Happy 2016 friends! I am excited for the new year and what it is going to bring. My attitude has definitely changed since I started subbing (in November) and it has made me excited and have a more positive outlook on life and what I opportunities I have been given. 2015 was a great year and I accomplished quite a bit of important things, but I am excited for 2016 is going to bring me and I have a lot of things that I would like to do. Also in 2016 is the end date of my "101 in 1,001" list (September 28, 2016). I know that I won't accomplish everything on that list, but I would love to accomplish as much as I can! So, here are my goals for 2016. These are just the goals that I have for myself because my husband and I have goals together as a couple for our marriage, but I believe that those are more personal goals.
So here is my list of goals for 2016:
-Run a 5k
-Eat healthier: I want to portion control and make smoothies. Both Reese and I tend to fill up our plates and eat everything, which ends up making us both stuffed and we end up eating too much, which is not healthy for us! And I want to make smoothies because I tend to not like breakfast foods and I think that make smoothies would definitely be a good alternative and be healthier.
-Premake my lunches: I want to make my lunch at night so that I am not rushing the next morning and end up not having a lunch to eat.
-Read 5 books:
-Read through the entire bible: I plan on reading through it chronologically
-Read "Wife After God" Devotional: Started beginning of January
-Memorize 12 scripture verses {1/12}:
1. Proverbs 3:24
-Finish "30 Days of Understanding": I believe that finishing this prior to reading through the bible will help me to have a better understanding of the context while I am reading through the bible. So my goal is to first read "30 Days" and then begin reading through the bible.
-Get a teaching job: Please pray for me on this one. I know that everything is in Gods hands and will turn out the way that he has planned for it to.
What are your goals for 2016? How to you hold yourself accountable to complete them?
Hope everyone has a wonderful 2016, and know that God has everything already planned for you and your life!
You guys, I have never experienced answered prayers as I had last night. For a while now I have been either having nightmares and/or been thinking that someone is breaking into our home. I'm not quite sure why I have these feelings/nightmares, but they sure do not help me to want to go to sleep at night.
Last night I was especially nervous because I had had a rough night the night before. Reese and I read at night together and I had already planned that I would write out a prayer when we were done so that hopefully I would not have anymore dreams. WELL, God knew exactly what I needed and brought it to me while I was reading, before I had even gotten around to writing out my prayer.
Reese and I switch off and on from reading, and last night it was my turn to read the daily Proverbs chapter... which was Proverbs 3 since it was January 3rd. I had already had this chapter all marked up, but it wasn't until I got to verse 24-26 that I realized it was exactly what I needed.
"If you lie down, you will not be afraid;
when you lie down, your sleep will be sweet."
-Proverbs 3:24
You all, I couldn't even read through the rest of this chapter without stopping and just crying because The Lord had already showed me that if I give all my problems to Him, he will take care of them. You guys, I have never truly felt as if the Lord had truly listened to me and my prayers, or that He was going to answer them. Now I know that the Lord answers prayers in His own ways and timings, but this was just perfect timing. I was dreading going to sleep, and I needed to get good rest because it was back to subbing the next morning, and the Lord knew that I needed sleep. He brought me a verse that I now have memorized, and helped me get rest and find peace in Him.
All I can say is praise Him! Praise Him! Praise Him!
They sang "Great is Thy Faithfulness" at church yesterday, and now I just want you all to take your time, rest in Him and enjoy the fact that Our Lord is so great!
Good morning friends! Its Monday again, and a full week is ahead of us, and at that the last week of October! Seriously where does time go...? This morning I woke up early because Reese had forgotten his badge for work so I met him on his drive to give it to him, which meant I was up before 8 am. Typically I am awake while he is getting ready and then go back to sleep before I have to wake up and get ready for work (which I don't have to be there until 11, so I tend to sleep too long). Since I was up early today, I decided on my way home to stop by Starbucks for my favorite cold weather drink, Salted Caramel Mocha (go try it if you haven't! my favorite) and go home and get into the word. So this morning I am going to share with you what the Lord shared with me, and I hope that it makes you want to praise Him more as it has me this morning!
Reese and I have been reading through Hosea every night lately and have really been digging deep into the content of each chapter to truly understand what is being said. So I decided to see if She Reads Truth had a study over Hosea so that I could just get more knowledge and insight about the book, and boy did the Lord show me some things!
To start off, She Reads Truth gave me the perspective that "the book of Hosea is not about Hosea, it's about Gods relentless pursuit of an undeserving people." How amazing is that realization! It is always to refreshing to understand what exactly each book in the bible is for and how it is supposed to resonate with us as Christians. Hosea should not be an easy, comfortable book for us to read because it is a reminder that we had previously chosen idols and things of this Earth that make our flesh happy, but cannot satisfy us as Christians for eternal life, like the Lord can. As humans, "the heart must have something to cling to..." (Thomas Chalmers), which in return tends to be things of this Earth and can only be possessed while here on Earth and do not help us to love Jesus more.
Hosea truly calls us to repentance. It causes us to acknowledge our shame, to say things to the Lord that we do not want to say, and to either face our sin or to ignore it. But then, if we choose the Lord he then says "I love you, I love you, I love you." He wants to always be able to say that to us, and he always will but to actually hear Him say it we must acknowledge these signs and where we have idols that are not our Lord Jesus Christ.
Hosea is called to marry a woman who would be unfaithful to him, and to then have children with her. God calls Hosea to name is children "No Mercy" and "Not My People" (Hosea 1:2-9). When I had read this chapter with Reese I did not truly think about why God would want those children to have those names, but this study from She Reads Truth has definitely opened my eyes up to Gods reasoning for that, and it is beautiful. "Hoseas children, with his unfaithful wife, were human flesh-filled examples of the rebellious people God was calling to Himself", the Lord was and still is pursuing us to come to Him, and to be His children! Hosea is a reminder that once we were NOT HIS PEOPLE, but we have been found and redeemed! The Lord craves for us to come to Him for redemption from all the things that caused us to be lost and to stray from Him. Once we acknowledge those things and those idols, we are able to be found through Gods unfailing love. "The Lord sees it fit to make us His people!" He will always want to make us His people and wants us to bring His people who have yet to find him to Him!
Through this study today I have realized that even though I did not go through crazy hardships that had me stray from the Lord, I have had things that caused me not to trust in Him and did keep me from Gods love. I have dealt with a negative heart and mind, anxiety, being discontent with where I am at, being unhappy because I've compared myself to this world that I live in, and even being lonely. The Lord can save me from each of these things if I just give them to Him. He can be my place of refuge when I'm lonely and lost. He can make me whole and give me an amazing outlook on life because he has and will continue to redeem me from all of my sins. How amazing is this my friends? The Lord can do this for you as well, you just need to give it to Him!
This morning has been wonderful and I cannot wait to see what else the Lord shows me through this study and all of my future bible studies I take part in. I can see the Lord working in my heart and mind, friends, and it is an amazing thing!
I would love to be able to pray for you through anything that you may be going through, especially if it can bring you closer to the Lord. Feel free to message me any prayer requests, I want you to have this realization that I have had this morning... because it is such a great feeling! But for now, I am going to leave you with this song that one of the girls in my bible study had us listen to. It is a great song to listen to that makes you want to clear your life of all of the idols that you have that keep you from the Lords great, unfailing love!
Have a wonderful Monday, my friends!
"Clear the Stage" by Jimmy Needham
"See what kind of love the Father has given to us,
that we should be called children of God; and so we are."
Happy 2016 friends! I am excited for the new year and what it is going to bring. My attitude has definitely changed since I started subbing (in November) and it has made me excited and have a more positive outlook on life and what I opportunities I have been given. 2015 was a great year and I accomplished quite a bit of important things, but I am excited for 2016 is going to bring me and I have a lot of things that I would like to do. Also in 2016 is the end date of my "101 in 1,001" list (September 28, 2016). I know that I won't accomplish everything on that list, but I would love to accomplish as much as I can! So, here are my goals for 2016. These are just the goals that I have for myself because my husband and I have goals together as a couple for our marriage, but I believe that those are more personal goals.