Thankfulness

God has blessed us so much.  He is why we breathe, why we live where we do, why we have the things we have.

It’s not a common statement to say that God has blessed us.  He has abundantly blessed us.  Sure, there were times when I wondered why He didn’t say yes or work a miracle, but that doesn’t mean I went without His blessing sometimes.

He is always there for me.

No matter what I do, what I say, where I go, or where I am, He is there.  It’s just hard to remember that sometimes because He is invisible to us.  But imagine the great comfort, the wonderful communion that is ready and waiting for us if we just remember that He’s always near!

When I am feeling down, He lifts me up.
When I am feeling sick, He comforts me.
When I am feeling sad, He lets me know everything’s okay.
When I am feeling nervous, He calms me.
When I am feeling upset, He understands me.
When I am feeling forgetful, He reminds me.

He reminds me.
 
What He did for me on that cross those 2,000 years ago was something simply amazing to me.  The mere fact that He chose to bleed and die for MY sins is astounding to think about.  Yet, with all my life’s complications and joys, I somehow seem to forget Him and His merciful kindness.  Then, in the stillness of the night or even in the hustle and bustle of a large family, He reminds me in a beautiful whisper what He did for little ole’ me.

My heart melts at the remembrance of it.  Every atom in me wants to please Him to the utmost.  I want to give myself wholly and completely to Him.

Thanking my Redeemer.
 
I count it a real privilege to thank Him daily for what He did for me.  Do you realize the depth of it?  He suffered and died so that I – of all people! – would not have to suffer in Hell forever.  Can you believe a love like that?

“Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.”* 

Let us never forget to thank Him in return.  It is the least we can do.

*John 15:13

180 Movie -- The Holocaust vs. Abortion

 

My family and I were introduced to Mr. Ray Comfort through watching Fireproof movie and learning more about Kirk Cameron.  

Immediately, we noticed how straight-forward and bold he was.  We studied his videos of him witnessing to just about anybody, and were greatly encouraged to be bold and spread The Gospel.

People generally think of a documentary as dull and boring.  I know.... but this documentary was completely different. 

Ray Comfort interviews 8 people, comparing the Jewish Holocaust to our own American Holocaust: abortion.

Finally, Ray shares the pure Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.  It breaks your heart to see some of the reactions.

You will just have to watch it yourself... and comment here to let me know your thoughts on it.  It's free: www.180movie.com

This is an issue that is very dear to me.  I am a former volunteer peer-counselor for our local Pregnancy Center, and I learned never to judge a girl by her outward appearance.  She may be laughing off her deep, inner fear that someone might force her to abort her baby... she may want the abortion just because it's not the time to raise a child... whatever her case, she must be sympathized with and then educated.

We all need to be educated!  We take advantage of the breath of life we are blessed with each and every day.

And Yet Another Page...

{This lllllllloooooooonnnnnnnngggggggg post is written in honor of my first-year anniversary blogging!}

It all started back in December 2009.  We had been invited to perform a Christmas program for a local church and the pastor's wife was a staff nurse for our local Pregnancy Care Center.  How the Lord works in mysterious ways!

Not four months before, No Great Joy Ministries had just released a new book for unmarried women called Preparing To Be A Help Meet.  I had been radically convicted to get a move on in my life and start DOING for my Lord, instead of thinking that I was serving the Lord completely by staying home doing laundry.

Let me explain.

Doing laundry for a family of 9 is certainly a work for the Lord.  In fact, 1 Corinthians 15:58 states that our "labour is not in vain in the Lord."  But as a single girl with no family of my own, I must look to the things of the Lord.

"There is difference also between a wife and a virgin. The unmarried woman careth for the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and in spirit: but she that is married careth for the things of the world, how she may please her husband."*

The Lord had placed an interest to minister to other young women in my heart long ago, but I didn't quite know how to go about it.  I felt burdened to help girls realize that there was One man Who would love them like none other.  It grieved me to see that so many of these girls were 'losing their way' and didn't know where else to turn, except to their boyfriends or drugs or alcohol.

When we met that pastor's wife and she began sharing her role at the Center, I felt that God was opening a door.  She told us about their volunteer counselors and about the great ministry going on there.  God was truly working!

The Lord didn't make a way for me to start volunteering until several months later in July 2010.  By this time, I was sure that God wanted me to make it a point to go there and do His work.  He had brought several friends into my path who encouraged me to go through the training to become a peer-counselor for the Center (knowing nothing of my long-time interest in doing that very thing!) saying that I'd make a great counselor.

In September of that same year, I was praying like mad.  I had also felt the burden to return to India, too, but also had a heart for the girls of my own country.  Which did He want me to do?

In the meantime, I learned about the counselor training.  The costs, the times, the classes.  When I discovered it would cost me $30, my heart sank.  I didn't have the money and if I wanted to sign up, I'd have to come up with the money pretty quickly.

A week before the training was to begin, however, one of the ladies came and told me that they had one scholarship left if I wanted to take it.

I almost melted into one emotional heap!  It was clear to everybody that God wanted me to go through the training.  So clear, that it was as if He told me face-to-face.

India?  That would have to wait.  Maybe for months, maybe for years, maybe even for decades. 

 Flip the pages to a year and a half later.  Per the wisdom invested in my dear parents by God Himself,I was encouraged to pray about getting a job and balance the time I volunteered myself with the time I earned money to serve God through various means.

I agreed to pray, but wondered what in the world the Lord would have for me.  I'd been working once a week babysitting for a friend but it was far from sufficient.  Yet, I thanked God for His constant provision -- even in the little things.

It's funny how we can get so caught up in 'searching' when He is there all along.  He never leaves me, He never abandons me.  He's always there.  Always.

I had advertised myself as a nanny on two different web sites.  I had a couple interviews, but they fell through and I began asking God that famous one-word question: why?

God's plan for my individual is so much bigger than I can see!  Why do I ever doubt Him and His capabilities?

I found an ad on one of the websites seeking a full-time nanny for her 3 year old boy.  It was one of about ten dozen ads I'd answered and I was growing weary.  Surprisingly, the person had listed two phone numbers and instead of applying by email, I called her.  And surprisingly, she answered.  She told me she would call me the following Monday to set up an interview, as she was very interested.

Monday came and went without a phone call from her.  I told the Lord that I would sit tight and just give it all up to Him... I'd do whatever He wanted me to do.  Three days later, she asked to meet me at a local Starbucks. And the rest is history -- HIS-Story.

But it doesn't end there.  I was scheduled to start that following Monday, but we only had two family vehicles to work with.  Daddy had to work, and my sister had to work, too!  But in my heart, I just knew that God had something else up His sleeve... if He had provided so amazingly thus far, I was convinced by now that He wouldn't stop blessing me.

Over the weekend, we were invited to clean out a house going to be foreclosed.  The friend who invited us, in a random way, asked if we needed some vehicles.  She went on to say that her son had two vehicles for sale.  We called and talked to him and went to look at them the following day.  Right away, we girls were impressed with the great price and how well they worked despite their looks!  By Monday morning, we girls went to the bank and filed for our first loan.  (But that's a totally different story...)  We were working against time because I was needing to leave for work very, very soon.

But just as we climbed into the car on our way to go pick up the two 'new' vehicles in the last 20 minutes of my time, my new employer called and told me to come an hour later than planned.

Tears formed in my eyes.  My Lord God had blessed me again.

And that brings me back to my work at the Pregnancy Center.  My new schedule allowed only two hours to volunteer when I had been accustomed to 8 hours.  I knew that something had to change.  I longed to continue volunteering, but it was clear to me that God had other plans.

It was time to turn another page in my life.  The Lord had used me and now it was time to move on.  Move on to a woman and her three year old who are starving for God's truth.

May He use me completely.

I know I should never be surprised at what He can do, but I am continually amazed...

He 
     never 
              fails. 


Forever His,
Christy

*1 Corinthians 7:34

Your First Lover

I found these encouraging words from a 30-year-old unmarried woman.  God be forever praised.

"As I have waited for my prince I have grown into a woman who is yes, far from perfect, but who is greatly more prepared now to be the wife Jesus designed me to be when He does bring my prince along.
I encourage you to go deeper with Jesus, to fall so in love with your God, the Author of your life, your Best Friend, your Savior, that your heart, your thoughts are consumed with Him.
Let Him, as Stephen Curtis Chapman sings about, be your 'great obsession.'"

-Taken from Watching For the Morning magazine by
Candace Davidson
P.O Box 842
Big Stone Gap, VA 24219

Contentment...

"But godliness with contentment is great gain."

1 Timothy 6:6

Did you know that the word 'contentment' only appears once in the entire King James Bible?  It's amazing to me that God chose for it to appear right here, speaking of contentment with godliness.

I don't know about you, but I certainly have been discontent a lot.  And yet, what a cantankerous sore it is to the Christian life!  If we let it, it can eat at the soul terribly, leaving you feel guilty, ashamed and somewhat smarter than you were -- or so you hope to be.

I can be discontent over countless things.  Weather, how the day went, I don't have this, I don't have that, I can't do this, I can't do that... you name it, and I've been discontent about it.

Yet, what right do I have in being so?  Didn't Christ give up His very life for my sake?  And now I'm complaining?  Why is it so hard to just rest, be still, and be content?

I believe one of -- if not THE -- most important reasons Christ gave Himself for us, is because we need Him.  We just need Him.  We *are* like sheep gone astray... in more ways than one.

Paul said in Philippians 4:11,

"For I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content."

This was a guy who'd been beaten, robbed, whipped, shipwrecked, suffered hunger, thirst, etc.*  And yet, he says that he learned to be content in whatever state he was.  Wherever he was, whatever he was doing, whatever God had him doing -- he was content.

I have found several practical things I may do to curb my often desire to be discontent.  These are:

• Study the Word of God:
  
  • Do a word study on the words content and discontent using your Bible, a dictionary and a concordance.  Then, make it a real habit -- like brushing your teeth everyday! -- to read Scripture every day.  I suggest the morning time, as your mind is fresh and impressionable.  Seek the Lord to show you what He wants you to study, and He will.  He will direct you.
• Kneel in Prayer:
  
  • Actually kneeling to pray does something.  It makes you feel like you're actually in the Holy Presence of God.  While kneeling, pour out your heart before Him.*  Give up any and all clutches you hold so dear to your heart. 
• Don't Think:
  
  • It's sounds funny, but don't think about the 'what-ifs' of life.  Satan just loves to put thoughts into our heads that feel so good to think about, but when he does, be ready to recognize that it is not a godly thought and then immediately hand it over to the Lord.   
• Relish in His Peace:
  The Bible says that "The peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."*  When we give up everything to the Lord, He gives us a peace that is almost overwhelming!  Why worry when we have the God of the Universe looking out to our best interests??
• Trust in the Lord, Delight Yourself in the Lord, Commit Your Way, Rest in the Lord:
  
  • "Trust in the LORD, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed.   Delight thyself also in the LORD; and He shall give thee the desires of thine heart.   Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in Him; and He shall bring it to pass.    And He shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgment as the noonday.   Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for Him..."*

   
  Committing my way,
  Christy-Anna
  
  *2 Corinthians 11:23-27
  *Philippians 4:7
  *Psalm 62:8
  *Psalm 37:3-7
  

Turning the Page

Life has turned another page for me.  I have begun to see things in a totally different light than I was used to.  It started several months ago and has been nothing but a joy ride ever since.

I am not my own.

Instead of comparing myself and my body to others, I am learning that it isn't about what I or anybody else looks like on the outside; it's what is on the inside that is truly very important.

Some of you may be surprised at what you're about to read (that is, if you continue to read on) but it's my life story and it's what God has miraculously done in my life.  I have been living a life that felt like an empty shell.  A casing around what I really yearned for: fulfillment, love, and admiration.

Sure, I grew up in a Christian home with Christian values.  I really thought I received Christ as my personal Savior when I was just 4 years old.  I remember the time and the place very well.  But it never really 'clicked' with me, I guess.  I thought that if I just said enough repentance prayers and did my best to be 'good,' God might let me into heaven when I died.  In a way, I was positively sure that I would go to heaven, but on the other hand, I wasn't.  I was fearful of losing my salvation, if I really was saved.

But you know what?  We cannot possibly do anything good to attain salvation... God thinks of our righteousness as filthy rags*!  How far will that get me?

As a child, I was constantly poked fun about my weight problem.  We didn't know it at the time, but our unhealthy eating caused me to go through puberty at a much earlier age than normal.  I became obese, but thought that it was a hereditary problem.  Throughout my teen years and into adulthood, I thought that true happiness lay in a skinny body and therefore pleasing those who had talked down to me.  So, I began dieting and exercising.

I became obsessed with losing weight.

Then I began learning about the very great danger of becoming obsessed with our bodies.  God was not pleased in the least if I cared more about my body and my looks than I did about serving and loving Him.  But I didn't think so.  I decided that I certainly wasn't obsessed because we are to take care of the temples (bodies) God has given us,* right?

Wrong.

Little did I know that I was obsessed... I was too blinded by Satan's lies to realize it.  If my family commented about certain clothing that just 'didn't look right' on me, I became very defensive and thought that it didn't look good because I needed to lose weight.  I also believed the lie that I couldn't get married because guys thought I was too ugly and fat.

Because of these lies, I was afraid of forming relationships with friends -- afraid of just saying 'hi' to anybody.  I really believed that nobody liked me, so I might as well be locked up in a closet.  But I was so good at hiding my inner self.  I was ashamed of myself.

Then about six months ago, I began to evaluate these lies I had lived with most of my teen and adult years.  I began to seek the Truth from God Himself.  The more I studied, the more I realized that God doesn't care two sticks about how skinny or fat I am!  Wow!  What a great truth!

And to top it all off, Christ died for my sins.  He gave Himself for me.  Me, who felt ugly and depressed and dead inside.

That was reason enough to break out of my shell and shout for joy.  Literally.

No, the lies and temptations have not vanished.  I am still tempted to really restrict myself and lose a ton of weight.  I'm still tempted to sink back into my old depression and become a recluse, but it's not about me any more.  Sure, I make sure that I take care of my body and eat with the mindset that I eat for His glory and not my own, but I am very careful about dieting and exercising.  It is so very easy to slip back into the pack of lies that say, "You really need to lose weight.  Look at so-and-so; they are respected more than you because they are not overweight."

It is then that I must make a conscious effort, stop and pray, "Lord, what is Your truth?  I am Your handmaiden.  Do with me as You will."

It is amazing how powerful the mere act of calling on the Name of Jesus is!

I have Someone to live for because He lives for me.  I have Someone to continually serve, because He continually serves me.  I have Someone to share with others, because He laid down His life for me.

May He continue to mold me and make me after His will.  You, too!

*Isaiah 64:6
*1 Corinthians 3:16

It's A Late Night...

...as I sit here waiting for my poor computer to catch up with what I need it to do.  My siblings are fast asleep around me, and my sweet kitty cat is rubbing her head on my hand.

Tomorrow, Lord-willing, we will be leaving home at 9:00a to head down to Mineral Wells, TX where we've been invited to perform for a Firefighter's Benefit.  It is a blessing, to me, to offer what the Lord has given us for those in need.  I find it such a fulfillment to work in a cause which only brings God the glory.

People say that we're 'so good,' 'so blessed,' 'so talented,' etc. etc.  More than anything else, I pray with sincerity that what they see in us is not an asset to their pocket books or someone to look up to, but that Christ and His angels speak in us and through us.

I heard a pastor on the radio say, "If you had been the only person in the world who needed salvation, He would have come down from heaven and died just for you.  That's how important you are to Him."

How can we so easily forget the sacrifice He made for us? - us?!  It is so easy because we have a great tempter always out to steal our joy, capture our love for the Most High and destroy what He is to us.

I live and breathe for only one.  Not myself.  Not even for you.  I live and breathe by the mercy of my gracious God and King... the One Who died for me, bled for me and was spit upon just for me.  What better way to show Him that I love Him than to offer all that I am, all that I have, and the very life He has given me, back to Him?

After all, in the end, He will bless that innumerably.