One-on-One

It has done wonders for me already. Brother Troy talked about giving the Lord 1-on-1 time through out the day. I sometimes feel like a baby in Christ b/c I don't know the Bible very well, and I don't study, read, and pray as much as I should. Not making excuses, just recognizing my weak points! I have been working on growing in Christ so that I get to know Him better, and His Word better.

I give Him 1-on-1 time in the morning, nap-time, and bed-time. They aren't scheduled times, just time when I am alone. I have Randall take Ruthie for a little bit before bed-time and I just sit in my room and pray, read, and pray more. I ask Him to open my mind and heart so that I can continue to grow with Him. I know He is walking beside me. I feel His love more and more each day. This is one thing I never did, and I know now, I will never stop. I look forward to alone time with Him. Brother Troy talked about how we pray. He said most people pray in times of need. (I know I already posted about this, but it is still on my heart.) I am trying to change that. I am changing that. I hate that I don't praise, worship, and repent as much as I should. I am changing that. I am going to end here to go do my 1-on-1 time. God bless!

Prayer

That's what tonights sermon was about. The Lord was working hard on me. It's funny b/c I have been thinking a lot about prayer lately, and how little I do pray. When I do pray, it's not always b/c I want to just flat out thank Him for the glorious things He has given me, but to ask for something. Isn't that sad? I know that we are supposed to ask, but shouldn't I praise Him for everything?! I really feel like this is the church for us. I am truly happy there. Ruthie is doing so well and she is even getting to know some of the kids there!

Ok, back to tonights sermon. Brother Troy wanted to examine how and when Jesus prayed.

References:

Luke 11
Mark 1:35
Luke 5:16

Luke 11 is referring to the Lord's Prayer. I hope I don't touch step on anyone with this, but it opened my eyes. The Lord's Prayer isn't meant to be a prayer, but a model prayer. In fact, that is what my bible titled this verse.

This is what the model prayer should be like:

• Pray for God our Father b/c His name is great and holy.
• Things on Earth need to be done to honor Him.
• The meaning of the words "give us our daily bread", isn't referring to our nourishment food wise, but by filling us whole with Jesus. He is the bread of life.
• Forgive others b/c he forgave us. Isn't that the truth!
• Pray for power to overcome our temptations.

Jesus started His day with prayer.

• Public prayer is NOT a substitute for private prayer. When you pray, you need to be alone, just you and Him. One on one with God.

This is one I am so ready to work on. I know I need to sacrifice sleep and get up early and rise with Him. Start my day with prayer!

• When praying, take up where you left off, instead of catching up and explaining where you have been.

• The more demanding life is, the more we should pray.

The more I say, "I need a break," the more I need to pray. If I just take a break, the problem will still be there. I need to hand it over to Him and let Him take control.

• Jesus prayed in the morning, in the middle of ministries, when He made huge decisions, and when there was a need. Shouldn't we?

• So many people wait until the last minute to pray. We have been blessed beyond measure. We should thank Him for our blessings, trials, health, and salvation.
  

I have truly enjoyed listening to this sermon. It hit me hard and good. I know that usually come to Him when I think about it, or when I need something. I am going to work good and hard one spending a LOT of time one on one with Him. Boy how I am looking forward to this. I can't wait! I know I will feel like a new person, inside and out.

Doing what I do, staying at home with kids, is very stressful, and I always say, I need a break. What I need to do, is get down on my knees, pray to God and ask for guidance. I need to open the Bible and read and study. I need to realize that I can help these children in the way He wants me to. I can introduce Him to them. I know a few know about Jesus. I have been able to teach one boy how to pray, and why we pray. I am teaching him who Jesus is and what He is all about. It makes me smile every time he wants to say the prayer!

I hope I have helped someone else along the lines of prayer. I know this sermon touched me.

A new week......

a new beginning. This is exactly what I needed. Last week took a toll on me. I know life isn't as hard as it can be, but it was rough, and I needed a little break.

Over the weekend, we all went up to visit Dad & Darlene. Grandad joined us. We had a good time. We arrived Friday night. Ruthie had a ball playing with them all. Saturday was Darlene's birthday, we went to the Bass Pro Shop (Dad's idea) and shopped for a while. Afterwards, Grandad treated us all to lunch at Darlene's favorite restaurant. When we got back to Dad's we had to leave right away b/c we had to get back to AR for my nephew's birthday. We rushed around, but had fun doing so.

After my nephew's birthday, my brother and my two sisters, and I sat around and talked about old times. We laughed so much. I truly wish we could do that more often. Not sure why we don't. Plus, the kids loved playing together. It was fun watching them as well.

Sunday we went to church and afterwards we ate lunch with my brother Joe. That was nice and we all enjoyed it.

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I have been wanting to let others know about a class I went to at our church! It was an amazing class. Words can't describe how much it has helped us already, and we have only been to one class! Here is the link to the site. I am sure I will have more to blog about after tonight! I will have to go alone tonight, but Randall will be able to join me on the next 3 nights!

This week should be a bit easier, hopefully anyways. I just need to study and pray.

THRILLED!

Sunrise at our house!

Sunset at our house!

Being silly as always!

Dirty face. She was eating snack!

I am super excited to say that I am going to be going to the Women Of Faith conference with some ladies from my church! Here is the link! We don't have the money right now, and it is due in 2 weeks, but I am positive He will provide a way! I feel bad in a way b/c it is on Randall's b-day, but he understands. He was the one who told me to go for it! I am so excited!

We went to church last night, and Ruthie did so good! I have been praying about it b/c she and I both need to feel comfortable at church. I hate to hear her cry b/c I feel like she is crying all through church, and my mind is constantly worrying. I just kept telling her she needs to be a big girl and put on her big girl face. I was so proud of her!

I just wanted to share a scripture that Brother Troy gave us last night!

2 Timothy 4:18
"And the Lord will deliver me from every evil work and preserve me fro His heavenly kingdom. To Him be glory forever and ever. Amen!"

I hope everyone has a glorious Monday!

Monday Check In

I haven't blogged lately. I guess I have been a little busy. Imagine that huh!? We have been cutting wood, visiting Steph and Ski to see what's wrong with their heat, and just going everywhere! We didn't make it to church on Sunday. I know....shame shame. We went to Randall's mom's house to cut wood. We were completely out. I decided to go with him and give him a helping hand. We got quite a bit done. While we were there, we accidentally ran over our dog Gretchen. Might I add that we just buried our other dog Piper. :( We don't know what happened to her. Poor Gretchen. I hope she is alright. Randall is going to take her to the vet tomorrow. Her face is swollen and she can't walk too well on one back foot.

I have SO slacked off when it came to my weight loss. I am pretty much just starting over. All the exercise and healthier eating I did before the holidays is G-O-N-E! I have done awful! Today I had a friend ask me to join an online weight loss group and I did. I didn't realize what I was getting into, but hey, I did it. I guess I need to stick with it b/c I don't want to let anyone down, let alone myself. Wish me luck!

Not much more is going on in our lives. Everyone is doing much better, including Grandad. He told me today that he loved how much prayer works. I agree. Prayers work. Speaking of prayers, I read a book the other day and it had a good idea in it. A girl in the story put her prayers on paper, and placed them in a box. She said it was her way of handing it all over to God. I think I will make a family box. Later on, maybe with a month or two, we will open it up and take out the prayers that God answered! I love the idea more and more every time I think about it! I will let you know how it goes!

Happy 2008!

How time flies once you have kids. I never thought life would go this fast. Growing up, I never believed adults when they said, once you have kids, time flies. They were not lying. It seems like yesterday Ruthie was born. That was almost 2 years ago.....TWO YEARS!

We went to church tonight. It was a really good service. It was all about the spiritual gift of service. I wish I could have been there to hear about all the spiritual gifts, but I think we only caught the last 3-4. It was before we started going there. I am looking forward to catching a new subject matter to study on Wednesday and being there from the beginning, not just jumping in the middle. I wanted to talk to our preacher's wife and ask her about the women's study group or if there is one. I would love to join in and meet some of the women there. I think I would really enjoy it. It isn't a huge church by any means, but I would like to find out more.

We rang in the new year with Keith and Danielle. I was positive I wouldn't make it past 10 pm, but I made it to 2:30. We stayed up all night playing Guitar Hero 2 & 3. What nerds huh? I had a ball. I wasn't too good at it, but it was fun.

I am hoping to start this year, and continue on my path with the Lord. I think I am doing well. I am studying, going to church, and learning to lean on Him. It's not easy, although it should be. I wish I could say it was. Why is something so easy, so hard for us all to do?

I have had almost 2 full weeks off from having daycare kids. I *might* have my nieces tomorrow, but I will definitely have my other niece and nephew. Friday I will have my nieces, and that is it. I am looking forward to spending quality time with them! Randall is at his fire meeting right now and Ruthie is down for the night. If you are reading this, and you don't mind, could you please say a prayer for Ruthie. She has a horrible cough and I hope she can get over it on her own. It's so hard to watch your little one not feel good. I hope she gets a good nights rest. Thanks.