Hello everyone. So sorry I haven't blogged in so long. We've been staying pretty busy around here. Even though I'm home full-time now the days seem to fly by. We stay busy playing school, singing, dancing, eating, and cleaning. We also have lots of spontaneous play dates..which I'm so thankful for! Most all of my friends here stay at home, so we always are just a phone call away from having lots of fun. Every Thursday we have a scheduled play date with several of my friends from church. These days are precious and I know we all look forward to them! We get together, eat lunch and dessert and just chat non-stop.
Today is a gorgeous day here. It is sunny and 60 in January. I wish I could say this was the normal temp for this time of year but it is well above average. Tomorrow it is supposed to be 65...woohoo! I'm sitting outside on the porch swing right now, enjoying the peace and quiet. Anna Claire is out here too, trying to have a conversation with me, but I told her this is my break time so she needs to be quiet. :) Jackson is sleeping and she is supposed to be having quiet time in her room, but since it was so pretty I gave her the oppurtunity to sit out on the porch with me...however she isn't being too quiet. ;) She has lots of questions lately about heaven and who will be there and what it would be like. Last night as I was putting her to bed she asked me if Mammaw Jackie would be in heaven. I said yes, mammaw jackie will be in heaven b/c she loves Jesus and she asked Him to live in her heart. She said, will I see her or will she be in Ohio heaven? I told her we'll all be in the same heaven...she then said, we'll all be in Ohio heaven? So cute! I wish I could record some of the conversations I have with her.
Well, I feel like I'm just rambling today. I hope you are enjoying your day! We have been blessed and are continuing to see God at work here in South Carolina.
Love and miss you all!
Leah
Monday, January 18, 2010
Sunday, January 3, 2010
New year, new focus
Ready, set, go! That was the title of our sermon today...so I need to give credit to our pastor for some of the thoughts I am about to share. Also, I don't think it is a coincidence that I have come across the same 2 different passages twice in the last three days. Before I share the passages with you let me tell you what we've been up to!
We have been in 11 states in 10 days for Christmas...we spent the night in 4 different states in 10 days (Missouri, Kansas, Indiana, and Ohio). We did all this with 2 children and a dog. It was great though! The kids and the dog did absolutely wonderful. On our trip from Ohio to KS we we're blessed to be able to go through our old stomping grounds, beautiful Lexington, KY. It was a pleasure, but also torture at the same time. I LOVED living there, I still love it and miss it, as you know, b/c I write about it all the time. My heart ached and jumped for joy at the same time as we drove past familiar places. We stopped and visited my aunt Joan and I found myself envying her and random people we passed while driving down the road b/c they still lived there and I didn't. I can actually say I loved being on Nicholasville road, as much as I hated it when I lived there, I loved it! I couldn't help but ask God, why did you move us from here? I was so comfortable here...I loved it here, this was my home. We met up with one of Anna Claire's dear friends at Gatti town. They were the best of buds. To see the sincere joy on their faces when they saw each other was the best Christmas gift, but then my heart ached thinking about the goodbye that was to follow. I would be lying if I said I wasn't being bitter towards God and my husband...and kicking myself for letting Craig take the job in SC....even though I know deep down that SC is right where we are supposed to be. Please read my first blog to see what I mean. God doesn't let me forget it either...now I'll talk about the passages from Philippians and the one from Deut. that I have come across twice in the last 3 days.
I read the one from Deut. Friday and the pastor also used it in his message today.
Duet. 11:7-12 "But it was your own eyes that saw all these great things the Lord has done. Observe therefore all the commands I am giving you today, so that you may have the strength to go in and take over the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess, and so that you may live long in the land flowing with milk and honey. The land you are entering (Anderson) to take over is not like the land of Egypt (Lexington), from which you have come where you planted your seed and irrigated it by foot as in a vegetable garden. But the land you are crossing the Jordan to take possession of is a land of mountains and valleys that drinks rain from heaven. It is a land the Lord your God cares for; the eyes of the Lord your God are continually on it from beginning of the year to its end."
Philippians 3:12-16 "Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. All of us who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you. Only let us live up to what we have already attained."
So why do these verses mean so much to me? If you're like me you know when God is speaking to you beyond a shadow of a doubt. This was one of those moments...and like a child, I learn by repetition. He showed me each of these verses twice. :) Ok, so I felt like God was telling me I had to get out of my comfort zone...serving Him doesn't always get you what you want or desire. I didn't want to move farther from family. I didn't want to leave my friends and a church I loved and was involved in. I didn't want to take my daughter away from her sweet friends, but yet in the midst of it all, I had a peace. "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways," says the Lord. "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts." Isaiah 55:8-9.
Did I ever imagine I would live in SC...not in my wildest dreams! South Carolina was where we went for vacations during the summer months...that's it. But, "God is the only One who has the right perspective of our lives. And He will reveal it to us, but we must turn to Him and listen for His voice of instruction." (Charles Stanley)
Now, in Philippians Paul says, to forget what is behind and strain towards what is ahead. I will never forget Lexington, my sweet friends there, nor the many memories that were made there...BUT I can stop dwelling on those things. Instead I need to focus on the present and pray about the future and again, listen for God's instructions.
It's funny, as we pursue our desire for God, He fulfills some of our desires. He has already blessed us tremendously since we've been here. God has put some really awesome women in my life that I can talk, pray and laugh with. They are dear friends and they mean so much to me. He has lead us to a church that we look forward to going to every week. He has blessed us with a nice house and Craig with a job that he loves.
Being home with family during Christmas was fantastic! It also makes it harder to live so far away. That is why these verses meant so much to me. I begin to doubt, and when I begin to doubt, I begin to get farther from God and His purpose for my life. He once again, reminded me to "press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."
So all this to say, at the start of this new year I am going to change my focus. Think of Jesus, He had to bear a very heavy cross, but He fixed His eyes on the joy before Him. And we/I should do the same! Lord, help me to get life in focus this year. Help me to not gaze at my problems and only glance at you. Instead, help me to gaze at You, and behold You, so that my problems, doubts, lonliness, fears, and sadness won't cause me to grow weary and lose heart. Amen!
We have been in 11 states in 10 days for Christmas...we spent the night in 4 different states in 10 days (Missouri, Kansas, Indiana, and Ohio). We did all this with 2 children and a dog. It was great though! The kids and the dog did absolutely wonderful. On our trip from Ohio to KS we we're blessed to be able to go through our old stomping grounds, beautiful Lexington, KY. It was a pleasure, but also torture at the same time. I LOVED living there, I still love it and miss it, as you know, b/c I write about it all the time. My heart ached and jumped for joy at the same time as we drove past familiar places. We stopped and visited my aunt Joan and I found myself envying her and random people we passed while driving down the road b/c they still lived there and I didn't. I can actually say I loved being on Nicholasville road, as much as I hated it when I lived there, I loved it! I couldn't help but ask God, why did you move us from here? I was so comfortable here...I loved it here, this was my home. We met up with one of Anna Claire's dear friends at Gatti town. They were the best of buds. To see the sincere joy on their faces when they saw each other was the best Christmas gift, but then my heart ached thinking about the goodbye that was to follow. I would be lying if I said I wasn't being bitter towards God and my husband...and kicking myself for letting Craig take the job in SC....even though I know deep down that SC is right where we are supposed to be. Please read my first blog to see what I mean. God doesn't let me forget it either...now I'll talk about the passages from Philippians and the one from Deut. that I have come across twice in the last 3 days.
I read the one from Deut. Friday and the pastor also used it in his message today.
Duet. 11:7-12 "But it was your own eyes that saw all these great things the Lord has done. Observe therefore all the commands I am giving you today, so that you may have the strength to go in and take over the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess, and so that you may live long in the land flowing with milk and honey. The land you are entering (Anderson) to take over is not like the land of Egypt (Lexington), from which you have come where you planted your seed and irrigated it by foot as in a vegetable garden. But the land you are crossing the Jordan to take possession of is a land of mountains and valleys that drinks rain from heaven. It is a land the Lord your God cares for; the eyes of the Lord your God are continually on it from beginning of the year to its end."
Philippians 3:12-16 "Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. All of us who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you. Only let us live up to what we have already attained."
So why do these verses mean so much to me? If you're like me you know when God is speaking to you beyond a shadow of a doubt. This was one of those moments...and like a child, I learn by repetition. He showed me each of these verses twice. :) Ok, so I felt like God was telling me I had to get out of my comfort zone...serving Him doesn't always get you what you want or desire. I didn't want to move farther from family. I didn't want to leave my friends and a church I loved and was involved in. I didn't want to take my daughter away from her sweet friends, but yet in the midst of it all, I had a peace. "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways," says the Lord. "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts." Isaiah 55:8-9.
Did I ever imagine I would live in SC...not in my wildest dreams! South Carolina was where we went for vacations during the summer months...that's it. But, "God is the only One who has the right perspective of our lives. And He will reveal it to us, but we must turn to Him and listen for His voice of instruction." (Charles Stanley)
Now, in Philippians Paul says, to forget what is behind and strain towards what is ahead. I will never forget Lexington, my sweet friends there, nor the many memories that were made there...BUT I can stop dwelling on those things. Instead I need to focus on the present and pray about the future and again, listen for God's instructions.
It's funny, as we pursue our desire for God, He fulfills some of our desires. He has already blessed us tremendously since we've been here. God has put some really awesome women in my life that I can talk, pray and laugh with. They are dear friends and they mean so much to me. He has lead us to a church that we look forward to going to every week. He has blessed us with a nice house and Craig with a job that he loves.
Being home with family during Christmas was fantastic! It also makes it harder to live so far away. That is why these verses meant so much to me. I begin to doubt, and when I begin to doubt, I begin to get farther from God and His purpose for my life. He once again, reminded me to "press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."
So all this to say, at the start of this new year I am going to change my focus. Think of Jesus, He had to bear a very heavy cross, but He fixed His eyes on the joy before Him. And we/I should do the same! Lord, help me to get life in focus this year. Help me to not gaze at my problems and only glance at you. Instead, help me to gaze at You, and behold You, so that my problems, doubts, lonliness, fears, and sadness won't cause me to grow weary and lose heart. Amen!
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