A Fresh Word

It is debatable...Can the Word of God be over quoted? If so, my guess would be that Jeremiah 29:11 would be a top candidate. "'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the LORD, 'plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.'"  It sounds great! Great enough to be on a coffee mug in every christian bookstore across the country.  So, why then do our lives not always reflect this?

Because there is more, if you keep reading verses 12-14. "'Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. I will be found by you,' declares the LORD, 'and I will restore your fortunes and will gather you from all the nations and from all the places I have driven you,' declares the LORD, 'and I will bring you back to the place from where I sent you into exile.'

Here are a few key words: call, come, pray, seek, find, search with all your heart. God is overflowing with grace and mercy, but, in my opinion, this promise isn't a free hand out. It's a reward.

God thinks about us. He has great plans for us and He actually wants to clue us in on those plans! Here is the catch, you have to seek Him with all your heart and He will bless you with a fresh word.

How long has it been since you last heard from the Lord? Are you still hanging on to what you heard from Him last year or maybe even 10 years ago? True, He is the same yesterday, today and forever. And yes, His promises will endure, but He wants to speak something new to you today. Will you listen?

This is an exciting time of the year. Will you choose to give God the first of your time? For a practical way to walk out drawing near to God and listening for His voice, consider a time of fasting and prayer.

If this is something new for you and you don't know where to start check out www.awake21.org for help and daily online devotions for 21 days, beginning January 15th.

May God bless you with a year overflowing with fresh words!

Josiah's spring guitar show

Ashtyn's dance recital

I wanted to put this video from May up to share with all our family, who couldn't come to Ashtyn' dance recital. This video is terrible quailty. It was take by my point and shoot in 59 second intervals, put together. I am so thankful that Brent gave me a new video camera for mother's day, so future videos will be much better! Ashtyn is the first to enter, in the second group of girls and at the end he is on the far right.

Valentine Fun

Where does the time go? It is hard to believe that it is already Valentines! It has been a while since my last post, but no need to catch up, instead I will keep moving forward.

Tomorrow is our homeschool group's Valentines party, so tonight we had the fun task of getting ready. Every year, my crafty child, Ashtyn, insists on making her own handmade Valentine cards. I think it is awesome and although, I'm not crafty, it is fun to join in. This year I decided to make one for Brent.

The boys simply have the task of tearing theirs apart and writing their names on it. I gave them their simple instructions and left them at the kitchen table to go check on the girls in the school room. When I returned, I found that they had a great time ripping them up and Josiah had managed to write his name on the "to" side instead of the "from" side. Which is quite funny to me, because he did the same thing last year, which is why I made sure to include where to write their name in the instructions I gave them :)

Wordless Wednesday: Baby It's Cold Inside

Josiah's 1st Guitar Show

Warning: This video is 3-1/2 minutes long. It begins with Josiah's guitar teacher talking about the guitarist/composer Carruli and how his music was judged by the Parisians as too hard for the average player. He says that Josiah is about to prove them all wrong! Josiah was the youngest student in the show and the only student who had just began taking lessons this fall. As you can tell, I am very proud of him. Not only, for his guitar playing ability, but for him getting up on that stage all by himself and playing in front of all those people! When he first was given this waltz to learn, he would get frustrated just looking at the sheet music, but then he would pray and ask God to help him understand and learn it. This really helped him to keep a good attitude. At the end, his teacher compares his hands to those of Segovia, a famous classical guitarist, which is something to be highly desired!

Let me say, also, that all of the kids that performed did an AMAZING job! I wish I had the whole show on video. You would be blown away by some the kids who have only been taking lessons for 2-3 years. Our teacher, Dan Word, has done an incredible job in teaching his students! 

  

Guitar Practice