yesterday i prayed

i've felt myself getting caught up in the little things lately. not to say they arent important to me, because they are. i know God cares about these things, because they ARE important to me. BUT, in the grand scheme of things, they are still small.

yesterday before dinner i prayed that God would help me not get to caught up in the little things, but to help us see the big picture. afterward, mom said she felt that she had been getting caught up in the little things too and i told her that i was speaking to myself more than anything but i was glad she needed it too.

here are a couple examples:
-on move in day to the new house, andrew realized our landlords had taken out the refridgerator, washer, and dryer which were included in the contract. a couple days of freaking out and telling our leasing agent about this, the landlord told us they were going to buy new ones for us since they took the old ones out.
-my original bridal portraits were ruined--something inside the camera places a dark spot on every single one of the pictures. we ended up redoing them last night. i was willing to do this, but a little irritated, considering the wedding is less than 3 weeks away. because we re-did them, they are probably going to be better than the first time around.

i let myself freak out and be stressed (pepcid here i come!) about the little things, but i need to remember God is in control and if i let Him, He will take control and show me that he can make things SO MUCH BETTER than i can when i'm "in control."

why is it so hard to let go of the reigns even when we KNOW God will take care of us?!?!

what really counts

last night in singing class at church, some things were inappropriately said referring to the singing. at first it made me mad, then it just made me sad because i realized those who had said the inappropriate remarks had lost sight of why we were there. God desires our heart in worship--WE are the ones who care how it sounds.

we had come together to worship our God and I came out feeling irritated. maybe that was partly my fault, letting myself get distracted by the comments made.

let's not let our preferences get in the way of worshipping God.

When I Say I am a Christian...Maya Angelou

When I say... "I am a Christian"
I'm not shouting "I'm clean livin."
I'm whispering "I was lost,"
Now I'm found and forgiven.

When I say..."I am a Christian"
I don't speak of this with pride.
I'm confessing that I stumble
and need CHRIST to be my guide.

When I say... "I am a Christian"
I'm not trying to be strong.
I'm professing that I'm weak
and need HIS strength to carry on.

When I say... "I am a Christian"
I'm not bragging of success.
I'm admitting I have failed
and need God to clean my mess.

When I say... "I am a Christian"
I'm not claiming to be perfect,
My flaws are far too visible
but, God believes I am worth it.

When I say... "I am a Christian"
I still feel the sting of pain,
I have my share of heartaches
So I call upon His name.

When I say... "I am a Christian"
I'm not holier than thou,
I'm just a simple sinner
who received God's good grace, somehow.

freak

i am a strong and proud musical freak.

i love it when shows have musical references. it makes me all happy inside.

to the rest of the musical freak world--this post is for you. you're not alone!

thankful

thankful for a warm house (even if i am sleeping on the couch right now)
thankful that i havent had to be stuck at the hospital
thankful for mom's cooking (i've enjoyed it immensely the past couple days!)

em

my not so new years resolutions

i was thinking a lot about this the other day, and after talking with andrew about it, i came to make a decision. i havent been happy about my physical or spiritual life the past several months. instead of moaning and groaning about my pants being too tight, i knew i needed to do something about it. i decided that on my days off, i was going to do some sort of work-out video (because heaven knows i'm too tired on the days i work and what in the world would i do with jude if i were to join a gym??).

in regards to my spiritual life, i wasnt feeling oh-so-healthy either. i didnt feel bad, exactly, but i felt...complacent. that was scary to me. i want to feel challenged and closer to God. when i first was pregnant with jude, i prayed so hard and so often. i felt so close to God at that time, in spite of my situation. i realized that the main factor lacking in my life was daily conversation with God and time spent in the Word. for the non-believers reading this, this doesnt make me a hypocrite. in our walk with the Lord, there are mountains and valleys, ebbs and flows. while i knew i wasnt in a valley, i was on the downward slope. i decided that i needed to be spending time in prayer and reading my Bible everyday.

now i admit, i havent done the best on either account, but i'm working on it.

i'm a work in progress.

em

lions and tigers and storage units, oh my!

i was driving around BA/tulsa today and noticed at least 3-4 storage facilities. obviously, business must be booming if there are that many just within a few miles of each other. i just keep thinking about what the bible says about our heart and our treasure. is our heart with jesus, or is it with stuff? i'd like to think to myself that i don't have such a problem with "stuff," since i have no storage unit filled to capacity, but....andrew brought up an interesting point today. when he asked me how many shoes i had, i honestly had no idea. he estimated forty....FORTY. i know there are women with more pairs than that, but it's still an incredible amount. it makes me think about the guy who started toms shoes and how he gives a pair to a child who has NONE....and i have approximately 40.

while i do LOVE shoes, i pray i never have so many that i "need" to rent a storage unit.

em