Count Your Blessings

Recently, while in personal bible study, listening to various radio ministries and today at our sermon in church, God has been teaching me about His promises and His blessings. It is very easy to get wrapped up in life or miscellaneous stuff going on that we forget about God. 'Spiritual Amnesia' is a tough thing to kick because deep down it is pride. We forget that it was and is God who has done EVERYTHING in our lives and start to think it was our own doing that we have accomplished this or that.

"You may say to yourself, "My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me." But remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your forefathers, as it is today." Deuteronomy 8:17-18

I have much to be so thankful for. God has taken me from a dark and false past into a bright and beautiful future. It is by His power that I am able to have faith and a relationship with Him. He has given me a wonderful husband and helpmate. There are so many things and ways He blesses me every single day!

One of the things our Pastor called us to do was to keep a record of the ways you've seen God working in your life, the everyday miracles. In the book of Joshua, Chapter 24, he reminds the Children of Israel all that the Lord did for them. It is in this time of reflection that we see the insurmountable love that He has for us and also a way of be humbled to see His great power.

"Now glory be to God! By his mighty power at work within us, he is able to accomplish infinitely more than we would ever dare to ask or hope." Ephesians 3:20

Projects, projects, projects

In the works:

*Finishing up a scripture embroidered nursery pillow
*Finishing up a baby quilt
*Working on (and trying to figure out) my new Knit Wit
*Making a cute little tea towel apron
*Preparing for the AWANA games coming up March 13th
*Planning an awesome girls only party, because I want to see my friends and try this delish new punch recipe. Mmmm... I could try it out now but I'm afraid I would end up drinking it all myself and that would not be good; better save it for the party!

I also want to note that this was quite possibly the best Valentine's day I've ever celebrated. Not only did I have my wonderful husband to share it with (who is my favorite comedian and spoils me with sweets :) ) but knowing the great love that God showed us, shows us and will yet show us is remarkable. Even when I have a random case of spiritual amnesia, He is there to call me back, to love me and help me get back on track.



"Give thanks to the God of heaven. His love endures forever." Psalm 136:26

Spring!

"See! The winter is past; the rains are over and gone. Flowers appear on the earth; the season of singing has come, the cooing of doves is heard in our land."

Song of Solomon 2:11-12

The wait is over

Martha sure knows how to turn an ordinary product into a hot commodity. This was the case for the Knit Wit. After it was featured in her magazine, demand became so high for this knitting tool that orders were backed up for months. I was supposed to receive mine for Christmas but my order too was backed. It has been 2 months since it's order date and it finally arrived.

In anticipation for my long awaited new crafting tool, I looked online for inspiration and ideas. What I came up with were some very pretty shawls and scarves. It is starting to look a lot like spring over here in Seattle, despite being the middle of February, but there's no harm in getting a head start to the scarf making season, right?!

I'm going to be testing my new toy out this weekend and will post the result next week!

True Love

The King of Hearts

Have you ever noticed how many times love is mentioned in the bible? This last week I had the opportunity of teaching about love to my AWANA girls. What a joy to teach those young minds the word of our Lord. And what a blessing to be able to share with them the unfailing love that comes from God!

I LOVE God's Word! That's probably so obvious but it is so amazing! I don't think I can open it up without learning something new or re-visiting a topic and gaining new insight. As I grow in my faith I have come to realize that I have LOTS to improve on, but I have a perfect and righteous Teacher who loves me and is standing by me in this walk of life. The bible really is a love story; the greatest love story ever told!

Every so often I start to think I can do things on my own and my heart becomes hard. Those days end up very bad. Out of fellowship with God, I get moody and judgmental- not a pretty picture! But then I get knocked up the side of my head with His truth and it says "Hello in there, what do you think you're doing!?" This happened a few days ago and I got my wake-up call this morning. But despite my stubbornness and being just plain mean, God calls me back. I can so identify with the story of the prodigal son. Praise God that He still loves us even when we run away. Praise God He is so patient with us.

What is the greatest example of love? Jesus, the Son of God, dying on a cross for our sins – so that we might not die, but have everlasting life. Jesus sacrificed His life for each of us, because He loved us. He gave up everything to be with you. He gave us and showed us the best example of love this world has ever seen. This Valentine's day, I will praise God for the love He showed us and continues to show everyday and into eternity!

So blessed

These first 6 months of marriage have been awesome. I live with and laugh with, learn with and grow with my other half, or like I call him, my best buddy!

We've been through a lot together and I feel so fortunate to have him by my side. But even more than that, he has been such a blessing in my spiritual growth. We were led to the Lord a year and a half into our relationship and he has been so supportive. He is my teacher and my helper. He is my friend and love.

Last night I went to a bible study with a friend. It was late when I got home but I knew I had a sink full of dishes to clean from our dinner that night. To my surprise, Jeremy took care of them for me. It may not seem like much but it was such a relief for me. I got ready and hopped in bed with my beloved. My helper. My blessing!

For Such a Time as This

My heart is full. Not only has Jesus saved me, comforted me & provided for me with my earthly blessings, but He is present in my life every day! He talks to me daily through His word. It's actually pretty amazing how loudly He speaks to me. I get it Lord, I'm listening!

The last few months, His voice has come from the bible study I am participating in with the women at my church, Esther: It's tough being a woman. I can't tell you how deeply I've been moved and inspired. I guess I'm not surprised, it is God's Word after all! What a blessing Beth Moore is. What a blessing to have a sister like her come beside us to guide us in God's unfailing and amazing Word.

We have almost completed the study and my heart longs for it to continue a little bit longer. The book of Esther gives us an interesting glimpse into the providence on God. God is not mentioned once in the whole book, but He is most certainly on it. He is there when it doesn't seem like He is. According to Merrill Webster's definition of providence, 'God conceived as the power sustaining and guiding human destiny.' Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary adds, 'In so doing (in His providence) God attends not only to apparently momentous events and people but also to those that seem both mundane and trivial. Indeed, so all encompassing is God's attention to events within creation that nothing happens by chance.'

While the events of Esther's life were coming to a point, she has some decisions to make. Would she stand up for what she believed in (in her case, saving the Jews), or would she just let life pass on by without her. Esther has a choice, she had to face her fears. She had to trust in the Lord to move forward in her life and face the obstacles and trials in her life. We may not have a trial the size of Esther's, but every day is a challenge. Satan wants us to become complacent, backslide, etc.. He wants us to conform to the things of this world. That is why we must remain aware of our situations. Daily take up your cross and follow Jesus.

The sub-title of the bible study is 'It's Tough Being a Woman' and boy can I relate to that! What I've learned through this journey is that yes, sometimes it IS tough being a woman but, trust reverses the detours of adversity into highways of destiny.

"The Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment." 2 Peter 2:9

What an awesome God we serve and how exciting to learn more about Him and His loving plan!

My Love-Hate Relationship

Let me start off by saying that I am no Martha Stewart, and it is something I am trying to come to grips with.

Maybe it's just me but whenever I make something from Martha's Everyday Food magazine, the finished dish bears little resemblance to the one in the picture. As I've started sewing, I am coming to realize that too is a lot harder than it looks in the magazines or on the website!

Here is my rendition of the baby booties I posted about earlier. So cute when Martha did it and a little less so with mine. I know she has tons of very good crafting and/or cooking experts working for her, but they sure put my stuff to shame. Well, at least it gives me something to strive for; crafting perfection!

Embroidery is a little bit easier. I'm taking a liaison from sewing to work on this. My idea is bible verse nursery decor. This is the start of a pillow to be placed on a rocking chair and the next project is an embroidered Noah's ark alphabet blanket. We'll see how it all turns out!