365 Days of Praise Challenge-Day 7

When we were picking Tristan up from Sunday School which is in another building from our church, Faith ran up to our almost 15 year old son with friends and mentors around him. It was such a joyful moment to see my two children displaying such unfetterd love for each other. Okay, so it was probably more on Faith's end since the saracastic comment on the way out by my son just told me that was not the time or place for such a display of sisterly affection. Despite my teenager's lack of appreciation, I was very grateful to see so much joy in the bond between my two children. They have always gotten along very well despite there 6 year age difference so I am praising God today for the joy that the love of children can bring to your life.

Habakkuk 3:18 I'm singing joyful praise to God. I'm turing cartwheels of joy to my Savior God.

365 Days of Praise Challenge-Day 6

This morning I woke up with a nightmare. The dream was me going into our garage and finding it open with a big trailer type thing pulled into it that I didn't recognize and people's voices. I went back inside and told Nathan than I went back to the garage door and started opening it up and "BAM" bad guys pushed there way in and knocked me out and I woke up. I am not sure where that came from except maybe it's because of the big black trailer looming out front that is for the deck guys who will be starting our deck extension project this week. So, my first thought was the verse from Phillipians 4:6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. This helped me let go of that fear-filled dream and I was very grateful for having learned this verse back 8.5 years ago from the nurse who was the first to attend to me that fate-filled night when at 20 weeks I went into labor with Faith. So, I am very thankful always to have God's word to go to when I am in need of peace.

Phillipians 4:6 (The Message) Don't fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pary. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns.

365 Days of Praise Challenge-Day 5

I took my daughter to see Arthur Christmas this weekend. It was a sweet movie and one of the good points about it was how the two sons of 'Santa', one the military techie Santa-wanna-be and the other the nerdie Arthur who was totally into and filled with the spirit of Christmas but had no thoughts of becoming the next Santa were not on the path they should have been on. In the end, the military techie Santa-wanna-be sees the truth and realizes he was meant not to be in the spot light but be the support. So, I find myself praising God for the gifts that he gives each of us. Like this Santa-wanna-be, I have struggled to discern what it is God wants me to do with my gifts but I believe I am following down the right path with them now. How about you? Do you know what your gifts are and where God is leading you?

1Peter 4:10-11 Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms. If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God. If anyon serves, he shoul ddo it with the stregth God provides, so that in all things God my be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.

365 Days of Praise Challenge-Day 4

Thanks to Walmart for the good DVD deals, I got the movie Nights in Rodanthe with Richard Gere and Jessica Lange. I had seen it before but thankfully because my memory is so bad I forgot all the details and it's like watching it for the first time almost every time. LOL. This one is a tear-jerker! I already knew what happens in the end so I was balling long before the tearful stuff started. The movie is about two people who come into each other's lives by chance. They are both in very different difficult places in their lives that have to do with relationships to spouse, son, daughter, etc. The main point of the movie was that these two people had changed each other just by being who they are. There have been plenty of people in my life that had an impact on changing me for the better. One of those people is a good friend of mine named Claudine. She prayed for me that I would except Christ someday and I did. She prayed for me and my daughter when we struggled to keep baby inside of me at 20 weeks of pregnancy. She has always been a great support and though she doesn't live within quick driving distance anymore I am so thankful for her friendship, support and love throughout the last 14 years we have known each other. The Lord has worked through her in helping me. My prayer is that I can be that kind of loving supportive person for those people in my life and that my dear friend has plenty of that loving support given back to her from the people around her.

My daughter Faith with Claudine's daugther in Fall 2009 trip to visit them.

Psalm 94:18 When I said, "My foot is slipping, your love, O Lord, supported me, your consolation brought joy to my soul.

365 Days of Praise Challenge-Day 3

365 Days of Praise Challenge-Day 3
So, although I did get in some shopping yesterday, what I really needed was to get some pictures printed for my layout in memory of my Uncle Garrett who passed away in October of this year. I got the idea to use my Close to My Heart Acrylic alphabet stamps and with a couple of coordinating ink colors and I came up with a word block for my layout.

My Uncle Garrett was a great example of being the salt and the light of the world that Jesus calls us to be in Matthew 5:13-16. My praise for today is for people that I have had in my life like my Uncle Garrett who are wonderful role models for me and all those they come into contact with during their lives. My prayer is that you have a salt and light role model in your life and that you can take what Jesus has already given within you and make it shine.

365 Days of Praise Challenge-Day 2

Yesterday was my first Thanksgiving spent in my home with me making the traditional turkey dinner in all my 15 years of marriage. Every year we have gone up to Sterling over Thanksgiving holiday and I have never had to cook a thing but I have always wanted to. I was so excited to actually be home for Thanksgiving so I could do the cooking. I took photos along my cooking journey so I can later put together my scrapbook page about the day. So, my praise today is for being able to make some good food everyone enjoyed. I made the labor intensive but highly favored dish that I grew up with thanks to my Polish grandparents, called peirogies. It will be another year or so before I do that again but they are so worth the work. My pumpkin pies were a bust but I am ready to try it again next year.
Proverbs 31:15 She gets up while it is still dark; she provide food for her family and portions for her servant girls.

365 Days of Praise Challenge

As I was laying in bed this morning, contemplating my day of cooking ahead of me and fighting the desire to just lay in bed a few more minutes, I thought about what this day represents. Everyone thinks about what they are grateful for on Thanksgiving but our thankfulness and praises to God should be a consistent reality in our lives. After my month of wearing my 'A' pin which helped me keep my focus on the Abundance of blessings and opportunites that God gives and that Anything is possible with God, I find that I am so much more AWARE of those blessings, opportunites and that really anything is possible with God leading you. So, my challange to myself and to anyone that would like to participate is to give praises consistently everyday for the next 365 days. I think the attitude of gratitude will become one of the greatest blessings. So, my first day of praise starts this Thanksgiving 2011. I praise my Heavenly Father for my desire to inspire others. Being an idealist by nature, I have found battles greatly with the fact that I am not the one in control but God is. But I don't want to be down about my own personality type, because God made me this way and he will use it for his own purposes not mine. So, I praise him today for that desire and pray that he will use it for the good of His kingdom. I would love to hear your praises everyday, too. Become a follower and comment on my praise each day with your own praise. Let's work on keeping each other accountable to our 365 days of praise challenge.

To Be Still and Listen to the Lord

My new letter of the month pin is with the letter "C". I have been contemplating lots of things that seem to start with a "C" so it seemed to be where the Lord is leading me. I have been reading another book by John C Maxwell called Everyone Communicates, Few Connect. I got it from the library and about half way through I knew I needed to buy a copy to have to go back to again and again. Connection has been one of my worries over the last couple of years since I learned from a personality test that my personality is actually labeled as "idealist healer" and only about 1% of the entire population of the world has this personality type. My therapist at the time said this may be why I feel like I am not making connections to people because a large majority of people fall into 2 of the more predominant personality types in the population. Don't ask me to remember what they are. Google Myers-Brigg to do your own personality test and get the scoop on yourself. Or maybe not! Since this was reavealed to me, I have struggled with it even more but I came to the realization some time last week while I was in bed trying to get back to sleep that my supposed lack of connection is my perception. Our perceptions of ourselves compared to what others perceptions are of us are usually drastically off! So, I decided I needed to let go of my perceptions of how my connections are to people and just focus on some of the things that John Maxwell brings up in his book, one of the biggest being to stop thinking about yourself and think of others and what they need and want. So "Connections" is one of my remember-to-focus-on-things this month, hence the "C" pin. "C" also will remind me of Christ and all that he has done for me. It will also be a reminder to focus on 'caring' for others. The "C" is a huge reminder to be 'courageous', let go of my fears and be 'confident' in the person I am that God 'created'.

Make your own "C" for your mirror, walls or a pin like me and see how awesome having a little reminder is.
I have to tell you that my "A" pin got forgoten this Sunday by mistake but as we were going through the sermon which was about adultery and divorce our pastor brought up the book The Scarlet Letter, I think my face must have gone beet red as I realized that NOT wearing my pin that day was totally a "God" thing so I wouldn't get really funny looks.