tests.

i was recently reminded by God of something someone once said to me (wish i could remember who it was :P)
When you get a "test" from God, there is no way you can fail, you can either pass, or as in my case most of the time, be unsucessful, and then He gives you the test again!!

so if you get a test from God, and dont overcome the obstacle, dont worry,
"therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus" (Romans 8:1)
ask God's forgiveness, forgive yourself and anyone else that may be involved and carry on, and someday you may find yourself in that same situation, and you have two options, pass it, or once again be unsucessful.

my thoughts though, are that you will keep getting that same test until you pass, because God wants us to be victorous and able to handle any situation (with His help and strength) that comes our way. i have this one "test" that i have failed time and time again, but i am determined to pass it this time!! so im going to work on more accountability, and not placing myself in situations where i will be unsucessful in that area.

im just thankful that i serve a God who not only loves me dearly, but desires to see me pass every test that comes my way! and altho i am human, and will fail from time to time, i plan, with His help, to do my best!!!

there are some of my thoughts, what are yours? i would love for you to leave a comment with your take on the whole idea....

My yes.

speak to me like you do a friend
tell me the desires of your heart
i long to fill them, i long to use you
so give me your yes

your yes is all that i need
to fill you with my power
one word, just one word
can make a world of difference

here i am before you God
with the desires of my heart
i lay them down at the foot of the cross
and give you my yes

my yes is all that you need
to fill me with your power
one word, just one word
can make a world of difference

i want to live a life that praises you
i want to live a life that brings you glory
i want to live a life surrendered to you
so here's my yes.

i dont know how to fully explain my love of sundays.... :D

ok, so today, was like most sundays, FANTASTIC!!! ahhh! oh the joys of sundays!! i dont know if its just starting off the best way possible with church or what, but they are always great!! so here is my day;
started off as most sundays with a good time with the fam in the kitchen, sundays are the only days we all hit there at the same time, always good for some bonding time and laughs!!
then church, spent worship holding baby Josiah, what a cutie!! even when hes crying :P helped out in sunday school with amazing kids that i love, and then after church as everyone hung out i found baby Judah and held her, man i love that little girl!! she is sooo beautiful!!
then i went for lunch at boston pizza with ben and chris, then got out of my church clothes and headed out to wolfe lake with ben, chris, and ry ry, and shot things!!! i shot my first gun :D :D :D pretty stoked about that!!! it was awesome, i want to go buy a gun now!! hahahh!
and then ben and i went to adam and janice's to celebrate the twins bday and watch the unit, which was also a good time, i mean seth is stinkin adorable, and adam and janice are totally awesome!!
so yah, all in all it was a great baby holding, gun shooting, birthday celebrating day!
oh how i love sundays :D

just a devotional thought....

so im reading through Joshua, and this is what verse jumped off the page at me;

That day the LORD exalted Joshua in the sight of all Israel; and they revered him all the days of his life, just as they had revered Moses. (Joshua 4:14)

I think its God's desire to exhalt each one of us, as leaders, for our own "Israel" weather you pastor and mentor 5000+, or 50, or maybe even just 1. I believe it is God's desire to use you, to have your "lsraelities" be revered to you, (or side note: revered means to regard with awe, respect and devotion...looked it up :P) and not because of who you are and what you can do but because of the God that dwells inside of you and what He can do through you.

i have had many days where i wonder why i should live a life fully for Jesus and not for myself, and this verse is a reminder to me, its because it has nothing to do with me, and everything to do with God, and those He desires to reach and know, and know more,
im merely a vessel for Him.

so last night, i stepped out of my comfort zone and did something i have never done before, and never thought i would do, but i did it. i went to the movies, all by myself!!! and let me tell you, it was fanatastic! i got to sit where i wanted, did not have to share my popcorn or drink, and had no one to distract me or laugh at me as i sat there bawling my eyes out!!! dont get me wrong, i love going to the movies with friends, but this was just a very cool experince that i would most definatly do again!!
oh and in case your wondering, the movie i went to see was Marley and Me, and i was expecting kinda a flaky but cute comedy, boy was i wrong!! and in a good way! it was really good, not at all what i expected, i laughed, i cried, and it was real, they did a great job of showing a more real side to life, (i will tell ya a bit about it but not too much!) it was about a newly married couple and there journey from just the two of them, to a dog (thats i quote "the worst dog ever"), to kids, and yah, i dont want to ruin it at all, but i would most definatly watch it again, so if ya need someone to watch it with call me up!! seriously, i will even go see it in theaters again, and if you dont want to go see it in theaters, wait and im gonna buy it so you can come over and we will watch it together!!!
have a great evening, or day depending when you read this!!!! :D

this is what bothers me....what bothers you?

tonight youth was amazing! daniel did an awesome job leading worship, and my lil bro even lead a song! yay matthew!!!
Jason preached an awesome message, titled "bothered" and just shot off a bunch of facts about injustice and how we need to be aweare of it, and let it bother us so that we take action. some of the facts i knew already, like the fact that there are 27 million, yes, 27....million! slaves in the world today...you may sit there and be like "what? slavery has been abolished tons of years ago" but they say there are more slaves today then there ever have been in history! ever since i first heard about the not for sale campaign it has bothered me, and for awhile i kinda got distracted my life and forgot about it for awhile, but lately i have been thinking about it more and im going to look into ways to help!! i think first i will start off by buying a shirt! yay shopping :D and yah, for more info check out their website,
www.notforsalecampaign.org
one of another thing close to my heart is abortion. one stat Jay had stood out to me, it was that there are 3700 abortions everyday in the US, and i understand that its a US stat, but we are probably about the same, if not worse. abortion not only takes the life of the child, but in most cases the mom comes out as a wreck, most fall into depression, and then effects on them, well, i cant even imagine!!
i have such a heart for children, and so the slavery (being mostly woman and children) and abortion, really bother me!! and im gonna do as Jason challenged us to, im going to set some time aside and research both a little more, and although im unsure of what my next step with either thing is, there is one thing i can always do, and thats pray.
so i challenge you, as Jason has me, to look for an injustice that bothers you, some other ideas are, lack of clean water, poverty, hunger, homelessness, find that thing that just gets you so mad and take the first step, research it, find out more, and keep it in your prayers, and i know God will provide a way for me to help, for you to help, even if its just prayer, or donating money, or going out there in the middle of the action, all we need to do is be willing and take that first step, and Gods there, right beside us, every step of the way!
so what bothers you? and what are you gonna do about it?

so proud of my lil bro :D

wow. ok, so i had lived here a few months before i first heard matt sing, and i still remember, my jaw hit the floor, and it continues to happen with all this amazing songs he is writing and putting on youtube, heres the lastest, and most definatly my favorite, its called start again, if you havent heard it yet, go check it out, and hey if you have, go listen again :D
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UsyzbzkYq30

my last week in a nutshell :P

this last week has been great!! good times, i love the holidays, had family here, and then went and saw my biological family for a few days, lol. it was lots of fun, we hung out, did some shopping woot woot! and played rockband with my sista!! man, she is a dork! :P ahahaha. anyways ya, and the last night i was there the power went out so my sis, mom and i sat around and played sorry and rummy, praise the Lord for power outages!! probably the most fun i had :D it was great just to spend time with them! and my niece and nephew are stinkin adorable! i love waking up to kids coming in to cuddle, as long as its not too too early :P

so today, i woke up feeling like crap, so i spent sometime with Jesus and went on with my day, i worked 130-10, and about 6 i got this killer headache, like brutal! but we had too much to do and too few ppl so i wasnt able to go home early, and i also had plans to have a sleepover with lexi but not feeling well i cancelled on her, well i texted her telling her i wasnt feeling well then went back to work and got this weird boost of energy! so i was like sweet! and finished off the night with energy (still in pain, but energy is always good :D) and then i check my phone, turns out lexi had texted me in return a prayer that God would give me energy, and thats exactly what He did! i love my heavenly Daddy, He's great :D

He continues to amaze me with all that He can, and will, and most importantly, wants to do :D
so another side note, sorry this post is all over the place...
i didnt make any new years resolutions, i mean no one keeps them anyways :P but as i was walking home after work tonight, i felt that this year is going to be a year of God's Presence. i mean, i feel it often, but i desire that 24/7 right beside me kind of presence, and so yah, heres to a year of His Presence!!! i pray it in my life and yours as well :D
goodnight friends!!!