Quiet Time...

I took this picture, it's in my parent's room and reminded me of "Quiet Times" even 

though I like to be outside, this is a good example of A Quiet Time I might have."

In my Quiet Time, I find strength and reassurance. In my Quiet Time I find truth and correction.
In my Quiet Time I find love and mercy, healing and guidance, joy for my triumphs and sorrow
for my mistakes. My sorrow leads to conviction and my conviction leads to repentance. My
repentance leads to joy and abundant life in Jesus. Quiet Time is a source of strength in weakness,
a source of correction when I have done something wrong. Having a Quiet Time enables me
to change and not stay the same, but to grow spiritually and emotionally and in every way really.
My Quiet Time brings life to my soul. Without my Quiet Time/Devotional time, I often can seem
bitter or upset, and often afraid, or I seem like something is missing or wrong... The good thing
is that when I have my Quiet Time, my fears are erased and are replaced with courage and
strength to face the day. I find wisdom and understanding where and when I need it most. I
often enjoy having "all day" Quiet Times, because I just love to soak up and bask in the presence of
Jesus! He IS my life and all that I live for, without Him, I am nothing at all. There are no words
to tell you how I feel when I spend time with Jesus, it's like everything in the world fades and
all that is left is Him and me! I LOVE Jesus and I LOVE to spend time with Him and that is
the complete and honest truth! My favorite place to spend time with Him is outside! I sometimes
wish I could BE the outdoors! I long to be with Jesus and sit on His lap, or dance with Him in
fields of green or ride horses with Him guiding my way as I sit with Him feeling like I am
floating in the air. I dream of taking walks with Jesus and holding His hand and telling Him
everything and He tells me everything! This is my hearts ultimate desire! I long to gaze into His
eyes or just see His Holy and Wonderful face!

Where I spend my time and who I spend my time with is who I will become. So spending time with
Jesus should be my hearts ultimate desire, because then I will become like HIM! Wouldn't that
be wonderful?!?! I want to know and become ALL that He wants for me, nothing more, nothing
less. I want to grow wiser in His wisdom. I want to grow mentally, spiritually, and in every way
that I can to become like Him! My Quiet Time is very precious to me!

This is my life, am I who I want to be?
This is YOUR life, are you who you want to be?
You and I can't be or do anything with God, so we need to learn from the Creator, right?
I encourage you to value your quiet time and make time for the Father, because He turned
my world into something amazingly, beautiful and still turns it daily! Terrible things might happen,
but God is God and I trust in Him to take care of me! I still have so much to learn!!!!

Keep showing me the way Jesus! I love you Daddy!

How Great Is My God!

"Then I was the craftsman at his side. I was filled with delight day after day, rejoicing 

always in his presence, rejoicing in his whole world and delighting in mankind."

Proverbs 8: 30-31

As I was having my devotion today, this is one verse that really encouraged me to worship Jesus in
all things. I am always so amazed at His world and I dearly, truly love His creation! At times, I can't
focus very well because I am so captured by God's beauty in His creation. He is so glorious and
wonderful. My heart often longs and desires to BE His creation as I look around outdoors and
long to be that beauty I see! I am often reminded that He created me just as beautiful or more
beautiful than His creation. He breathed life into my being and enabled me to praise Him forever.
I delight in God's goodness and His presence. I delight in His correction and love in my life! I
delight in knowing my Savior, not just knowing about Him, but KNOWING Him! He is so
wonderful and so marvelous! Just look at the mountains and the valleys, look at the stars in
the heavens! Look at the birds of the air, the fish of the sea, the creatures that roam and
inhabit the earth! Do they not call out His praise and glory?!? Do they not show forth His
righteousness and justice?!?!? Do they not bring forth the glory and praise our King deserves?!
They do! Even humans are supposed to bring forth praise and glory to God! God did prove
and show Himself through His creation, He DID!

Look up "Louie Giglio" on Youtube.com or get his video's "How Great Is Our God" and "Indescribable." Louie talks about God's awesomeness and how GREAT He truly is! Every time I watch or listen to his teachings, I just cry and can't stop! Just hearing this truth makes me so humbled and so small with such a magnificent God!!!! I love Him dearly and will never, ever, ever, ever forsake my King! I am NOT
ashamed of Him and refuse to back down from my faith, EVER!!! I refuse to sit back and watch my generation crumble to nothing! I refuse to be silent about the Truth and the Life! I refuse to watch
others die in pain and sin, knowing I could have or should have done something, anything about it!
God is so good and so wonderful, everyone needs to see and know! Everyone needs to hear and
at least have a choice to believe! Our God is so INDESCRIBABLE! I just love to watch Louie
and His teachings! I wish I could tell you everything He say's, but it's so deep and so much, you
will just have to watch it yourself! Search up "Laminin" too! Just watch ALL of them and tell me
what you think!

If there is one place I would want to be, it would be in the presence of my King and my Father! If
there is one place I would want to be, it would be in the calling that He has on my life! If there is
one place I would want to be, it would be sitting on Jesus' lap, talking to Him, worshiping Him and
loving Him forever! He deserves ALL praise and glory and honor. He is SO good!

As we went to Colorado, this is one picture that only captures a portion of how marvelous it is in
Colorado and in ALL of His creation! There are SO many REALLY good pics and places that we
saw but I can't post them ALL up here. Just look even in your back yard...it might not be this amazing,
but I know I can find beauty everywhere I look in His creation!

In saying all of this I just wanted to say I love my Beautiful Savior. He is absolutely, Indescribable
and Marvelous! How Great Is My God!!!!

Shining in the Storms!

 (I did take this pic as well jsyk...)

With all of these storms here lately coming through and going here and there, I thought I
would put a poem I wrote as a reminder of how God kept us safe even during the
"Hurricane/Tornado" that passed through our area I think it was last year on May 8th.
Trees were down everywhere and it's truly a miracle that nothing bad happened to
our family or anything that we own. God is so faithful and He protects and comforts
us even when we are scared or when bad things happen! He's a good Father like that!
Well, here is the poem I wrote.

Shining

The sun is shining in the center of my tree.
I gaze, I stare, I see what I see.
It’s not likely, it’s not normal, it’s not lovely to the human eye.
I gaze, I stare, I see-God’s glory shining from thee.
I look behind the rubble of the storm, and see the beauty that comes from within.
I gaze, I stare, I see- God’s glory shining from thee.

I don’t see what others see, I look beyond the mess and see God is God and he takes care of me.

I am God’s child, I am under his wings,
I gaze, I stare, I see-God’s glory shining from thee

When I wrote this poem I was at my desk and thinking about how terrible it looked outside 

but saw how the sun was shining in the center of a tree in our yard. It was so beautiful after 

the storm! I was writing to God sort of saying and talking about His faithfulness and 

goodness in our lives. Even during the hard times in life, we can still be safe and trust Him 

because the Son IS shining! He is always there! Things will be okay with God. We have 

hope, even in the storms! :)

Do You Hunger For More?

Here recently I have been hungering for more of Jesus! I feel like I can't get enough of Him,
all I want is Him! I hunger for that closeness I want more of with my Savior. I hunger like I
hunger for food and thirst for water. I want everything I can get of Him. I ask God many
times to keep a guard over my mouth, my lips, my heart and my mind so that I never become
deceived. I hunger for more of Jesus to overtake me. In my quiet time recently I feel
that I just desire to be where Jesus is at. I desire to sit with Jesus and be completely with
Him, to see Him face-to-face! I want Jesus more than anything. I often times think that it
would be neat if God would allow me to go up with Him like He let Elijah in a chariot of
fire! I love horses, and I most certainly love Jesus and want to be with Him, so this thought
really hits the spot! (lol)

God has plans for me here and the only way to accomplish those plans here is to draw close
to Him and be all of who He has created me to be! I want to have His heart for people. I
want to have His eye's for others. I want to be all that I can be like Him that is possible for
any human being! God is so good and so big, He can do it! My heart is ready and my eye's
are fixed! Create in me a pure heart oh God, renew a steadfast spirit within me! You
are the author and perfecter of my faith! You are all I really desire Jesus! You are all I
hunger for! I hunger for all of You God! Make my heart and mind always set on You
Jesus! You're all I want! You're all I need! Just to be with You! Just to be with You...! I
love You Jesus, help me love You more and stay faithful to You until the very end of time!

Colgate Photo!

I just thought I had to share this with my fellow bloggers or followers. This is a picture my
Mom said would make on the Colgate commercial and I was wondering-what do you
think? lol. It's so funny! My Mom (and many others) always talk about how I am a
"teeth fanatic" and how I really like my teeth clean and white. It's sort of an inside joke
but I thought it was funny...lol...a Colgate commercial! lol...I don't think so! haha!

well, here is the pic!

My Graduation Speech...

I have had many requests of people who have wanted to hear or read my speech

that I gave at graduation, so here it is! God gets all of the praise! Thanks God for

loving me and guiding me and taking care of me for 18 1/2 years! I love you Jesus!

Dear Family and Friends,

To start off, I would first like to begin by thanking all of you for coming to see this very momentous day in my life. Each and every one of you mean so immeasurably much to me and I am so thankful for you. I wouldn’t be where I am today without all of your guidance, correction, love and mercy in my life.

Home schooling has been a great adventure for me and I have learned a lot through the years. I have enjoyed it very much and would like to thank my parents for all of the time, money and energy they have put into my life this far through home schooling and life in general. I also would like to thank all of you who have taught me in any way throughout my life thus far, whether it be at home, at Trinity Christian School, at Coop, or just in personal Bible Study times or in discipleship times, or just helping me in any way. Each relationship that I have means more than the world to me.

Also, a special thanks must go to my beloved mother-Ruth Ann Daly! She is the best Mom in all of the world. She has trained me and helped me grow in so many ways. If there was one person who deserves a crown or certificate it would have to be her. I can remember so many times where I have needed  to talk to her or needed her help in one way or another and she is always there for me! She’s there for all 9 of her children and I do call her very blessed! Thank you Mom-for EVERYTHING! I love you!

Thirdly, my favorite part of home schooling I must say is the fact that I was able to learn the way that I do it best. Whatever works for me, is how I learned at home. Not only that, but I got to go my own speed. It’s also nice to be able to take a break here and there, or just “collect my days” and save it up for one little vacation time later. Home schooling is wonderful in that while you are home schooled, your mind stays a lot cleaner and is not polluted by the things and pressures of this world as much. My mind has been very guarded and I am most thankful for that! In fact, when I go a lot of places and people talk about some things, I often do not have a clue what they are talking about. Most of it is either trashy, or just stuff I don’t really need or want to know. Home schooling is also wonderful because our parents can follow what the Bible says when it says, “Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” That is just what my parents, as well as many of your parents represented here have done. We are truly blessed to have such outstanding parents and teachers who care about our souls and our walks with Jesus and with our future.

As I look forward to my future I know God has great plans in store for me. I am just praying for God’s guidance and direction in every step that I take in life. One of my greatest dreams is to one day become a wonderful wife and a blessed mother and leave the kind of legacy that loves Jesus with no limits, who is set apart and secure in faith. I also hope to help girls in any way that I can who have gone through similar things I have gone through in my past. Like Rachel Joy Scott who is one of my many hero’s, once said, “I will not be labeled as average.” I am set apart and devoted to whatever plan God has for me, no matter what it may be. I want to make a difference for Jesus and be the kind of courageous woman, possible wife and mother that is described in Proverbs 31 and beyond.

All in all, I want to tell each and every one of you that you are so dear to me and I love you all like family. I am so thankful for each one of you. There are no words to tell you the love and joy I have in my heart for each one of you very precious people in my life. I could tell so many fabulous stories about each one of you, but that would take me writing a book or two to do so (which many of you know that I could/would probably do).

God has been so, so, so faithful in my life and I love Him with all that I am. More than anything in the world, I desire to be a reflection of Him in everything. He gets all of the honor and praise in my life. I have failed miserably many, many times, but God is such a good Father. He is always there to catch me when I fall. He makes my ashes into something beautiful to glorify Him. He is my Father, my Prince and the Lover of my Soul. All that I am and ever could or ever will be I have given completely to the One who created me. In closing I just want to encourage the graduates to live your dreams and continue to stand strong in Jesus no matter the cost. Be who you are made to be! I also want to leave you with one very timely verse. It is 1 Timothy 4:12. It says, “Do not let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity.” Thank you!

Fun Days!

So, in the past few days I have graduated, been invited to graduations and
graduation party's, babysat and went over to 2 friend's houses just to visit
because I don't see them very much. Here is a couple of pics from my time
babysitting some absolutely adorable children and going to Antonia's graduation
party!

me swinging with Ashton (who is hiding behind the tree, with Claire on the opposite
side, Cory in my lap on the swing and Tessa took the picture! They are really sweet
kids and very well behaved! :)

Cory and me! Her sun glasses look so good on her! :)

Don't they?

Antonia and Me at her graduation party! She's

so cute! I really like her dress, it looked very good on her! :)

Me and Antonia by a lake really close to her house. 

It was VERY windy! 

(I felt SO under-dressed, because I was! silly me!)

Me and Stephanie (who is my group leader but I will

be changing groups soon because I graduated). 

It was VERY windy!

So there you have it, a few pictures from a couple of fun days I had! :) I already put pics

up of my graduation on another post. Have you had any very memorable days happen

in your life lately?

Graduation Day "11"!

I am finally graduated! Can you believe it?!?!? Here are SOME pics from this
wonderful day! I hope to put more up later if I can get some more! Tell me
what you think! :)

During the ceremony

Me giving my speech! I was SO nervous!

The graduating class...

Cake time! :)

During the ceremony My Father and Mother gave a "charge!"

Me and one of my Bestest friends!

some very wonderful friends of mine!

Me with some beautiful flowers that my friend Abbi gave me! Beautiful!

Thank you for such a wonderful evening! I enjoyed it a lot! It is a big
day in my life and I wouldn't be where I am today without
all of the wonderful people in my life! I love them all so
much!
God gets all of the glory and praise in my life!
Thanks Father God!

A Weekend With My Sis and Her Beau!

Two days ago my sister came to visit us from Michigan. She goes to school there
and that is where she met Tyler, who is her beau! Here are some pictures of their
visit with us!

This is my sister sliding on our slide! I know...it's funny!

This is my Dad and I riding my brothers dirt bike! I was scared to go alone! lol...

This is my Dad and Bear/Joel riding on Josh's dirt bike! (I love this pic. It's so cute!)

John on our climbing wall..and yes, he must really like that shirt! lol 

It's a good one! lol

Me, My sister and Tyler on a walk through the park!

Amanda/Mia and Tyler and Joel!

Tyler, Me, Joel and Mia! 

It was VERY muddy, but we made it through okay!

Johnny and Joel in a cubby hole between big rocks!

Josh trying to act all "cool!"

Almost all of us (except for Chris, he stayed in the van) at the

fish hatchery! We were watching catfish come to the surface-we

fed them and then we realized that we only fed one little section of the 

whole raceway! lol

It was a very fun time! I can't wait to do it again! The next time we will see them is on her 

graduation in August! :)

*My Surrender- Life Changing!!!*

Yesterday was such a wonderful day! God did some amazing things in  my life!
He spoke to me-it was so real and such a beautiful experience the whole day!
It is a day I will never, ever, ever, ever, ever forget. Let me try to tell you how
the day went.

It all started early in the morning on May 11, 2011. I was tossing and turning in
bed at 6:00 a.m. I just couldn't go to sleep, so at 6:30 a.m. I decided to get up
and go outside and enjoy the moment. It was so beautiful outside, the birds were
chirping, the sun was rising behind the trees. Everything was so beautiful and
peaceful. I started thinking about that verse in the Bible that says how God takes
care of the birds of the air-he feeds them and loves them. Then I thought "Why
can't I trust Him to take care of me? I have no excuse, because He can and
does!" God started speaking to me things like, "Traci, why don't you trust Me?"
I then said, "I do trust You." I thought about it and said, "No, actually I don't
trust You-You know more than I do. You are right! But I want to Jesus! I want
to trust You!!!" He said, "I know you want to...Traci, I have taken you out of
many terrible situations in your life and I have kept my promises. You are my
daughter-My Princess! I will take care of my children. I do take care of them.
Why do you worry about so many things (especially in the area of marriage)?"
I had no response except: "I am so sorry God, I feel terrible. Please help me to
trust You in this area!" Then He brought to my remembrance when I got prayed
for at church, when the lady prayed and said, "You are holding onto something like
you're gripping it in your hand. I feel like God is saying 'Let Go and trust Me."
He also brought to my remembrance my signature on my phone when I send texts
how it says, "set apart." He spoke to me and said, "Being set-apart is trusting and
walking in obedience to what God calls me to do, because it's not normal to the
rest of the world." He said, "If you want to be truly Set-Apart, you have to trust
me with EVERYTHING and with your FUTURE..." He also reminded me of
Jeremiah 29:11 which says, "For I know the plans I have for you declares the
Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a future and
a hope."

I started crying and saying "Help me trust You Jesus with everything, especially
in the area of marriage. Help me to let go. I give it completely over to You.
I surrender it all to You. You are my King and my Father. I trust You and if I
never marry, I know that that is what is best and I will praise you in the good
and bad times. I will be happy with You and with my life if I never marry. I
give it all to You God! Take total control. I trust You!"

After spending 20 min. outside on our porch, I decided to come in and see if
my Mom needed help and to see what was going on that day. Come to find
out, she was on the internet in her room, looking at facebook. She said, "Traci,
you want to read what David said?" I said, "sure!" This is what he said that I
read:

  "pities those who spend SO much of their single life wishing, dreaming, and 

infatuating about marriage or the opposite sex. Marriage is amazing, don't 

get me wrong but... God has a plan for single life. If Christ is not the love

of our life when we're single, what makes us think that getting married

is going to give us something better that Christ can't?"

This hit me so hard! I had to read it two or three times. This was complete 

confirmation of what God had just spoken to me about. I had to go to my room

and I just started crying....David is completely right! I felt so convicted now

(and still am) then I have in a LONG time!

So I was very thoughtful the whole day...Later on that day I was at school waiting

in a lobby reading my Bible, praying and worshiping to Jesus in my heart. As

I was flipping through the Bible, every verse I came to had something to do with

trust. For example, one of them was Psalm 71:5 which reads, "For You, O Lord,

are my hope, my trust, O Lord, from my youth." Just everything had to do with 

what I had prayed about earlier that morning. I even heard the songs "Walk On the

Water" by Britt Nicole and "While I'm Waiting "by John Waller that day!

Then, to make it all a more wonderful day and experience I went to Chi Alpha and 

David's Dad was there teaching on self-control and the power of our thoughts and

our tongue. He talked about how death and life are in the tongue and how the 

things we speak have a HUGE impact on others and ourselves. For so long I had 

been saying, "I'm never going to get married...I am ugly...no one godly and 

wonderful will ever want to marry me." This brought me to believe these things in

my heart, which is death and not life to my heart and soul. I was very quiet and 

thoughtful during Chi Alpha. So much had happened this whole day!

God has done something amazing in my life. I have surrendered and will continue

to surrender this to Him daily, but I feel more confident that it is finally released 

and I don't have to carry a burden of this any longer-doubting, not trusting and 

fear. This is gone! I completely trust Jesus. He know's what's best for my life.

EVERYTHING will work out in God's timing, no matter what the outcome may

be! I am living for Him! This is my surrender!

Humility...

"Humility is a funny thing-once you think you got it, you lost it..." 
-a quote my brother always says...I'm not quite sure where he heard it from or if he made
it up, but I do think that it's very interesting. Jesus was and is a servant to all! I yearn to be
like that! Don't you? To be like that takes so much character and love! Inside my heart
wants to be humble, but in my own will and strength, I can't be humble...I (and many of
us) think about us and our wants and desires and are selfish too much. There needs to be
a balance in our life. We need to make wise decisions regarding ourselves, but also know
that once we die to our flesh, we can live free in many ways in our lives. Humility is really
hard to learn. Humility is when you or I lower ourselves to a place that is like a servant.
We should serve others above ourselves. I know I need to work on that. I need to be
more humble and lower myself to a place where I do not just think about what will benefit
me and make me look good or feel good inside. I need to think "How would Jesus respond in
this situation? I want to be like Him!" Then I need to do it! I need to step out of my comfort
zone and into a place that may cause discomfort for a time, but will grow me into who I am
made to be. For example, correction doesn't feel good, but IT IS good! It is so, so good! I
want correction! I used to hate it so bad, but I don't really anymore. I think I have a lot
more to learn about accepting correction, but I have finally felt the joy of getting corrected.
Now I am not saying I like to make mistakes, but I WANT to LEARN from my
mistakes!!!! I want to grow up and do the best that I can in everything.

Like the verse that says, "Whatever you do, work at it with all of your heart as working
for the Lord and not for men." Do you see...this life is not about me, or you! This life is
about HIM! He said "whatever you do..." He didn't make a list... Instead, whatever I do,
in everything it should be for God and not for pleasing myself or others! People will make
mistakes and be disappointed and we will hurt one another. If we try to please people,
our life will only be miserable because (at least with me) I try to "be perfect" and that is
good and bad at the same time. I will talk more about that in a later post about "being
perfect" and how I need to work on that in my life. It's not bad to want to do good,
but since we are humans we WILL make many mistakes, but the goal should be to
learn from them and let God help us-let God live in and through our lives because it's
impossible to be perfect without Him! I would be utterly doomed without Jesus! Thank
You God for Jesus! :)

I encourage you to practice humility and I will too! :) Do it with all of our hearts and
let the Holy Spirit do it in us, not in our strength! (I hope you understand this and I
explained it well-?)

Jesus, I feel so convicted on this revelation. Help me to be more humble and 

accept correction with more JOY! Help me to do everything for YOUR glory and not for 

the pleasing men. Help me Jesus! I need and want YOU to be glorified in my life! 

Take over me!

Happy Mother's Day Mom!

Today is a special day! Not just your average ordinary day! Today we all get to
celebrate our mothers! I actually think it's kind of nice! I can say Happy Mother's
Day to 2 MOTHERS! :) Yup! One gave birth to me and the other one has raised
me! Without my biological mother, I wouldn't be here today so I am SO thankful
for her! This Wonderful, Glorious, Spectacular Mother has raised me into becoming
a young lady who knows and loves Jesus with all that I am! I am SOOOOOOOO
thankful for my Mothers! Here is a picture of me and my Mom who has raised me.

Me. my MOM, and my sister-Amanda! :) The trio!

I don't know how to get a pic of my biological mother on here, but I love her very
much too! Thanks Mom for carrying me 9 months! Thank you *Mom* for raising
me and loving me and nurturing me. Thank you for having those Mother-Daughter
times that I so desperately needed! Thank you for talking through things that have
been hard. Thank you for teaching me God's Word and helping me grow and
continue to mature! I love you both with all that I am! I am ultra blessed!

Thanks God for giving me such a blessing of having 2 Mothers...one that bore me and

one that has raised me! Thank you for all of the other great women in my life who

are like my Mother's! Thank you for Mary, the Mother of Jesus-who gave birth to

our Savior and our King! Thank You for being YOU-God! King of ALL! I love 

You Father! Help me to have MORE of YOU and less of Me! Draw my Mother's

close to you today and let them know how much YOU love them! Thanks God!

Tell me about YOUR Mother! Happy Mother's Day to YOUR Mom! :)

7 Times 70 Times....I Forgive YOU! Will you...Forgive me?

Every time I hear this song, it makes me cry. I have come from a broken home and often
times have to forgive the same people over and over again and it can be so tough. I do
forgive you-my biological Mom and Dad and brothers and Aunts and Uncles and my
Mom's boyfriend's. I have and will continue to forgive you. God has helped me forgive you
and thankfully it wasn't extremely hard for me. There is just a lot of process to the pain
I continue to deal with, because I do have to face the facts that things did happen to me
that were not good for me at all-in fact it hindered me for quite some time. I forgive...it's
the only thing that makes love more abundant in my heart. I hold no grudges to you who
have hurt me in the past and I'm not just saying that, I mean it from the very depths of
my heart. The day to day struggles with the thoughts that come of feeling unloved and
unwanted, rejected and used...I forgive you! :) I truly do forgive you! I don't deal with
them as much as I used to! I am thankful God has used this brokenness to create in me
something beautiful to glorify Him-my Savior and Lover of my Heart and Soul! I love
you so very much! Watch this video and I hope the words encourage you to forgive
7 times 70 times to make it right.

 

(I tried to get the real video but it didn't work too well, but here is the song.

If you really want to see it just search up: "Chris August - 7x70 (Video),"

It should work!)

I’ve been living in this house here
Since the day that I was born
These walls have seen me happy
But most of all they’ve seen me torn
They’ve heard the screaming matches
That made a family fall apart
They’ve had a front row seat
To the breaking of my heart

7 times 70 times
I’ll do what it takes to make it right
I thought the pain was here to stay
But forgiveness made a way
7 times 70 times
There’s healing in the air tonight
I’m reaching up to pull it down
Gonna wrap it all around

I remember running down the hallway
Playing hide-and-seek
I didn’t know that I was searching
For someone to notice me
I felt alone and undiscovered
And old enough to understand
Just when I’m s’posed to be learning to love you
Let me doubt again

7 times 70 times
I’ll do what it takes to make it right
I thought the pain was here to stay
But forgiveness made a way
7 times 70 times
There’s healing in the air tonight
I’m reaching up to pull it down
Gonna wrap it all around

I lost count of the ways you let me down
But no matter how many times you weren’t around
I’m all right now

God picked up my heart and helped me through
And shined a light on the one thing left to do
And that’s forgive you
I forgive you

7 times 70 times
If that’s the cost I’ll pay the price
7 times 70 times
I’ll do what it takes to make it right
I thought the pain was here to stay
But forgiveness made a way

7 times 70 times
There’s healing in this house tonight
I’m reaching up to pull it down
Gonna wrap it all around
Yeah
I’m gonna wrap it all around

I’ve been living in this house here
Since the day that I was born

I forgive you from my past, my present and my future for every time you have or 

ever will hurt me, I forgive you!

Here is the story behind the song if you are interested!

Also, since I am saying "I forgive you," I feel like I need to say that I am very sorry for 

the waysI have ever let any one of you down who I know who read my blog. I have

said things I don't mean, I have done things carelessly and without thinking and it has 

hurt many of you. I have held bitterness and unforgiveness to several people. I have hurt

you in many ways and I just want to say that I am sincerely sorry. I wish I could go back

to those place and make things right and not do or say the things I have. I wish I could 

rethink things through and not be so hurtful with my words. I am so sorry for making 

fun of you and not showing you the love you need and the gentleness and kindness that is

wanted and needed. I am sorry I was not setting an example the times that I had the chance

and you were looking to me. I am so sorry for any way I have hurt any of you. I am not 

perfect and I will mess up many more times, and I know that. I don't want to though! I

don't want to hurt anyone in any way, shape or form. I love my family, my friends and the

people I don't know. I care very much about you and if I ever hurt you again, I want you

to know that I am growing and learning to love and be the kind of woman God desires and

would be proud of! The kind of daughter of the King that others can see that Jesus lives 

inside of me. I want to do better at forgiving and doing what's right. I am SO sorry...will 

you forgive me?

Fasting...

What is fasting? Have you ever thought that fasting was just going without food for a
certain amount of time? It can be and most of the time is. Although, here is a thought
to consider: "What is fasting for?" Is it to loose weight? Or is it to draw closer to Jesus?
Break the chains of bondage and everything that sets itself up against the Holy Spirit?
I used to think that fasting was just for someone to go without food, but in all reality if
it is supposed to draw you closer to Jesus and help you rely on HIM as your ultimate
satisfaction and life that you draw from. If fasting is for someone to not rely on
themselves in times of weakness, then anything that we struggle with, we can fast from.
For example, if someone struggles with watching too much t.v. and say's that they do
not "have time" for God, then maybe it's just a poor use of one's time? Fasting in this
instance would mean that instead of watching t.v., you could go into a quiet room or
place (which personally, I enjoy going outside or in my room) and maybe turn on a
worship song or two and worship Jesus in your own way! Then, you could open up
your Bible (and journal, if you have one) and start reading and meditating on God's
Word. Sometimes it's good just to start out small and gradually get to a place where
you can eventually be able to have a long special time with Jesus! :)

Fasting is to give the Holy Spirit control over your __________ (you fill in the blank),
whatever you may struggle with. That is what fasting is for-to help you "die" to yourself
and your own fleshly desires and rely completely on God to meet your every need.
I know that I struggle more with my time than anything right now. I don't always spend
my time the way I know I should, or I just feel like I can do more with my time.
Everyone struggles in similar and yet different areas.Fasting is healthy and is good for
everyone in more than one way. I read this book to help me really understand what
fasting really is and how it's good, etc...It has helped me so much!

Recently I feel like I think I need to be fasting more often...it's very important and I want
whatever of Jesus I can get! I still have a lot to learn and will never stop learning. I don't
think "I have it all together," but I do know that I want to be corrected and don't want to
be stagnant and stay in the same place. I want more of Him! I want to really be a different
person as God changes me and molds me into who HE wants me to be!

I hope this helped you today! Fasting is NOT easy at all, but it can be done! That's why
we are to pray and rely on Him as our strength and support and life! He IS everything!
(Thanks for reading! I know it's long, and I do like to write! lol) I hope it helped though!

*Letters From War*

This is a great song by Mark Schultz! I really, really like this song and wonderful
music video!

Do you have someone/know someone who is fighting in Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran,
Libya, or somewhere else? If you do, leave a comment so we can recognize
him/her and pray for them! Thanks! I have one brother who is in the Army and
another one who is getting closer to going through boot camp and then he's off!


God please protect and save our country! We need You to interveve! We want You
to be in charge of our nation! We want You Jesus! We can't do this alone and without
You! Please bring our troops home safely! We will praise You in the good and bad times!
You are King and we are yours forever! What can man do to us?
Thank You Jesus!

"Little Bear" Is Growing Up!

Today is "Bear's" birthday! He is now 4 years old! The little baby of the family is growing
up! It's an exciting time! Here are some pictures from our little party with Joel/Boden Bear!

Joel's Birthday cake! It was good! :) 

 

Joel blowing out his candles 

(it was very difficult for my Mom to get good lighting...jsyk)

 Daddy, Mommy and Joel (with his cars!!!) lol 

Joel/Bear playing with his new cars!

Sissy (Me) with Joel!

We actually celebrated his birthday last week, but today is his real birthday!

Five R's For Managing Your Thoughts:

As I was reading the book, Having A Mary Spirit by Joanna Weaver I found so
many helpful things that I really wanted to share with you! This is one of the helpful
things that I found! Hopefully it helps you too!

She wrote a chapter entitled, "Mind Control" she wrote this:

"What do you do when an ungodly thought pops into your head? (It happens to all
of us.) We can't keep them from coming, but how we deal with those thoughts makes
all the difference. In The Confident Woman , Anabel Gillham suggests these "five R's"
for handling sinful thoughts prudently.
    1. Recognize the thought as sin. Recognize it as defamatory, as selfish, condemning, 
        attacking your character, accusing or confusing you. Recognize it as what it is: the
        Deceiver's tool, a lie, a destructive thought.
    2. Refuse to accept the thought as yours, and don't dwell on it. You know where it's
        coming from.
    3. Reckon yourself dead to the power of sin (Romans 6:7; Colossians 3:5). Just as 
        though you were a dead person, do not respond to the power of sin's suggestion.
    4. Rest in knowing that you are in Christ and He is in you. And when you fail, when 
        you fall, don't spend the rest of the day receiving thoughts about how you hate 
        yourself, allowing the power of sin to do instant replays, going over and over what
        you should have done but didn't do.
    5. Remind yourself of who you are in Christ, dust yourself off, confess that you listened
        to the Deceiver and actually believed his lies. Tell God you're sorry, learn from your
        mistake, realize how you were deceived, and go on about life-walking with the poise
        and confidence of a woman (or man) who knows she (he) is deeply loved, totally 
       forgiven, and completely able to live life. All because of Christ Jesus.

             You will keep in perfect peace

all who trust in You,

whose thoughts are fixed on You!

Isaiah 26:3 "

Personally, I tend to struggle with this more than most things. Number 4 and 5 really

pierced my heart and soul. I think it's because this, more than anything is really, really hard

for me. I tend to think JUST LIKE THIS! It's weird. It's like Joanna Weaver wrote this

book TO ME! I'm so thankful I bought this book and God is using it to help me grow! :)

Thanks Daddy! Thanks Joanna Weaver! :)

Wall Of My Room's New Look!

So, I told everyone that I would let them see the picture of my wall when
it was finished, so here it is! Tell me what you think! :)

This is what it looks like as you enter my room. The words on the wall say,
"They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength." The word "Lord"
is the largest on the wall. My favorite part is the verse on the wall! Now every time
I get weak or scared or anything at all, I can go in my room and just be reminded to
wait on Him-every single time! I really like this verse because I do need this reminder
many times throughout my days...:)

Having A Mary Spirit

Just yesterday evening I was in church and I felt like God wanted me to go into the small,
yet so timely library at the church. While I was in there, I saw this book and as I skimmed
through it, I felt like God was wanting me to buy it. When I read some of the words in this
book I just felt like I was exactly what she was describing. I struggle so much with being
like a "Martha" and not like a "Mary" in my life. I often want to be like Mary, but struggle
with actually having a "Mary Spirit." So I decided to buy the book even though I knew I
couldn't really afford to spend money on something like a book right now. I came home
last night and just couldn't put it down. My heart aches to be like the wonderful Mary's
and like Esther, Deborah and even some of the great men in the Bible, like Paul, Job and
David and SO many others! I know that growing in Jesus takes time and I am willing to
take the time I have to to become who He has called me to be! As I was reading just the
beginning few chapters I saw that I had this picture of me trying to become "perfect" in
every way that I can, all the while I am needing and wanting God to become perfect in me!
I can't do it! I just can't be like anything in God's word WITHOUT Him-Jesus! He is the
author and perfector of my faith! I have to truly truly let go of the strings I am holding onto!

So Jesus, please take control of all of me! Help me to be like YOU! Build charcter 

and life and love and faith and hope and everything good within me from the 

INSIDE OUT! Help me to be beautiful from the inside out-a REFLECTION OF 

YOU JESUS! Help me not to live gratifying the desires of my flesh and living in 

my sinful, fallen nature, but the wonderul nature that You have called me to be 

in-a nature flowing with beauty and grace, hope, love  and faith! Jesus I am all 

Yours and Sold Out To You Jesus! I love You Father!