stuck

Have you ever been stuck? We all have at one time or another; you know the proverbial "stuck between a hard place and a rock". Sometimes it is unavoidable and sometimes it was entirely our own doing. My sweet daughter has been getting herself physically stuck a lot lately (she is only 16 months). She will see something that she just knows needs to be climbed on or needs to be moved or needs her attention and she will somehow get stuck. The awesome part (for this mommy) is that when she is stuck she cries for help and I can go and save the day! It was this morning when she climbed up into a spot, couldn't figure out how to get down, and started crying for me that I realized how much it reminded me of our relationships with God. She wasn't in any kind of pain, she was only scared.

We spend our lives running around, having fun, getting into things, and then suddenly we are stuck. Through all that "fun" we were having we might have stopped occasionally to acknowledge God, we may have said a prayer, sung a hymn, or attended a worship service. We knew He was there, somewhere, so we were content to live our lives exactly how WE wanted to. But then, we got stuck. Suddenly we need Him. We need Him to get us out of this situation, whatever it may be. We expect Him to drop everything and come running to save us like a mommy drops everything to save her child. We deserve it, right? Don't we? Honestly we don't. Thankfully God loves us anyways, even though we mock Him, abuse Him, ignore Him, and curse Him. He loves us so much that He gave us a way out of sin, He gave for us His Son. This sacrifice is infinitely more important than whatever physical needs you have for it transcends the time we spend on this earth and gives us an opportunity to spend eternity in Heaven. 

Most of us have heard the saying "this too shall pass". Whatever our physical woes, our financial troubles, our emotional turmoil, it will all pass one day. Either we will get through the tough times or we will pass from this physical life. This life and its problems are only temporary. But so are its opportunities. We only have one life to get it right, only one life to live as God desires, only one life to do our best. 

Despite all we say and do that is contrary to God's will, He still desires us to come to Him changed. He still has grace and mercy on our sinful souls. Let us not let this life pass without helping ourselves by becoming Christians and living as God commands. It is time to stop this "me first" mentality and to live for something bigger and eternally more important.

The other morning I was talking with my daughter and asked her if she loves me, she said 'nooooo', then I told her I love her and she responded 'I Know'. Apply this to yourself: Do you love God? God loves you.

~Lisa
Now the important stuff:

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16

For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit, I Pet 3:18

The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, Acts 17:30

And Peter said to them, Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Acts 2:38

And he said to them, Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. Mark 16:15-16

For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works. Titus 2:11-14

If you love me, you will keep my commandments. John 14:15

Sunday

Today was another great day! We have another new brother in Christ, that makes 2 this weekend!! Always wonderful to welcome a new Christian to the fold.

Here is a quick rundown of the day:
I taught sweet girl's Bible class this morning since her regular teacher has lost her voice. My husband preached the sermon this morning and did great as always. We went to lunch with some of the members at Smithfield church of Christ and had fun getting to know them a little bit better. Everyone at Smithfield has been so friendly and we are really enjoying worshiping and working with them all. This evening we had a guest preacher and he did a great job too, then we went out to dinner with some more friends from Smithfield. It is such a blessing to have christian friends we can fellowship with and enjoy ourselves without having to worry about worldy influences.

Sweet girl is fast asleep and I think sweet man is probably getting close to that point too, so I better get myself in bed. Have a wonderful night!

~Lisa

Great Day!

It has been a great day, we have a new brother in Christ! That is what it is all about, isn't it? Loving God and doing His will. Sure we go about our busy lives pretending that our worldly struggles are important, but in the end they aren't. Well, not entirely, I do suppose that how we react to our struggles is important. Anyway, I am continually amazed with how my husband can sit down with someone and freely share the Gospel. I want to be able to do that. I need to be able to do that. I need to know the Scriptures and I need to share them. That is the difficult part for me, the sharing. Not because I don't care, because I do. My problem is I don't always see the opportunities and even when I do I cannot get up enough nerve to take them. Being as reserved as I tend to be makes sharing what needs to be shared hard for me. I hope to change that.

As I said, today was a great day! I got to sleep in for like an hour this morning while my husband took care of our sweet girl (thank you, honey!). Tried to clean up a little around the house and do some laundry in the morning and then went to a baby shower in the afternoon. We are changing some things to the house we are living in, so the house is a bigger wreck than normal. I'm so thankful for family who are willing and able to help with building walls, installing bathtubs, and all the other things. The house is going to look great when we are done with everything.

Have a great night!
~Lisa

30 Weeks

Today I feel as though I have reached a milestone. I am 30 weeks pregnant. That means I am 3/4 of the way there, with only 10 more weeks to go. Of course, there is no way of knowing when Sweet Baby A will choose to make her appearance into this world! All I hope and pray for is that when she does choose to be born that she will be strong and healthy, and will go easy on mommy here! :)

So for the past 30 weeks, A's daddy and I have prayed, hoped, and dreamed about what is to come for us. I know we will continue to pray, hope, and dream about what type of person she will turn out to be, what kind of choices she will make, and what kind of impact she will have on others until we draw our last breaths. The responsibility we now have of nurturing and mentoring a young precious soul is so very overwhelming at times. Even with that overwhelming feeling, I take comfort in knowing that our Lord will help us to raise her in a way that He desires as long as we continue to desire and strive to do His will. Many wonderful Christian parents have raised their children in the Lord and their children have turned out to be great workers in the Kingdom. I am so blessed to have been a product of strong Christian parents and am thankful to have my mom as an example of what I hope to be as a mother!

Approximately 10 weeks left to prepare myself for this awesome job I have to do! 10 weeks to pray. 10 weeks to dream. 10 weeks to reflect. 10 weeks to love. 10 weeks until we begin a lifetime of the same.

~Lisa