All that I have, I can find in you.

"God is able to make every grace overflow to you, so that in every way, always having everything you need, you may excel in every good work" 2nd Corinthians 9:8

I used to live in a season of life, where no matter what, I was always looking for more. More money, more friends, more to life in general. I was never happy, or in a time of contentment. I could never "live in the moment", because I was always searching for what was next. Now looking forward to what's to come isn't bad. Its wishing you had more. What happens when we get out of a contentment, we start comparing. "They have this, and they just got what?!" is comparison. One of my favorite quotes say:

Comparison is the thief of joy.

It robs us of that opportunity to live in the moment we are in, with what God is currently supplying us with. Look, there will always be something bigger, something better, and something MORE. Sometimes though, what we have, and where we are is the bigger, better and MORE! We just don't recognize it because we are searching beyond that. Sometimes what we want, isn't quite what God has lined up yet. Yet, we still strive for these things. If you can't be content with what God has for you in the here and now, then you are showing that you can't appreciate what he is giving you. It's ok to see what God has in store for you, and to pray about those things! But if we are putting ourselves in a position where we are forcing things upon ourselves in hiding, then it is probably something we shouldn't' be doing. I could probably write a book on my own testimony for that. I remember when I was in college and living in my apartment, I would constantly be spending money. I'll tell you what, I was the queen of overdrafting my bank account, and maxing out credit cards. My mom would always tell me, "that's not free money you know! You're spending money that's not yours!" Who listens to their parents though really. :P Love you mom! I was spending way beyond my means for what I wanted, not necessarily what I needed. I had a decent control over my money, but I had little control over my shopping. One of my problems around Christmas, was that I loved to buy for people. I would spend some major money on my family! Thank you Amazon for your free shipping at Christmas. But it became a struggle, because at the end of the season, I had no money. I felt good about getting my family gifts, but I also knew I had a bit of a problem. If there's one thing that has helped me control my money, and helped me out with that, it's my husband. Seriously, he walked in on a broke, highly in debt woman. He got me under control though and settled me out good. I could tell you more stories, but then my book might be titled, "The irresponsible woman of debt." :P I can tell you these stories though, because I have overcome those things! Not that I don't buy Christmas presents anymore, I just don't go overboard. That's what life is though. Here's the awesome thing though. We don't need all those presents and fancy things, because God gives us enough!! MORE than enough!! He supplies all of our needs! So dont just focus on the wants. He will supply them in due time. 

"Give, and you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full--pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, running over, and poured into your lap. The amount you give will determine the amound you get back." Luke 6:38 

This is by far one of my favorite verses on giving! When you really get into this verse, you have to picture it. I think about when I'm baking. When you have your measuring cup, and you press it down, shake it together, press it down more and make it perfectly level. But, this is saying, running over pouring into your lap! Overflowing!! In this verse in Luke, it's saying that your amount you give will determine the amount you get back. To me, this isn't just about filling the bucket on Sunday morning, but what you are doing. If you are rude to the cashier at the grocery store, don't expect to get much back from your neighbor! If you volunteer to trip hedges, and rake but only do half of the hedges, and not rake, then don't expect it back in return. God is putting it all in, giving us ALL we need; overflowing, so why cant we give him ALL of us?? He doesn't call us to be stingy, he calls us to be generous. I want to be able to pour out everything God is putting inside of me. If I keep it all to myself, there will never be room for anything else. Now that's not to say you should put yourself all out there, there is a time for privacy. I know that giving God my all is something I need some serious work on. I can't tell you I wake up in the morning, and say I'm all yours God! Should I? Yes! We should daily give ourselves to Christ! Its that easy!!

Just a thought....

What if we woke up everyday, and the first thing we did before we even sit up, or roll out of bed if that's your things, is ask God, "have your way with me today." What if we started first thing giving our day to God. Our time, our love and our talents. Well, and if you have problems with your money like I used to, give him that too. He wants ALL of you! Think about all you could pour out throughout the day to others, when we give it away. The thing is, once we give ourselves away, we have an amazing opportunity to put others first. 

"Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.

Your Kingdom come, your will be done

on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts,

as we also have forgiven our debtors.

And lead us not into temptaion, but deliver us from evil.

For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever.

Amen.

Excuse Me.

"I Desire to do your will, my God; Your law is within my heart."

Psalm 40:8

        "Hang on I'm busy." "Just a second, I'm doing something right now." "I'll get around to it eventually." "I can't, I dont have time." "I'll get a hold of you soon." 

Excuses. That's what those are. If I could count how many times I said these to people, it would be way above a reasonable number. My other favorite, "I'll say a prayer for you." How many times have you said that to someone, and never prayed for them. So now, I try my best to pray in the moment. There is no excuse, like, "I'm busy", for prayer. None. The best thing about communication with God, is you can do it out loud, in a group, or just, silently to yourself. There is never an excuse for not having time to pray over your children, either. This is something that I need to make happen. So why do we find these excuses? Why do we fill our lives with busyness, and always put ourselves in a go, go, go mode? It is simply that way this world has trained us. So lets stop letting the world train us, and let the spirit of God Almighty run this course with us. Easier said that done, eh? I have set this vision, to start practicing this. I have let the world and society get a hold of me. This phone consumed, always on the move society. God gives us the ability to REST. I'm not talking about, going to lay down for a nap for an hour. What I'm talking about is sitting down, spending time in prayer, and just listening. Omitting the noise from our lives for even a moment. To REFRESH ourselves. Because if we never take that TIME, how will we ever know, what his will is for our lives?

Desire: noun: a longing or craving.

Just seeing that definition makes me take a deep breath in, close my eyes, and exhale slowly. When I see the word desire, it captivates me. I DESIRE God's unconditional love. I want to spend all of my days running after his heart! So when the scripture says, "I desire to do your will, my God, Your law is within my heart", it captivates me! I have a longing and a craving to do God's will!! How am I able to though, when I'm "too busy"?! Here's the thing. If you know me, and follow me on facebook, its clearly evident that I spend too much time on social media. You might even say I post too many pictures too. Get used to it. Just recently, I deleted my twitter. One key to getting rid of the busyness, is filtering out the junk. I get it, Twitter is great for those who are into marketing, and what not, I've even been told it's a great tool to get my blog out there. however, I don't feel that I need it. Then again, I've been told wordpress is the way to go if you want to blog too. Eh. I'm not saying you have to go, and delete the social media outlet you spend too much time on, but one thing for me even, is learning self control. What is hindering you from getting close to God though? This is an easy but HARD prayer! If you ask God to reveal this to you, He will!!!! So when I say it's hard, it's the getting yourself to ask Him! Here's a hint: if you make it about you, get rid of it. In other words, we theres no room for selfishness when you have a relationship with God. There is, indeed, plenty of room for selflessness though! 

"Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the DESIRES of your heart!"

Psalm 37:4

Read that like this, if we take delight in the Lord, meaning if we please the Lord, he will give us what we crave and long, in Jesus' name!! We have to pursue him, run after him, and let him be a part of our lives! It is not by deeds alone, that he will give us the desires of our hearts! He gave his LIFE for us. So that we can live! We have the opportunity to forgive, repent, move forward!

So tell me this.. why do we fill our lives so full, that we can't take the time to sit down with God and ask, what is your will for my life? Why is it that the first thing I look at when I get up, and the last thing I look at before going to bed is my iPhone? How much more time could I give my husband, my daughter, and my God? If you saw my last post, you would've seen that there have been a lot of changes in the last year. Some of those changes it was hard not to just say "what now God??" But if you press on, and trust that He is holding your life in his hands, you know that things are being worked out for GOOD. IF you are trusting Him, and pleasing Him. :)

So next time you say, "Not right now", ask yourself, why not? Next time you extend a prayer out to someone, do it at that moment. Next time you get asked for coffee, and you're "too busy" because you just don't want to, think about a life you can invest into. If someone forgives you, receive it. If you had a bad day, and you wronged someone, offer forgiveness. The beauty to forgiveness, is it can come with restoration. Don't make it so you're always in a hurry! You could miss out on something amazing. <3 

A New Chapter

When I first started this blog, my idea was that I was going to post regularly. I even purchased a laptop so that I could do so. However, it seems that I was posting on a weekly basis when I first started and then it seemed l was posting once a year! So the last I posted was a year ago! My oh my how things have changed so much! So much as I've entered into a whole new chapter in my life! My last post was April 7, 2014. 

On April 25, I entered a whole new realm when I read "pregnant" on that test. That single moment in my life I spent in my bathroom jumping up and down, crying, smiling and well... I was so happy that I took 2 more tests! Haha! So thus began a new journey. It's amazing how quickly 9 months can go by!!! When we had this party.. 

We were having a boy! Ezekiel James! And since you guys know what happened next I don't think I need to explain much. Through 29 hours of labor, an hour pushing and a c section later, we gave birth to a baby girl! She was the first baby born in the new year and we couldn't be happier to be with our sweet Hannah Elizabeth! Of course, with an amazing pregnancy, I had to have a little challenge. I came out with a DVT! For anyone that does not know what that is, it is a blood clot in the deep vein. Mine was in my leg. That has come to an end though! Well.. almost.. one more round of testing 😀 It was all so very worth it. 

This is the most recent photo. My heart is so happy. Jarod is by far the most amazing father too! 

Rewinding.. Something else that has been huge is in November, our church unfortunately closed its doors. I can't say that I took this lightly at first. But..As a Romans 8:28 firm believer I know that God works everything for GOOD! We spent December just visiting different worship services, and then after Hannah was born we took about a month and a half off. As any mother knows, a small child can change the pace of the morning in a quick second. So finding a church about 5-8 min away has been so convenient. While we miss our Envision family so soooo much, we have enjoyed going to church in Auburn, and connecting more with friends here. 

That's just a basic update, and I strongly believe that we are where we are supposed to be. "For such a time as this.

I have an upcoming blog that will be posted this week. ❤️❤️