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