New Blogs

I am so excited! I have awesome news! My daughter & sister-in-law have both started blogs. You should check them out!

I don't have time to do a proper blog post this evening but just to give you a heads up...We are selling our house! Yes, there is a realtor's sign in the front yard. Please pray with me that God's will be done and that we get somewhere close to asking price!!

Remember Me

A few weeks ago Charlie preached on living for the Lord, and in doing so you are able to ask him for what you need. His message was on "Remember Me". He referenced the place in the Bible where Hezekiah was about to die. The prophet Isaiah came to his house to give him the message to set his house in order that was he was going to die. Hezekiah immedately begin to pray. His words to the Lord were "I beseech thee, O Lord, remember now how I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in thy sight." II Kings 20:1-4

The next day I begin to search in the Bible for places where it says "Remember Me". The first that I found is in Judges 16:28 "And Samson called unto the LORD, and said, O Lord God, remember me, I pray thee, and strengthen me, I pray thee, only this once, O God, that I may be at once avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes."

Then in 1 Samuel 1:11 Hannah is praying to God begging him for a child. "And she vowed a vow, and said, O LORD of hosts, if thou wilt indeed look on the affliction of thine handmaid, and remember me, and not forget thine handmaid, but wilt give unto thine handmaid a man child, then I will give him unto the LORD all the days of his life, and there shall no razor come upon his head."

In Job 14:13 "O that thou wouldest hide me in the grave, that thou wouldest keep me secret, until thy wrath be past, that thou wouldest appoint me a set time, and remember me!"

There are many others but the one common thread among these people is that they were all servants of the Lord. They were faithful to God. I want to live in a way that in my time of need I can ask God to "Remember Me!"

Expecting

Acts 3:5 "And he gave heed unto them, expecting to receive something of them."

The quote above is on the wall at my chiropractor's office. I was reminded of this picture as my Pastor preached this morning on "expecting".

I went out to church this morning with the same renewed excitement that I wrote about yesterday. I was expecting a blessing! We hadn't been to church since the Wednesday before Christmas because of the weather and sickness so I felt like a kid going to the toy store! I wasn't disappointed. The Lord was very present in our service.

Our preacher started his message this morning in Acts 3:1-8. It is the story of a man who was lame from birth. Someone carried him to the temple gate so he could beg for alms as people entered the temple. Peter and John were walking through the gate when the man asked them for alms. He asked expecting to receive something of them. He didn't think he would be turned down. He was positive that he would receive something from the men but he didn't realize that on this day he would be healed. Peter told the man that they didn't have any money but that he would give him what he had. He said "In the name of Jesus rise up and walk." After he was healed he immediately stood up and entered the temple. He was walking, leaping, and praising God!

Our new word for the year is EXPECT! We will enter in to each day expecting something from God. He is our heavenly Father, and will not forsake us. Do you need something from God? Have you asked him for it? Do you expect it? I do! I am living my life for the Lord and I expect to receive his blessings. The biggest thing to remember are that blessings are not always monetary. The best blessings are spiritual. As a Child of God you can expect to receive blessings from him. You can expect for him to answer your prayers. You can expect for him to give you all that you need. Best of all you can expect when this life is over to receive a home in Heaven.

Go tomorrow EXPECTING...

Happy New Year!!

Can you believe it is 2011? I've got a feeling this is going to be a good year! If you've read my blog at all then you know I am a pretty positive person. However, the last couple of years I've not been very positive which is why I've not blogged very much. Since 2009 life has given me a lot of lemons and I forgot how to make lemonade so for the most part I've wallowed in self pity. I've had people tell me that it is normal to be depressed after all that we've been through, and that has almost enabled me to continue being down in the dumps. No More! That is my New Year's Resolution! I will be happy! Even in the bad times I'll remember that God is in CONTROL!

Romans 8:28 (KJV)

"And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose."

My Pastor quotes the verse above often. I know he has been preaching to me for several months about letting God be in control, to have faith, to trust in God, and to remember that all things work together for good to them that love God! I'm sure he'll have to keep on preaching so that I'll remember all these things but maybe, just maybe, he'll not have to preach to me as often!

I already know that this year is going to have a few trials, but I'm am more prepared. I am going into it the year with prayer and asking God for guidance. No more wallowing in self pity! I am going to find the blessings in each and every trial!

This year I will be starting a new job! Yes, on January 5th I will be going to work in Oak Ridge as a goverment contracted secretary! I am very excited about this because the pay is great & ultimately the benefits will be too! I can't believe I've changed jobs 3 times since 2008 but I've finally been offered the job that I'd like to retire with. I will be working 4 days a week, Monday-Thursday, 10 hours a day. That will leave Fridays open for anything I want to do! The 10 hour days will probably be hard for a sleepy head like me but the reward is great!

In May my baby is graduating! Yes, both of my children will be out of high school this year. Can you believe it? It seems like life goes by so quickly. I would love to turn back time but we all know that is impossible. Now I want to enjoy every day, every moment, that they spend with us. Thankfully our kids still like to spend time with their parents! Just last night both of the kids chose to spend New Year's Eve with us. We asked them what they wanted to do and they both said just stay home with y'all and watch a movie or something! Can you believe it? My 17 & 19 year old kids just wanted to stay at home with their parents!

The biggest change to our lives coming in 2011 is that we have decided to sell our house. We currently live in Farragut which is basically West Knoxville. Our church is in Claxton which is Northwest of Knoxville. It takes us about 25 minutes to get to the church and our lives revolve around church. When we moved to Knoxville in 2003 Charlie wanted to live in Karns or Powell. We looked for houses in that area but we just couldn't find anything. My parents lived in West Knoxville so we gravitated there or should I say "I" did. Charlie never wanted to live in West Knoxville. Now that both the kids will soon be out of high school and in college we are going to try to move closer to the church. Our plans are to rent a house in a community close to the church until we decide if we want to buy a house or not.

With just those few things we know that life is going to be a roller coaster during 2011, but I am prepared! God is Good! I know that he'll be with us through it all!

Happy New Year!