Bathrooms and GOD?

I knew I had to write my weekly blog and I asked the LORD today to help me with a topic…
Oh boy did HE ever….

I’ve wanted to have a garage sale and have a cleaner and more organized home… I started that journey today…Again…Ha!  I found that no matter how clean I think I am,  I’m still dirty…I started in my bathrooms…Under the counters, in the drawers and wherever else things hide…I found such unnecessary things…It’s always something that’s saved for later…
Well, not today I’m determined to clean it out!  One of my pet peeves in cleaning is hair…Ewwww, I cringe…Even if it’s my own hair when I’m cleaning out a brush… I get grossed out…So here I am going through stuff I normally don’t clean and there’s hair and just yuck in the corners of the draw and under the counters …It’s my hair, my husband’s hair, the kids hair…Or, maybe I didn’t wipe far enough 5 years ago when we moved in and it’s hair from another….Ughhhh, I’ll vomit!!  Anyway, it’s dirty under there…I don’t care how clean you are…Go and look in the draw where you keep your brushes…Or under the counters, allll the way in the back…There’s a place hidden under there with dirt…So I’m wiping, I’m wiping…I’m grossed out…I don’t rinse the sponge cause it’s too dirty…I throw the sponge out…Get a new sponge….Wiping, wiping….Then it’s hits me… 
I’M THIS  BATHROOM!!  I’m dirty just like this bathroom… Yuck!

I was thinking if I died people would have to come and clean out my home…Gosh, they would get into the corners of those drawers and behind stuff…They would see every nook and cranny of my life…They would see deep into things that I don’t want to see…
Am I really going to go out like that, dirty? I could do something can’t I? Even though it will still be dirty again tomorrow and the next day, I still have to do something…So what is there to do?  Daily washing, daily cleansing, daily scrubbing…Daily in the Word!

Do I walk out into the world spiritually clean by the Word?  Or maybe I got up to fast from my quiet time because of all the things I have to do?  Do I really sit at the foot of the Cross long enough for my daily washing, cleansing, and scrubbing?  At times, not long enough…
There’s so much my Father in Heaven has for me…My Father in Heaven won’t cringe, or vomit, or say yuck when HE’S cleaning me…Instead, HE waters my soul, HE’S my River of Life…And HE hung on the Cross for everything that I need daily in my life….I stop, I sit, I breath in the aroma of HIS Word…Aaaahhhhh!!! Soooo nice…Thank you LORD JESUS for renewing my mind and my soul…Thank you for who You are...

Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me…… 
Psalm 51:10 

Now when I go out, I’m going out clean and when I really go out I’ll already be clean!! Praise JESUS!!

(Cut & Paste this link for a song that fits perfect for this post-“Wash Over Me”-By Pricilla Miller)        http://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/priscilla-miller/id278963633

365-32

I know it's my bathroom sink...It goes with the post, titled Bathrooms and GOD?

365-26,27,28,29,30,31

Winter fun it was....After sledding, my manly husband grilled chilly cheese hot dogs for everyone and washed it down with hot chocolate...Yum!  This would have been a great family collage if  my sweet little boy is was in it...He was there but the camera died :( Sorry boy! Mama still loves you...

365-22,23,24,25

Baby-Love is what she calls him...That is my best friend Rachel and that is her beautiful Ba Ba Da Da!! He is a wonderful baby and has many, many facial expressions as you can tell...I figured since I've posted some pictures of him in the past, I should tell you who is mommy is...And she's fab!

What does it mean to be washed? Oh, let me tell you..

There are many of you that know of me as the one who will proclaim the name of JESUS CHRIST in the streets of Vegas…Yes, this is me…I physically have done it and love it…Need to get back on it…It probably seems strange to hear me talk about my past because that is such a different person, and it doesn’t fit my new profile…Quite frankly, sometimes talking about it seems as if it was another person that did all those wicked, dirty, down-right unholy things…Oh right, it was a different person…Praise JESUS!!

At times I do look back and think, “Wow” I can’t believe you saved ME!  You actually changed me, transformed me,  and helped me to repent of all those wicked, dirty, down-right unholy things…I used to love my life….I hate those things now…It’s just amazing to me…JESUS CHRIST can change ANYONE!!!  Don’t ever let me hear you say, “That person will never change.”  That is a lie from the devil himself…

You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived.  But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.  Colossians 3:7-10

There are many of you that DO know me from my past…Whew…Sorry about that…Sorry for everything I did, everything I said, and everything that I WAS…Gosh, if I could go back in time, I would…The thing with people from your past is sometimes, they just don’t forgive…I have a few like that…But,  you have to remember one thing…JESUS does forgive…And he did for me and will for you…It doesn’t matter how many times people throw your past in your face, you can be washed with HIS precious, precious blood…And really it only matters what HE thinks anyway…The great thing for me about my past is, all that wicked, dirty, down-right unholy stuff I did…I am now unashamed…Really I am…Why? How can that be? Because I want HIM to be glorified in me!! I don’t hold back…I will tell you every dirty detail of my life, because I have met my Creator, and HE poured, scrubbed, washed and cleaned me as white as snow, that I shine with HIS glory on me!!  Praise, Honor and Glory to my King JESUS!!

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!   2 Corinthians 5:17

365-17,18,19,20,21

What a great family night!  We celebrated my husband's birthday at Hash House a Go-Go...It's farm food with a twist...The picture you see with the food is actually chicken with waffles and mashed potatoes...Sounds twisted right?  It was a great time!  I know the pictures look a bit grainy, but they still make me smile :)

For your glory, JESUS!

I know this is not the best quality, but I had to post this...My boys do their own bible time before bed, but tonight they decided to do it together...What more can a mom want? 

365-11,12,13,14,15,16

OK, I really need a camera...I'm tryin ova hare...What are those dumb red things I thought looked good in the corners?!? Welp, I know I see beauty somewhere in these pictures...And their awesome!! I just want to bite them...Their goof-balls like this ALL the time.. ;) 
Oh, I hope this collage is allowed...Oh gosh I hope so because it's really late and I have to go now...Love you all :)

Where is JESUS?

If you have been reading my blog, then you know what the LORD has been showing me about serving, sacrificing and suffering in HIS precious name…In that short time I’ve come across HIS broken and afflicted ones, and my heart breaks for them…I know some have put themselves in that position from bad choices, but really how low do they have to go… I'm thinking, where is JESUS?   

I’ve seen people mad, sad, depressed, smelly, dirty, rude, angry, you get the point, and I wonder what they are thinking when their alone…I hear so many people on pills and anti-depressants, just because...I ask myself, where is JESUS?  

A parent just recently told me his son sees a counselor because he can’t handle life right now…His son is 14 and his dad is a counselor, I don’t understand, where is JESUS?  

Another parent just told me her teenagers want to commit suicide because of the fighting and the divorce...I pleaded with her to get some help for her teens…She said with words that slur, “My husband puts his hands on me, and the kids see it.”  I said, “Tell him to leave." She said, “But I love him.”  Are you kidding me? Where is JESUS?  

I’m sure you’ve seen this all around you…Probably right in your own family…I have a family member who’s dad only has 2 months to live…They called to ask MY family to pray for this dad, and mentioned, "We need all the prayers we can get." The family member who asked for prayer is an atheist…I don’t get it, where is JESUS?   

I don’t ask, where is JESUS, because I look for HIM, and wonder where HE is in times of trouble… I ask these people, and I ask you!!! Where is JESUS in your life?!?!

All of your brokenness, all of your sadness, all of your sickness, all of your pride, everything!  No matter what it is, you can be set free!! All you have to do is ask HIM to come into your heart, and believe what HE did for you on that cross…It’s as easy as that…JESUS is HIS name…He’s says in Revelation 3:20  “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.”

The living GOD is knocking on the hearts of HIS broken people!!! Listen cherished ones.. He washes the pain away!!! He pours grace like rain!!! He sits in Heaven on the mercy seat…He’s all powerful, all knowing, all everything!!! Why wait so long to be with Peace? Talk to someone who worships JESUS CHRIST with all their heart, and you ask them how HE changed their life…HE can change yours, please don't suffer anymore without HIM...JESUS never fails, we do!!

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.  Isaiah 9:6

365-9 & 10

OK finally got some not so grainy pictures...I just played around on the top one...I can't photo shop...And this bottom one I didn't touch..Not the best quality, but really, look at those goof balls!! They are best friends and lost without each other... Silly little things

365-8

Serve, Sacrifice, Suffer, which do I reflect?

As I meditate in wonder of the LORDS holiness, I wonder if that is what I’m doing for the sake of the Gospel…Am I really serving, sacrificing, suffering for the sake of CHRIST? 

A friend of mine shared this amazing read about Pastor Francis Chan…Here is the link for those of you who want to be astonished by someone who is really sacrificing for Christ!   

http://www.christianpost.com/article/20110103/francis-chan-shares-details-of-asia-trip-at-passion/

After sharing Chan's story with some friends, I kept thinking about the scripture verse that was quoted….At first, I just quoted it because he quoted it and because I was prideful in the fact that I remembered the verse…Dumb, I know…But I did read it over and finally meditated on it, and it says “For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for Him.”  Philippians 1:29  Granted? Wow, Really?  I pondered this verse to the point of falling into Satan’s trap, questioning my faith in Christ, my walk, AND asking myself, what the heck am I really doing to serve, sacrifice and suffer for HIM… 

For the past couple of months the LORD has been showing me to serve and love HIS people…Not only the people in MY Christian bubble, but HIS broken and afflicted ones as well…Trust me, since I’ve taken myself out of my “comfort zone”, and actually do the “work” HE has commanded of me, I soon found out what blessings really are!!   Whether you just started a relationship, want to grow closer, feel closer, understand HIS characteristics, be like HIM, or maybe your just in a funk, take the opportunities to serve & sacrifice in HIS name…If I didn’t take the opportunities that came my way in the 6 years I’ve known CHRIST, I don’t  think I would have grown as much…My growth, I think, has come from really seeing the afflicted, and feeling compassion for them…If I continued to stay in my bubble, I KNOW, the compassion in my heart for the broken, would not grieve my heart as it does today…I’ve passed by so many broken people in the past, and didn’t feel a thing for them…I just walk by not giving it a second thought…Actually that's a lie…I would judge them in my head thinking, their different, their dirty, their smelly, and those pants don’t match that shirt…But knowing, and putting myself out there to visually see their brokenness, increased the compassion inside of me…More of CHRIST and less of me…That is what my life needs to reflect…

The LORD gave me this verse in my quiet time…Appropriate…I love it...I love HIM!!!

“You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.  “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.   In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. Matthew 5:13-16

365-7

365-6

365-5

365-3 & 4