Goodbye

Well, the hamster pups are now 21 days old and ready to leave their mom. We had to start separating them the other day because they were constantly fighting. Now they are peaceful and ready to go to their new homes on Sunday. We are keeping 2 pups so we still get to watch them grow up. They truly have been a neat gift from God, giving us so much pleasure. Saying goodbye will not be easy but we are glad to share our blessing with others. One will be a class pet at Athens Christian school, and another is going to a student who recently lost their hamster. The third hopefully is going to a friend's son. Thanks for sharing in our pup's lives with me!

Let me Bless You Already!

Have you ever known someone that was hard to bless? Woman are notorious at being bad at receiving compliments. When someone tells us we look pretty we tell them we paid $4.00 for the dress we are wearing. The same kind of person doesn't want us to do anything for them.

I never really stopped to think that when I act like that I am robbing the other person of a blessing.

Sound backward?

True that person is trying to bless me, but when I allow that person to bless me, it blesses them as well. I'll give you an example - the one that opened my eyes in fact.

I gave someone at church a compliment and they received it in a joyful way. She was clearly blessed by my kind words and showed it. That REALLY blessed me! It made me feel so good, and here I was only thinking about making her feel good!

Our Pastor has a phrase he likes to use that says "blessed to be a blessing." That is so true! I guess we think we are being more Christin when we refuse to let someone help us or compliment us, but that thinking is backwards.

I challenge you (along with me) to try to receive what is given you with pure joy, and let's watch and see what happens!

God Knows

Today I received the most precious card from a student in my Mpact Girls class at church. It made me cry because it was so loving and touching. God knows that this week I need encouragement and He moved on my student to do so. I also received another card from a friend that was also very encouraging. What is neat is that I have not been feeling very successful as a Mother lately. I guess all children go through times when they seem to act up more than others, and this has been one of those times. It felt as if I was getting no where with my kids. Now God sends me 2 cards telling me that I am doing a good job with them. How specific is that? I tell you God's love is so big it will never run out. He loves us specifically, personally, thoroughly. He isn't up in the sky just seeing the big picture. He is personal and knows every little detail about us. There is no friend on earth that knows us as well or cares so much about us than God.

Thank you God for loving me so much that you took the time to show me in such specific ways. Help me to learn to love as you do.

In Jesus name,
Amen

God's love

Yesterday was youth Sunday at our church. The service was awesome, and I was so proud of our young people. The Spirit really started to move, and people were going to the alter. I started feeling like I was on the outside observing, and not really a part of what was going on. I was also feeling lonely as it is really hard to get together with other women as our families need most of our time. Just when I was having the lonely thoughts someone came up to me to tell me God wants she and I to know that we don't get the crumbs but that God loves us. She and I both struggle with feeling like less than a Christian because we don't speak in tongues and doubt whether or not we were filled with the Holy Spirit when we asked. God spoke to both of us that day to encourage us to trust in Him, and not worry that we don't look and act like other people. Sometimes God moves on us in quiet ways. She also went on to say that she wants to get together and play games or something. Only God could have know that I was feeling so lonely.

God's love is so amazing. I wasn't asking for anything but God decided to minister to me anyway. He knows what we are thinking and feeling and ministers to us in our place of need. God is so good!