Perseverance, Purpose, and Prayer

The weather has been amazing this year,
so I have been hiking on and off since the New Year.
What's especially great
is that as of this morning,
I have hiked 10 days
in a row for the past two weeks!


Even on the days when my hubby and/or girlfriend is not with me,
I have still made the effort to hike our mountain trail alone.
I have to puff on my inhaler when I choose the difficult trail,
and my legs still burn,
but I do it happily.
Yay me!
After all, perseverance, pays off!

2 Chronicles 15:7 But as for you, be strong and do not give up, for your work will be rewarded.

I'm enjoying the outdoors
and the fact that I am doing something
new is exciting.

Speaking of new,
I have been learning so many new things
about the Bible over the past few years and about it's history,
and I am really loving it!
As I dive deeper into the Bible
and work on my relationship with God,
I grow to appreciate the Word a little more. 

2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.

With Lent upon us,
I have done more than usual this year to prepare.
I have always known about the Church's view on fasting
and sacrifice,
but it never really had a personal meaning to me.
While I have given things up in the past,
I had done it, because it was a tradition,
and so (I wince as I say) I had never followed through.

Now that I truly appreciate
all of the gifts that I have been given,
and the sacrifices that have been made for me,
Lent has a deeper meaning!
I am very thankful, a girlfriend
casually mentioned Lent several weeks ago.
I believe that God used her to work on me!
After her reminder,
the Lord's sacrifice really stayed on my mind.

This year, is the first year that I am choosing
to abstain from something difficult
as my own personal sacrifice,
and am planning to pray more frequently and purposefully,
because of my gratitude. 

Mark 1:12-15
And the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. He was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts; and the angels waited on him. Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the Good News of God, and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the Good News."


I have typed up a prayer sheet for my family
so that we can all pray for the same people on the same day.
I truly believe in the power of prayer
and I think if everyone in our family
takes the time to pray for each individual
several times through out the day,
on their prayer day
great things can and will happen!

James 1:6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind.

Matthew 21:22 If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.

Today, is the first day of Lent 
and the first person on our prayer sheet is my Dad.
I have already said several prayers for him today,
since waking up.
Not that he isn't regularly in my thoughts,
but by the time I lay my head down on my pillow tonight,
I will have prayed dozens of prayers
for him ~ specifically.
It feels great to know that I will consciously pray
for my Dad -all day- today,
my Mom all day tomorrow
and so on. 

James 5:16 Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.

Well, 

it is time

to go and create another

purpose-filled day.

Until next time... <3

Melt me. Mold me. Fill me . Use me.

So glad it's the weekend.

Not that my days are very different, but my kids and hubby are

at home a little more.

So that's the BIG perk!

Awesome.

I'm got my hair done yesterday!

Finally!

It has been months...

but I'm so excited,

because now that I get to chop of these dead ends

& that means

maybe I'll feel like styling my hair a little more often.

Ya know,

good-byeeeeeee

frumpy housewife. ;)

Awesome.

 

I thought I'd get a little more writing in today too.

I hand-wrote a few ideas yesterday and so I have some typing to do today.

I don't have a case for my ipad yet,

and was glad to see that it fits perfectly in my Bible bag!

Awesome.

I also took my walk yesterday morning,

and listened to Chuck Swindoll

speak of the Holy Spirit,

his prayer was

you guessed it-

awesome!

Melt me. Mold me. Fill me. Use me.

Lord,

When it comes to relationships lord melt me.

When it comes to objectives and the pursuit of life mold me.

As the day gets long, and the journey gets painful,

fill me with power and perserverence.

And as I face the circumstances, transform me

and be in control of these circumstances

and use me.

Amen.

Happy Saturday friends!

"Let's Pray, Mommy"

This weekend we went to the pumpkin patch

and enjoyed a nice day out with the family.

Yesterday, I decided to light some candles to put inside of the girls' pumpkins for them,

but clumsy me...I burned my finger on the hot jar.

It hurt pretty bad! 

I applied ice to it and when Jocelyn walked in the kitchen

and saw me shaking my finger, she grabbed my hand and said,

"Let's say a prayer, Mommy."

It was so sweet.

You see, being away from Jocelyn for a few weekends out of the month,

(when she is at her dad's house) has always been very hard.

Very, very hard.

But it's especially difficult,

when she calls me about a problem

and I am not right next to her to give her a hug.

Sometimes she calls just to talk, but most times it is because she

is nervous about something and needs some advice.

Because I am not with her,

the best I can do is give her a little encouragement

and sometimes we'll end a phone call with a prayer

about whatever the specific issue that is bothering her is.

A few weeks ago, she called me about something

she was having a little anxiety over and before I could offer to pray,

she asked me to say pray with her.

It was the first time she had called me to ask me to pray with her.

It was such a special moment.

And now, yesterday, she surprised me by saying a prayer for me. 

She held my hand, called on God and asked him to heal my finger!

It was a sweet, sweet moment, by a sweet, sweet girl.

Once again, I'm a proud, proud mama! :o)

Fear, Fear Go Away

I did not know this kind of happiness was possible, but it is.

I find myself feeling overwhelmed with gratitude.

Although, some days I must admit, I am overwhelmed with fear.

I am not used to all of this happiness.

I wonder, will it last forever?

Will it end?

I get scared that this feeling, this life is too good to be true...

and that someday my world might come crashing down.

Isn’t that crazy?

I have all of this happiness and yet, my mind has a tendency to focus on fear…on the what if…

Anxiety has always been a bit of a problem, but I usually keep it under control. I try to manage it with positive thinking and prayer and I am trying to teach my daughter to do the same, because she has tendency to have anxiety.

I am not afraid that anything will happen to my marriage, my fear is of the unknown...accidents, illness, other unpreventable situations…life can be unpredictable and that scares me...

I just want to be here in this house, in this marriage, with our kids…always J

However, as much as I would like to stay in a little bubble forever, I know we cannot, life just keeps on happening.

So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

Isaiah 41:10

Encouraging Positive Thinking and Gratitude at Home

One of the things that I am constantly trying to teach our children is to be grateful. Thankfulness and positivity has become an important message in our house.

What I do not want is…

For our children to be influenced by people who look at things in a negative light.

For our children to feel entitled or superior.

For our children to focus on the things that do not really matter in life.

What I do want is…

For our children to focus on the good, even when their circumstances seem tough.

For our children to feel fortunate to have all that they do and to realize that they have everything that they need.

For our children to focus on loving God, loving themselves and loving others.

We all get bummed out or frustrated about things, but we have the choice to let things go and focus on the positive. It is easy to get down about things. I know I have been there, but I try hard to keep the negative thoughts away. I want our children to be aware and fight the negativity as well.

Negativity can affect our physical and mental health. When we feel sorry for ourselves, we get depressed easily. When we think the world owes us something, we are often unhappy with the outcome.

I have been pushing the happy thoughts on my children more then ever these past few weeks. I am making an effort to remember to use every opportunity available as a teaching moment to find a positive for them to focus on.

Last week, the girls and I started positive talk again. When I pick them up from school, they have to tell me one positive thing from their day. It has been nice, because I already see and feel a difference in our drive home.

Before when they would get in the car and talk about their day, there were many times when they would focus on things like arguments with friends, a headache they had, how hard math was or when a friend did not play with them at recess. The nurturing side of me always coddled them and tried to solve the problems with them, but I have noticed that it only leads them to continue to come home with new problems and feel sorry for themselves about things.

I want them to have enough faith & strength to deal with the challenges of the day, but at the end of the day feel grateful for what is good. Now that we have been talking about the positive things, I think it is really making them look for the good. Some days they even name more than one positive thing, which is just fabulous!

Here is the most recent prayer that I posted on our fridge for them to read aloud at mealtime:

Dear Lord,

Thank you for a wonderful day full of blessings.
The bible says: Give thanks in all circumstances. That means you want us to be happy and thankful even when things do not always go as planned.  

Even when my day is not perfect, I know that you have blessed me.

A grateful heart is so important. When I hear others complaining or feeling bad about things, please help me to focus on the positive.

Amen.

When I look at this picture of our daughters and nieces my heart is flooded with gratitude...

Let us be Grateful



May we be filled with peace and love today.

May we understand that today is good.

Yes, it could be better.

Yes, it could be worse.

However we choose to feel

about this particular day,

Let us recognize that it is ours.

To do with it as we please.

To hug our children.

To love our spouses.

To smile at strangers in passing.

May we trust in God's plan.

Let us not be burdened by our daily struggles.

Let us not attempt to change the things we cannot,

but focus on the things we can.

May we simply...live.

Completing our every day chores

with a happy heart.

Loving.

Learning.

Praying.

Enjoying.

May His presence surround us.

May our souls be blessed, cleansed,

renewed, free.
May we be grateful today and every day.

A Wonderful Wednesday

I thought I would share a few wonderful things today! 

This morning I stayed at the school for the Character Counts Assembly at our girls' school.

Jocelyn won an award for Respect.

Trinity was on the Honor Roll.

How wonderful is that?!

Yesterday, on the very same day that I posted about the opportunity by CSN to have a giveaway on my blog, I also received an email that I won a giveaway on another site! I entered to win a

Faith Book & Box on Good Morning Girls and I did! I can't wait to hold it in my hands and start using it!

How wonderful is that?!

A few weeks ago, I read some of the challenges used to inspire our family on Women Living Well. One of the challenges was to light a candle and remind family members to say a prayer every time they see the candlelight. I loved this idea! I decided to tweak it a little to work in my home.

I have always posted up bible verses and quotes on our fridge near the water dispenser. I do this to get the kids to read encouraging words and to give us all small reminders about living better. I told everyone that each week, I will post a new prayer on the fridge for everyone to read as they fill their glasses with ice or water. This is my second week and the girls look forward to reading them! Last week the girls came up with the idea that they will read it aloud as we say our dinner prayer. 

This week's prayer in case you can't read it:

Dear GOD,

Please let me live for You and not for me.

Please don’t let me be influenced by others in a
negative/bad way, but help me influence
others in a positive/good way.

Help me to live how You want me to live.

In Jesus’ name, I pray.

Amen.

How wonderful it that?! 

On Monday, Jocelyn and I woke up to a sky filled with Hot Air Balloons. We always  see the Hot Air Balloons in our area as we drive to school, but on this particular day, there were about 9 balloons floating right over our house.

It was a beautiful sight and these Balloons will probably always give me a warm & fuzzy feeling for the rest of my life, because 2 years ago my husband proposed to me on one! 

How wonderful is that?!

I am sure the week has many more wonderful things ahead

for all of us.

~Blessings

Imperfect Prayer

I am not sure if I am alone, but I have what I like to call a busy brain! Sometimes, I cannot even get through a single prayer without getting lost in thought. Last night, this is pretty much how my prayer went! Crazy, I know :)

"Dear Lord,

I know that I have already prayed tonight..." I prayed randomly throughout the day, then before dinner and again before the kids got in bed, "but tonight I feel like praying about the safety of our girls. It has been a while since I have specifically asked you to place a hedge of protection around our little ones. They will be leaving us this weekend and" hmm, speaking of this weekend, I wonder what food I should serve on Saturday when everyone comes. Maybe I should do finger foods and desserts? It's so last minute so I know a few people won't even be able to make it, maybe I should  -"oh sorry God! I got distracted!" Why does that always happen to me? Stay focused... "I am very sorry, what I wanted to ask you was that you please take extra special care of our girls this weekend. I know that they are with people who love them, and you have heard this prayer many times, but I still get nervous when I am not there to watch what they are doing and who comes around. So please keep an eye on them for me, for us. Protect them from evil, accidents and illness." Illness... Trinity is still sick I wonder if she is going to feel better after tonight’s rest or if I should keep her here with me for the day. Tomorrow I do not plan to go anywhere; I will just be home washing laundry and writing, so she will get to rest a little more -"Oh sorry again, God!" I am not sure why this happens to me. This is ridiculous. I have such a hard time focusing on people's conversations, when driving in my car I pass up the destination and have to turn back around, and I always have to walk back outside to turn off the faucet when I give Cimba water. Why am I so distracted? I cannot even finish a prayer  -"Oops, ummm...well, I want to thank you for all of the blessings you have given me today. Please continue to watch over and bless my family, especially our children. Keep them safe at all times and return them back to us on Sunday.
Also Lord, my brain is a little overactive again today, can you please help me to relax and get some sleep tonight. I would really appreciate the rest.
I ask this in your name Lord.
Amen."