
Where women make their homes and nurture their children in the worlds disrespect and with daily gruelsome toil that more often than not raw tired emotion, lonliness, and tiny tot mundane tasks are more than they can bear.
Marriages crumble. Children ache and simply survive with confusion and much unknown.
Sin encroaches...There is no one righteous, not even one; there is not one who understands, not one who seeks God. (Romans 3:11)

But the battle belongs to the Lord!

So read on...
Now a righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. (Romans 3:21-26)

My 5 year old and my 3 year old know these two realities written in red above , but what I had to explain...what I couldn't keep from her any longer after a direct question from my daughter, "Mom, Satan is dead, right?"

I had to tell her truth. Sugar coating won't make it better, because her earthly life is only going to get harder, temptation and trials and sin and the presence of evil will come as the day grows near. The battle is getting stronger because time is running out...

I never want to forget...or want my family to forget that:
Satan is alive but we need not be afraid. Follow this truth:

Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy, the devil (aka Satan) prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings. And the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. to him be power for ever and ever. Amen. (1 Peter 5:8)
So, we talked about the good versus evil; God, creator and ruler or heaven and earth and Satan, prince of this world (earth). That Satan is alive. And Satan's purpose is to detour humans from the love of Jesus Christ and the greatest display of power ever to be known to man (The resurrection from death on a cross.) Even Satan knows the truth and who wins. Therefore, we should hold fast to Jesus. "Jesus is in my heart, mom." Miracle said. "Yes, and just always remember that and who won the battle?"

Jesus said, "Do not be afraid. I am the first and the last. I am the Living One: I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades." (Revelation 1:17-18)

------

And so it is no surprise to me as I reflect upon my week that I can see the prowling lion seeking us. I have let my womanly hormones and emotions overtake at times. I walked away from bible study discouraged and alone. Tempted to stop trying to make friends in this new place. The trip to the library was stressful and defeating. The mom role was wearisome. My husbands work was longer and more grueling than most weeks leading to disconnect in marriage.
Yet, in it all through the power of Jesus in my family, a testimony and glimpse of victory was shared with people all over the country through a letter, a girl was encouraged about a daily Jesus time over coffee, neighbors were lifted up in prayer, co-workers were prayed for, protection and healing were captured through the power of prayer, and my daughter is singing louder and bolder than ever the name of JESUS because she knows the truth. I opened the ipad only to find that my husband was working on making a detailed prayer list for each day of the week. i was humbled after frustration with him. And I am brought back to the heartbeat of what I was created for...the daily mundane is more than what I see, it is a battle field and we should live in VICTORY for all to see whether they understand, have eyes to see, or ears to hear...Satan has always been alive but Jesus was alive, was dead, and is alive forevermore. So I will not stop. I never want to forget that this earthly life is more...it is a battle and though Satan is alive and appearing to win...Jesus won the victory!
Our eyes are fixed upon it.
Amen.

Breathing Through Some Fears

Breathing Shallow
We named them all just one name because it's always just one at a time. His name is Larry. Larry the spider. This lil' creature is the reason for Miracle's fear and the reason she won't sit in the chair nearest the wall at the dinner table. So every once in awhile Larry crawls up the wall to join us for dinner and his life comes quickly to an end but Miracle is still afraid. And Matthias talks to him and quickly runs to get the kleenix... but naming the spider has created a brief moment for a pet but no longer than that.

Breathing Deep
I hold him tight and stroke his back through the fleece footie pajamas and I sing. And suddenly he sings too. He isn't afraid to jabber his way through the songs. His 16 1/2 month old 'talking' warms my heart as we sing Jesus Loves You together and he sings, "ba ba" for bible. His little arms span across my body and his fingers grasp tightly around my shoulders, with his head resting gently upon my shoulders he knows the singing is over and the momma is praying and soon the crib will be his comfort. He doesn't want to stop singing. He says, "mo" which translates into more songs at bedtime. Oh the comfort of his small cuddly body and the willingness to stay with me and listen to me sing and pray over him. There is nothing not to cherish about it. And I ponder. As I hold him in the dark with a tighter squeeze myself. I whisper how much I love him. Do I cling to my Heavenly Father like this. Do I strive to get my hands around Him and hold tight. Is my head resting peacefully upon His shoulder? Am I listening? Can I hear Him singing over me and do I start to sing with Him even though I know He is singing to me.
I am afraid ... that truth be told, I am struggling to be God's child in this beautful cherishable daily moment. I want to rest. I want to be held. I want to hear Him singing and for my heart to sing along with Him.

Breathing Deep Once More
"Mommy! I'm scared. mommy, please come here." she yells from her bed. I just tucked her in. I go back in to talk with her and she is afraid. Scared of fires. She asks lots of questions about how fires start and I answer them the best I can on a 5 year old level. I pray over her and her heart and mind and say amen. She says with such convincing drama, "I just can't get the thoughts of fire out of my head." So we talk about our bible verse, "when I am afraid, I will trust in you" and I put the song on repeat. It was a perfect moment to teach her about taking our thoughts captive unto Christ. I explained to her that every time she thinks about the fires or other thoughts she doesn't want to have to give the thought to Jesus. she said, "ok but it just comes back." Next, I told her that we have to replace the thought with a bible verse. I asked her if she knew a bible verse she could say. "Yes, I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength." So every time you have a scary thought then quickly tell Jesus to take the thought and say your bible verse out loud. We practiced a few times. She asks me to pray once more...and I pray with a thinkful heart that all I need to parent is written in the bible. Amen.

Moving Realizations (Part Three) Decorating!

Well it has been a little over 2 months since we moved into our new place. A few comments have asked where we moved. We moved to a new town 100 miles down the road for a new job. We are settling in and loving the extra space and new surroundings we have now. But i will forever hold dear the memories of 'the mini mansion'. So, I have learned after 2 moves now that putting up pictures and decorating makes the house a home. It brings a warmth and depth and invitation to each of my family members  and guests that this is where they belong. They are home. It creates a place that no one else can recreate exactly.

It's individual style.

It's home. Our hearts will grow to know and call this apartment just that...home.

Seems like hearts and home just seem to go together. You know all the sayings home is where the heart is...

BREATHING DEEPER

What are the walls of my heart like? What does the welcome mat say at the entrance? Since I invited Christ into my heart it is His home afterall. Is there a warmth and depth that calls to Jesus? In this new year of 2013, I pray that my heart will hold bible verses that will thicken the walls of my heart to bring comfort and warmth and depth. I know that often in the christian realm, people speak of tearing down the walls of your heart and not having rooms but what would a house be without walls? Oh, that every challenge, trial, anxiety, and victory will resound off of my heart as Jesus' home to bring him glory over and over. I will strive to take down the selfish sinful decorations that I have put up in my heart and replace them with the beauty of the Holy of Holies.

So, we all have a choice as to what we put up in our home...This is Miracle's decorating

  This is Matthias' choice of decorating!

So, here is my starting list of hearts' decor for this new year:

THE ENTRANCE OF MY HEART

"And the PEACE OF GOD, which transcends all understanding, will guard my heart and mind in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:7

THE ROOMS OF MY HEART

"Through knowledge its rooms are filled with RARE & BEAUTIFUL TREASURES." Proverbs 24:4

THE WALLS OF MY HEART WILL BE THICKER WITH THESE

"My dear, Elizabeth (or insert your own name), Pay attention to my WORDS. Do not let them out of your sight, keep them within your heart." Proverbs 4:20-21

"Let LOVE & FAITHFULNESS never leave you. Bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart." Proverbs 3:3

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by PRAYER & PETITION with THANKSGIVING, present your requests to God." Philippians 4:6

**This verse is my focus this year...to let my anxious thoughts of sick kids, dirty messy house, homeschooling fears, and desiring to be used by God...to allow all of this and more lead me to prayer and counts my daily blessings.

"Search me, O God, and know my heart test me and know my anxious thoughts." Psalm 139:23

THE KEEPER AND RULER AND CONSUMER OF MY HEART (AND HOME)

"I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, BUT CHRIST LIVES IN ME!" Galatians 2:20

MY DECORATING CHALLENGE TO ALL MY GUESTS

So far God has brought an 11 year old girl, a 16 year old girl, a 50 year old single man, and a 40 year old single mom with a 5 year old son straight to my door...God is always on the MOVE and I want to be a part...so I best get decorating...

"Since, I have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from every thing that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God." 2 Corinthians 7:1

Jesus you took the nails so my decorating needs none. Thank you! Welcome home Jesus..."May you find my heart is steadfast for you, O God, my heart is steadfast, I will sing and make music." Psalm 57:7 

I think there are over 30,000 bible verses to choose from to start making our hearts a better home for Jesus. What are you waiting for? Jesus has the nails. He just wants your heart! (No assembly required, only one tool needed--the BIBLE).