More for the Blessings Journal...

Blessings Journal Post

It's about time to add to my Blessings Journal...to thank the Lord for all His blessings and gifts.

1. I thank the Lord for the people at The Point Community Church. From the love gift to help our moving needs, to all the men who showed up to help us move...to all the ladies who helped me pack and unpack and fixed us meals....to all the prayers for our move...you have shown us your love. We thank the Lord for you, and we extend our personal thanks to you.

2. God provided us a truck as a second car for free! We didn't even ask Him for it or ever think about it. We were just happy to live close to the church with one car! :) We are thankful to the donor...may the Lord bless you.

3. God has provided our needs through various means. From Christmas money from family to personal love gifts, God has continued to amaze us with the generosity of His people. We are thankful for all He has given us.

4. We are thankful for the way we got to leave Crossings. They sent us off with love and a nice Home Depot card! :) We were blessed by their joy in what God is doing in our lives. We are so blessed that we got to be a part of this ministry!

5. There were Christmas gifts for all of us on our front door when we got home from Indy. Since they were labeled "from your friends", we will say thank you to whoever you are. The Lord knows. That was a blessing.

6. We are thankful for our new home. God has truly blessed us. It feels like home, and we know we are very blessed. We are so happy to be near the church...and, need I say it again...close to a grocery store! :)

7. I am thankful that God has heard the desires of my husband's heart and placed him where he has felt called for years. Ten years ago, he told me he had the desire to be an associate pastor, and there is no better feeling than to see your husband's calling being fulfilled. God continues to be faithful, in spite of knowing us and our weaknesses so well! We are thankful for this opportunity to serve His people. May He who called us find us faithful.

8. My mother's cancer is in remission. For that I am so thankful to God. That He has given us more time with her. I am thankful for the work He did in her heart through her cancer. He is a good and gracious God, and I am blessed to have her as my mother for a little while longer!

9. I am thankful for my children. They continue to bless my heart daily. (not that they never drive me a little crazy!) But, they melt my heart with their little kisses and hugs, and I know they are a reward from God.

10. For my husband...to have a husband who loves the Lord and serves Him wholeheartedly is a gift. God gave me more than I ever could have imagined in Shane. He leads our family, he keeps me in line, and he leads us to love the Lord more and more by his personal example. He teaches me correct theology....he protects me from those who try to hurt me....and I am so thankful for all of this....and if I've never mentioned it, he's also extremely good-looking! :)

God has indeed been good to me. He gives good gifts. It's been a good year.

Funny Guy!

Click here to see some great video clips from a guy named Tim Hawkins. Don't know much about him. Shane found him from a link off Joshua Harris' blog. We laughed and laughed at the "Homeschool Family" video. That's what scared Shane the most when we decided to start our homeschooling adventure! He said we would, as long as we never looked like a "homeschool" family-and you all know what I mean! So, I took my jean jumpers back to Goodwill (since you can't find them anymore unless you make them)!

Anyhow, once you're done laughing at the homeschool family, check out "Cletus take the reel." Too funny! :)

Hope you all had a Merry Christmas. I'll be blogging about ours soon.

Growing Weary?

"And let us not be weary in well doing; for in due season we will reap if we faint not."
Galatians 6:9

"...The Christian life is NOT a task. The Christian life ALONE is worthy of the name life. ..It is the life the Son of God Himself lived....I [must] remind myself it is a great and good life, it is 'well doing.'...How have I gotten into this life-this life that I am..finding hard and difficult?..There is only one answer. We have come from that to this because the only begotten Son of God left heaven and came down to earth for our salvation, He divested Himself of all the insignia of His eternal glory and humbled Himself to be born as a babe and to be placed in a manger, spat upon and reviled. He had thorns thrust into His head and was nailed to a cross, to bear the punishment of my sin. That is how I have come from that to this, and if I ever, even for a fraction of a second, question the greatness and the glory and the nobility of this walk in which I am engaged, well then I am spitting upon Him. Out upon the suggestion! 'Be not weary in well doing!' My friend, if you think of your Christian life in any shape or form...as a wearisome task or duty, I tell you to go back to the beginning of your life, retrace your steps to the wicket gate through which you passed. Look at the world in its evil and sin, look at the hell to which it was leading you, and then look forward and realize that you are set in the midst of the most glorious campaign into which a man could ever enter, and that you are on the noblest road that the world has ever known."

"...The world is too much with us, that is our trouble.."

(D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Spiritual Depression)

A Little Bragging On My Shane....

Click here for a great article on my husband by our dear friend, Josh. Josh is the lead singer for the famous Josh Martin Band, and a great guy besides! :) I read this and it was so sweet, I had to share. Thanks, Josh. I like Shane, too! The only thing you didn't mention is that he's kind of a hunk, too! :)

Movin' On....

Well, it seems as if our time in Bagdad, Kentucky has come to an end. What a great three years it's been. Full of good times, great memories, wonderful people, and a few trials! But, God has been so good to us, and it's been such a blessing to be a part of Crossings Ministries. We are so excited to see what God has ahead for this ministry.

For now, God has called us on. On Saturday...yes, in two days...we are moving to Frankfort. Shane is going to be the full-time Teaching/Associate Pastor at The Point Community Church. This is amazing in so many ways. Ten years ago, he felt the calling to be an associate pastor, and here we are. It's so neat to see God fulfill a calling in your husband's life. There is a peace and a joy there. And, it's so great to be part of a church that we absolutely love! We have loved this church from the beginning and knew God had us there. We are so overwhelmed with all He has done. We now get the privilege to serve the people there full-time. It will be great to be in the same town as they are!

So, God has also blessed us with owning our first home. It's a cute little beford stone ranch about five minutes from the church. It was quite a big downsize for us, but that gives us the opportunity to get rid of junk we don't need! :) I'll post pictures when we get it all together. We have a great yard for the kids, and the convenience of living so close to everything, with a country setting.

We were blessed with the addition of my family here for Thanksgiving. My parents and sisters got to join us, and in the midst of the boxes, we sat in our pj's and had a great dinner and a good time together! Mom's cancer is in remission and they have headed out on their life journey now! (Dad and mom bought an RV and are wanderers now!) It will be different, and we will miss seeing them as often, but we are excited for what God has ahead for them.

We will go home to Indy around Christmas time to visit Shane's family. My sisters are going to join us for Christmas eve/day, which will be a lot of fun. It's gonna be a little crazy getting the house together and all the Christmas decorations out, but what's life without some craziness? Seems to be par for the course for us!

As we move on, I will miss the people at Cedarmore and Crossings I have come to love, but plan to continue those friendships. God has grown us and blessed us here. It's a bittersweet move for me. I am looking forward to being closer to the grocery store, but I will miss the beautiful 30 minute drive home I have now! :) And, I look forward to furthering the friendships God has brought into our lives through The Point. It's a big step of faith on many levels, but I look forward to seeing God at work in it all.

So, just a little update....and a few new pictures of the kids from the pumpkin patch in October! Merry Christmas!