Our Vacation To New Hampshire - Part 2

Here is the continuation of our vacation to New Hampshire.

(Please excuse the appearance of this post if it doesn't turn out well. I am having technical difficulties today.)

We took a kayak trip down the Saco River, which starts in New Hampshire and flows into Maine. This is an annual trip and we enjoy it with our extended family as well. There are not a lot of pictures from this trip since neither my father-in-law nor I had a waterproof camera with us.

This year the water level was really low so a few times we go stuck and had to get out and manually adjust the kayak in the water. That just added to the fun. Also there were alot of trees that had fallen in to the river this year so we had to navigate around those. It was a very leisurely trip :)







Please stay tuned for Part 3 :)

Good vs. Best

The photos in today's post are brought to you by: Last week's trip to the coast.

Last week, while I was writing THIS, Pastor Dan was also looking at Luke chapter 10. What he got out of it was totally different than what I had seen in it previously. His message was great so I thought I'd share it here with you.

As a refresher, here is the passage from Luke 10:38-42:

As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!” 

“Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things,  but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”

You can live a life OR you can live a life that matters!

Living a life that matters for something means learning to make choices wisely. Every day we are given countless opportunities to choose - countless ways to choose what is good or what is best. People who live lives that matter learn to discern what is Best from what is good. Our time here on Earth is very short - we need to choose the Best way to spend our time.

Mary and Martha were given the EXACT SAME choice. They both had the opportunity to prepare a meal and they both had the opportunity to sit at the feet of Jesus. (I had NEVER noticed this before!!) Mary probably had other things to be doing at that time but she chose to create a moment with Jesus.

She made a deliberate choice to Worship!

Then Pastor Dan challenged us with this question:
If Jesus knocked on my door, would I make Him wait on the porch while I finished up my tasks? 'Oh just wait here a minute Lord, while I do the dishes and tidy the living room. You don't mind, do you?' Would I create time for Him? Would He be a priority?

Often times in life, the good things demand more of us then the Best things but they are NOT more important. Often the clamor of the good drowns out the whisper of the Best.

If Satan can't make you bad, he'll make you busy. Martha was busy. To choose busy is to choose what is good. So, am I justifying my busyness? Do I truly make Jesus and Worship of Him a priority in my life?

We are all given the same choice everyday. Today will you choose what is good or what is Best? I am striving for what is Best.

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May the Lord Bless you all as you seek to know Him better!

Random Thoughts On Grace

 The photos in today's post are brought to you courtesy of: My Vacation To New Hampshire.

The post about God's grace being sufficient caused me to wonder what does it mean to have God's grace in/on your life. If someone were a new Christian, they might not understand what that post was about.

So I took down some notes about grace that came to mind. For me, it means having the Presence of God with me.  It means that I have His guidance for my daily decisions. I can draw on His peace and His forgiveness and fill my life with those and I can then pass those on to others. I receive God's blessings on my life and those too flow over to bless other people. I cannot pass something on to someone else that I do not have myself.

I can tell you this, if you knew me years ago and then knew me now, you would see an incredible change in me! I have let go of so much anger and bitterness, anxiety and worry and the need to be in control. I have so much peace now - God's peace - and there were many times in the past when I thought I would Never know what peace really was!! His peace is so amazing to me! It really does pass all understanding (Philippians 4:7). I have peace now when my circumstances say that I shouldn't. I am so grateful to Him for that!!

I would say that the definition of Grace is Unmerited Favor. I do not deserve God's forgiveness but He gives it to me anyway. I certainly did nothing to earn God's favor but that too, He freely gives to me. (Ephesians 2:8-9)  These two things, His forgiveness and His favor, should cover everything that I do. Receiving His grace also gives me a well of strength that I can draw from in any situation.  I know that in times of waiting, I need to draw out of this well. James 1:4 says: Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. Waiting always has a purpose. I can also draw from this well when I am in need of giving forgiveness. Colossians 3:13 tells me to Forgive as the Lord forgave me. In my natural self, I am not patient and I do not forgive easily. These are two areas where I need His help. 

I also think that Grace means that I am not Condemned. Therefore, there is now NO condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Romans 8:1 I was Completely Forgiven when I accepted Christ as my Savior. Jesus' sacrifice on the cross covers me for all time!! Yes, I still need to confess, but not because I need to alert God to the wrongs that I have done. He already knows what I have done, ans also what I will do in the future. Confession is to bring me into a closer, more intimate relationship with Him and so that I can let it go and not give the devil a foothold by which to try to convince me that I am condemned. God does not condemn me so I should not condemn myself. I also should not condemn others. When I allow other people to be forgiven as well, I am showing them God's Grace, through me. With His help, I can accomplish this.

This is by no means an exhaustive idea of grace. If you were to search the Bible for what it says about grace, I am sure you would get much more than this. (This entire post was actually written off the top of my head without doing any studying, so I apologize if it feels scatter-brained!) Hmm, could be a future blog post? So, what would you say that grace is? What does it look like in your life?

Musical Monday: Amazing Grace (My Chains Are Gone)

I feel like I'm sort of on a 'Grace' theme so I'm going to stick with that. I guess you could say that Part 1 was my pondering about His grace really being enough. That would make this Part 2 and Part 3 is mostly written so I will post it in a day or so.

Today's song is Chris Tomlin's Amazing Grace (My Chains Are Gone). I love this song so much!! If I stop and focus on the words as I sing, the singing of it becomes for me an act of Worship. I am so moved by my gratitude to Him for giving me His grace! Last fall I gave my testimony at church and I requested that we sing this song with it - for without His grace, I have nothing, I am nothing. (Someday I have in mind to write my testimony here for you, but I am not ready for that yet.) Usually I post the song with the lyrics so that if you are unfamiliar, you can still follow along and know what the song is saying. Today's song is the video from the movie Amazing Grace. I will post the lyrics below. If you haven't seen it, I would highly recommend it! It is the story of William Wilberforce, who sought to end slave trading in the late 1700's in England. I may not have been involved in any slave trading in my life but I can still sing 'My chains are gone I've been set free My God, my Savior has ransomed me'. And I am so thankful that He did ransom me and set me free!!

Amazing Grace (My Chains Are Gone)"

Amazing grace
How sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me
I once was lost, but now I'm found
Was blind, but now I see
'Twas grace that taught my heart to fear
And grace my fears relieved
How precious did that grace appear
The hour I first believed

My chains are gone
I've been set free
My God, my Savior has ransomed me
And like a flood His mercy rains
Unending love, Amazing grace

The Lord has promised good to me
His word my hope secures
He will my shield and portion be
As long as life endures

[2x]
My chains are gone
I've been set free
My God, my Savior has ransomed me
And like a flood His mercy rains
Unending love, Amazing grace

The earth shall soon dissolve like snow
The sun forbear to shine
But God, Who called me here below
Will be forever mine
Will be forever mine
You are forever mine

PS - I just had to share this giggle with you! After posting earlier this week about you-know-who (Mary & Martha), imagine my surprise when I got to church this week and realized that Pastor Dan was preaching on them! LOL Even Matt giggled about it! I will tell you later this week what he had to say about them. It was something different then what I have seen before. I guess God really wants me to learn from these two ladies!!

The Week In Review - A Photo Blog (7-23)

This is my niece, Princess Alexis. She turned 5 this week.  She had a very princess-y party!

She loves bumblebees so my mom made her this sweater with bees on it and there was a bee in the pocket :)

 

 This is her big sister, Valerie.

  Colin's garden is coming along great! We are looking forward to making our own salsa soon! YUM!

Even Oreo has been hot this week!

These are from my hostas.  I never noticed before how delicate the petals are. They are like a transparent film and you can really see it around the edges.

I love the one with the bee!

 Since it's been so hot this week (today was the highest - 98!) we thought we would go to the coast. Maybe it would be cooler. Boy, were we wrong!! Only in one spot did we find that wonderful ocean breeze that we were seeking.

I love this picture of Zoe! She always poses and this was a candid accident shot!!





This was called a 'beach' but it was very rocky and the rocks were very hot on bare feet.

 Don't mistake my feelings when I talk about how much I love New Hampshire and the mountains there. I absolutely do love it but being on the coast today reminded me of some of the reasons that I love Maine too. I wish I could bottle the smell of the salt air for all of you land-locked readers!

And I will get back to posting the rest of our vacation to New Hampshire soon :)

I pray you all had a wonderful week as well!

Is His Grace Really Enough?

But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." 2 Corinthians 12:9

 Have you ever heard a song or watched a movie or read something that you have done many, many times before only to have it appear fresh to you on that particular day??

The other day I heard the song Your Grace Is Enough by Chris Tomlin. Now, I have heard this song probably hundreds of times. It is on my favorite Chris Tomlin CD (Arriving), we sing it in church, it's on my iPod. I know all the lyrics by heart. But this day somehow, the line that says Your grace is enough for me really stood out to me and I wondered -- Is it enough? Is it really enough?? I started to think of different circumstances where it might NOT be enough - things I have gone through and things that my friends and family are going through now. Is His grace REALLY enough to get us through those situations?? Who of us would answer that His grace is insufficient? I'm not sure that I know too many people who would answer that it is not. And yet, isn't that how we treat His grace by our behaviors? Don't we all have doubts - times where we lack a trust in His grace and His provision? Don't we doubt that the job will come through? Don't we fear when the bills come in? Do we trust when illness strikes? We struggle with depression, anxiety, addictions. All of these behaviors say that we don't believe that His grace is enough.

So, I wonder, if we truly recognized that His grace IS sufficient enough to carry us through anything:

•  would we have more peace?
• would we have more joy?
• would we be less stressed?
• would that be what it looks like to 'live by faith and not by sight'? (2 Corinthians 5:7)

I lived for many years with anxiety, fear and doubt. I didn't know how to trust God. It was scary to let go of that junk because I didn't know what I would have in place of it. I had absolutely no idea how wonderful His grace really was to receive!! How freeing it is to place my burdens at His feet and to trust that He will take care of them. I no longer need to worry! Praise God!!

And this whole wondering left me with an overwhelming sense that YES, IT IS ENOUGH!  My faith was strengthened by having followed that train of thought and realizing that there is not a situation on Earth where His grace would not be enough for me! There is absolutely NOTHING that could happen to me that He would not be there with me and for me. I am never abandoned, never alone! I am never left helpless and therefore I am NEVER HOPELESS!! What a comforting feeling that is!!

I Choose To Set The Tone

Last week Zoe and I saw this posted on a sign outside a store:

Be a thermostat not a thermometer.

It took me a few minutes to figure it out. A thermometer only measures the temperature around it. A thermostat sets the temperature around it. So which one are you?

Each day we have a choice to absorb the tone of the environment around us or to have an influence on it. Yes, you have an influence on those around you!! Is your mood, your voice, your attitude simply a reflection of the world around you? There is a lot of negativity and selfishness out there. Are you a measure of how bad it is?

Or are you setting the tone in your environment? Are you seeking to create a positive atmosphere? Or encourage people? To help those who only know how to be a thermostat? If you have even been the thermostat (and who hasn't) then you know that you are just miserable when you are like that! It only makes the situation worse and sometimes we aren't even aware that we're doing it. If you have ever set your mind on rising above your environment, then you know that it can be a challenge to do so, but the reward of not taking on other people's junk is SO worth it!

So, which are you going to be? The thermostat or the thermometer?

This picture has nothing to do with this post, I just like it and couldn't figure out how to get it into a post. I may start a feature at the end of my posts called The Random Picture Of The Day :)

 Please let me know how you have had a positive effect on your environment and those around you! Let us spur one another on to love and good works!

Another Visit From Mary & Martha

 Last night, the story of Mary and Martha came up again as I was doing the devotion with the kids.(If you are new to the blog or just want a refresher, you can read my previous post about Mary and Martha HERE.)  I have included the passage from Luke chapter 10 below for you to read for yourself:

As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”
   “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things,  but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”

I was seeing some Martha behavior at the dinner table and after we read the story together, they saw it too. I asked each of them to share what they saw in the story. Colin always has an interesting point of view. This wasn't a 'profound' insight but I guess what makes it interesting to me is that he doesn't want to have anything to do with reading the Bible and yet he will come out with some great insights. (He is 12, by the way). He said that Martha was only interested in work but Mary was interested in Jesus. I guess when you boil it down to it's basic story, this is true. I haven't seen Martha in that light in a long time. It's nice to see a story through fresh eyes! Zoe didn't really see anything in the story. I think really, what she saw was herself and she wasn't thrilled. But who of us has not looked in the mirror and seen Martha staring back at one time or another (Or in my case - DAILY!!)

Here's what I saw this time around. Mary had her focus on Jesus. He even said of her that she had chosen what was better. But Martha, her own sister, criticized her choice! She was criticized!! For choosing to worship!! By someone who also knew Jesus!! When I realized that, it kind of blew me away! And I wondered, how often are we on a path that we know, beyond the shadow of a doubt is the path that God has for us, and yet our choice draws out critics from every direction. It's true that sometimes it comes from acquaintances but more often then not, our biggest and toughest critics are those that are closest to us. And I was curious to note Mary's reaction to her critic - NOTHING! She didn't allow herself to get sidetracked by the feelings that the criticism must have evoked. She didn't allow herself to get sidetracked by defending her actions. She never said a word! AND JESUS PRAISED HER FOR IT!! He praised her actions but He was also praising that way that she handled the situation. 


How often are we the ones that are the critics? Are we supportive of someone who is on the path that God has for them or do we try to derail them? I know I have done it. And how often do we do it to other believers? I'm not talking about stopping someone from going down a self-destructive path here. I'm talking about people who are living for the Lord. Friends, let us not treat each other this way!


Or how often do we allow ourselves to get sidetracked? Mary wasn't sidetracked and SHE GOT PRAISED! I want that! I want His praise over my choices and my life!! I admit, I am very easily sidetracked. This is something that I have realized lately that I need to work harder on.


Gracious and Loving Heavenly Father, I came to You and confess that I am easily distracted by the cares and concerns of this life.  I ask for your power in my life today that I may be more focused on You and less susceptible to being distracted and sidetracked. I know I cannot do it own my own but I trust in Your guidance for my life. In Jesus Name, Amen

Musical Monday: Strong Enough

 On Mondays I like to share a song that speaks to my heart or one that I simply enjoy. Thank you for stopping by :)

I recently heard this new song on the radio by Matthew West called Strong Enough.

I like this song because I simply find it encouraging! The song really grabbed my attention because the first line says 'You must think I'm strong to give me what I'm going through.' In light of my recent adventures in life, it was very encouraging to me to think that God has allowed these challenges knowing that I would try to honor Him through them all. It's encouraging that He thinks I'm strong, that He thinks I can handle it. In the song, the singer recognizes that he is not strong enough for the trials in his life right now and asks God to be strong enough for both of them. Of course, God's answer to that prayer will always be Yes! I just love that I don't have to be strong enough because He will carry me :)  I pray that you are also encouraged and that you are drawing from His strength today.

And while you're on the computer, check out this new blog that I found! She is hosting a blog hop so hop on over and check out her blog :)

Raising Mighty Arrows

Book Review - God Said Yes

For a while now I have wanted to do a monthly book review on the blog. I enjoy reading and thought that I would like to share with you what I am reading and what I thought of each book. Here is the book review for July - God Said Yes by Heather Hornback-Bland.

This book was given to me by a friend at church (she also follows the blog - Thanks Steph!) It's a true story about Heather who was run over by a car when she was 4 years old.

The accident happened in the 1970's, before we had seat belt laws but even so, it was just an accident. The car had been parked on a slope. She was kneeling on the front seat, talking to the kids in the backseat. Because of the slope the car was on, her mother thought that her door was shut, but it wasn't - it was simply held closed by gravity. When her mother started to drive, the door opened and, by the force of gravity, Heather fell out of the car and the front wheel rolled over her belly!!

The book tells of her mother's faith that everything would be alright and how she instilled that belief in Heather. But it also tells of Heather's strength and courage. She shouldn't have survived the accident - but she did. She shouldn't have survived the ambulance ride - but she did. She certainly shouldn't have survived through the first surgery (her internal organs were such a mangled mess, that most of them were indistinguishable one from another!) - but survive she did. And even thrived! Her mother never allowed her to give in to pity or despair.

At the time that the book was published (2006), Heather was in her late 30's. She had (at that time) gone through 187 operations. This is the story of how she survived by living off of hope every day. Of how she choose to look for God's Joys in life, in the midst of pain - physical and emotional - and trials, how He so faithfully provided joy for her.

This was a really good book and I would recommend it. It definitely encouraged me!

Our Vacation To New Hampshire - Part 1

For the last few years, my in-laws have taken the family (their 5 children, 4 spouses and varying amounts of grandchildren - the number grows every year) and spent a week on vacation in New Hampshire. We meet up there with extended family from Maryland and Massachusetts and this year we even also had cousins from New Jersey. This is always a great time and is something that we talk about and look forward to all year. I am going to attempt to share the highlights with you here, but since I took over 1900 pictures, this will probably only end up to be part one :) 

This was the view from the porch at the house that my in-laws stayed in. We didn't sleep at this house because there were too many of us for the number that this house would hold. We stayed up the hill in the woods, which I thought was also perfect!

This was my view from my bed! I absolutely ADORE the sound of the wind blowing through elm trees!!! There is something about elm trees that sounds so much more relaxing than other types of trees. (Sadly I do not have any elm trees at home.) Below this window there is a beautiful deck that we made great use of last year, but this year it was either too hot (even in the shade) or I was too busy. This was a very busy week. It's funny to me how different each year is and that you can't predict from one year to the next what it will be like. Last year was extremely relaxing, while this year, even though it was relaxing, it was also very active.

 We hiked to these falls one day. There were several levels that had areas of *pools* to swim in and the kids LOVED it!!

 If you go up 5 or 6 levels, you are rewarded with this!

Or you can just not bother with scenery and simply play in the falls and splash your cousins!!

I love the way the trees are reflected in Matt's sunglasses :)

These next two are my two favorites from this particular day!

Does it get any better than this?!?! I can't imagine that it does!

Musical Monday: The Prayer

The other night I heard a tune similar to Josh Groban's Believe so I thought about using it for today's post. Well, in all honesty, it really is just to Christmas-y for me to use in July! LOL I am sure that I will use it some time in December since I really like that song.

 But while I was on YouTube looking for that song, this one was listed on the side. As I watched it, I got *God-bumps* all over! I started to cry toward the end and was just really moved by it. This really is a fantastic song so just enjoy it for it's beauty (meaning, no deep theological meaning here this week LOL)

God Bless :)

Home Alone - Woo Hoo!

A day home alone and this is what it looked like:

I started with church. We are doing a series called Destination: Life. It's about living a life that matters. Today's message was about faith vs. fear. It was excellent!

Then I came home and learned this neat trick:

Step one: Mix your lemonade.

Step two: hull your strawberries.

Step three: mix lemonade and strawberries in the blender with ice.

Step four: add whip cream and enjoy out in the backyard!

This was how the rest of my afternoon went:

Hope you all had a great day too!