We have oh so much to be thankful for!

 "But Godliness actually is a means of great gain,

when accompanied with contentment.

For we have brought nothing into the world,

so we cannot take anything out of it either.

And if we have food and covering,

with these we shall be content."

1 Timothy 6:6-8

On Saturday Mara and I headed off, picking up SuSan on the way, to a food packing event sponsered by a local Bible College. There we met up with some others from our church as well as many others from the community.

When we got there we had to fill out a little form, don some lovely "shower" caps and sanitize our hands. Then we sat down to recieve instruction and watch a little video the showed who the food was going to. We were packing small packets of rice mixed with seasoning, soy protien and dried veggies.

Mara had fun helping with the scooping and I got to help seal them up. It was a fun Saturday noon activity to take a little bit of our time to help just a tiny bit those who have nothing.

I wanted to share with you a couple of the videos we saw while we were there. It made me cry to see how people live in other places. They don't begin to have what they need. It also made me realize yet again how very, very blessed we are!

  

 When I see videos like this, when we recieve newsletters from Sudan African Mission that tell about babies being born out under trees in the dirt because there is no other place available and when we read stories of the true accounts of missionaries like the Morses in "Exodus to a Hidden Valley" (Which we are reading aloud at our house right now) we are all realizing over and over again just how blessed we are, that we need to be thankful and not complain and that we need to do all that we can to share with others.

   I am feeling a profound sense of gratitude today. I am abundantly blessed. Here are just a small sampling of the things that God has given to me and I am thanking Him for:

491. Never ever having to go hungry because there wasn't enough to eat.

492. An abundance of food and clothing.

493. Fresh, clean and good tasting water.

494. Health.

495. The country in which I live.

496. Knowing God's love my whole life.

497. Parents that have provided a wonderful example of how to live as a christian.

498. My Dad's 60th year! I am so glad to have such a wonderful Father who made it easy to love and trust my heavenly Father.

499. Piles of waffles to eat on a relaxing Saturday morning.

500. The fun of reading a book in one sitting on a lazy Saturday afternoon. (I don't think I have done that since Mara was a baby!)

501. Fun times making projects to enter in a wedding DIY contest and having beautiful models for my picture taking! :-)

502. Circus time is here again! Even though it was rather chilly watching. :-)

503. Grandpa's baby goats to enjoy.

504. Fun times in the oh so pretty weather getting our pictures taken by my talented sister Keren.

505. Family

506. Salvation.

What do you have to be thankful for?

"Oh give thanks to the Lord,

call upon His name;

Make known His deeds among the peoples.

Sing to Him,

sing praises to Him;

Speak of all His wonders."

Psalm 105: 1 & 2

We have oh so much to be thankful for!

 "But Godliness actually is a means of great gain,

when accompanied with contentment.

For we have brought nothing into the world,

so we cannot take anything out of it either.

And if we have food and covering,

with these we shall be content."

1 Timothy 6:6-8

On Saturday Mara and I headed off, picking up SuSan on the way, to a food packing event sponsered by a local Bible College. There we met up with some others from our church as well as many others from the community.

When we got there we had to fill out a little form, don some lovely "shower" caps and sanitize our hands. Then we sat down to recieve instruction and watch a little video the showed who the food was going to. We were packing small packets of rice mixed with seasoning, soy protien and dried veggies.

Mara had fun helping with the scooping and I got to help seal them up. It was a fun Saturday noon activity to take a little bit of our time to help just a tiny bit those who have nothing.

I wanted to share with you a couple of the videos we saw while we were there. It made me cry to see how people live in other places. They don't begin to have what they need. It also made me realize yet again how very, very blessed we are!

  

 When I see videos like this, when we recieve newsletters from Sudan African Mission that tell about babies being born out under trees in the dirt because there is no other place available and when we read stories of the true accounts of missionaries like the Morses in "Exodus to a Hidden Valley" (Which we are reading aloud at our house right now) we are all realizing over and over again just how blessed we are, that we need to be thankful and not complain and that we need to do all that we can to share with others.

   I am feeling a profound sense of gratitude today. I am abundantly blessed. Here are just a small sampling of the things that God has given to me and I am thanking Him for:

491. Never ever having to go hungry because there wasn't enough to eat.

492. An abundance of food and clothing.

493. Fresh, clean and good tasting water.

494. Health.

495. The country in which I live.

496. Knowing God's love my whole life.

497. Parents that have provided a wonderful example of how to live as a christian.

498. My Dad's 60th year! I am so glad to have such a wonderful Father who made it easy to love and trust my heavenly Father.

499. Piles of waffles to eat on a relaxing Saturday morning.

500. The fun of reading a book in one sitting on a lazy Saturday afternoon. (I don't think I have done that since Mara was a baby!)

501. Fun times making projects to enter in a wedding DIY contest and having beautiful models for my picture taking! :-)

502. Circus time is here again! Even though it was rather chilly watching. :-)

503. Grandpa's baby goats to enjoy.

504. Fun times in the oh so pretty weather getting our pictures taken by my talented sister Keren.

505. Family

506. Salvation.

What do you have to be thankful for?

"Oh give thanks to the Lord,

call upon His name;

Make known His deeds among the peoples.

Sing to Him,

sing praises to Him;

Speak of all His wonders."

Psalm 105: 1 & 2

Not The Way I Like To Spend My Evenings....

Last night it was just me and the kids because Jon left earlier in the day to go on a cruise with his high school band. I had the option to go but I'm not quite ready to spend a whole week away from my two, still young, kiddos. So, the kids got into bed and fell asleep. The house was quiet and peaceful except for the distant rumble of thunder and the rain on the roof. Before I headed off to bed I thought I'd check the weather for today. When I brought up my local weather we had a bright red Tornado Warning. Great.... Turns out that a nasty little storm cell was headed for us and there was one right behind that one.
I watched the news (which had broken into all regular programming to follow the storms) to see where the "cell that shows signs of rotation" was.
Our only interior room is the master bedroom closet. As the storm cell got closer to our area, I started picturing making a mad dash across the house to grab the sleeping children and put them in the closet.... by myself. Luckily I came up with a better idea. I decided to move the kids to my bed one by one so that we'd be close to the closet should we need to take cover. They luckily hardly woke up as I carried them to my bed.
I was so glad I had moved them when the meteorologist said there was a possible funnel cloud 2 miles away from our house. They don't seem the least bit concerned, do they?

Luckily though, everything was fine and we didn't even get hail (many towns in the area reported major hail). I was able to move the kids back to their beds after about an hour. The birds are back to chirping loudly outside this morning and all is well.




I wanted to leave you all with an inspirational picture this morning.

Are you inspired??

Needed: God's help

"Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit,

but with humility of mind let each of your regard one another as more important than himself;

do not merely look out for your own personal interests,

but also for the interests of others."

Philippians 2: 3 & 4

I wish I didn't need the reminder in the verse so much, but I do. Why do I find it so easy to be selfish, conceited and proud? It is hard to say. One thing I do know, Satan wants us to stumble and he will tempt us in any way that he can to try to get us to cave. That is why we need to be keeping our eyes on Jesus, get dressed in the armor that He provides (Ephesians 6:10-18) and stand firm. I am glad that I happened to read this verse this week to remind me yet again to keep working on these areas that I struggle in. On my own I will have trouble but I have a mighty God who has sent His Spirit to work in me if I just let Him.

"Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance, and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endure the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."

Hebrews 12: 1 & 2

Needed: God's help

"Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit,

but with humility of mind let each of your regard one another as more important than himself;

do not merely look out for your own personal interests,

but also for the interests of others."

Philippians 2: 3 & 4

I wish I didn't need the reminder in the verse so much, but I do. Why do I find it so easy to be selfish, conceited and proud? It is hard to say. One thing I do know, Satan wants us to stumble and he will tempt us in any way that he can to try to get us to cave. That is why we need to be keeping our eyes on Jesus, get dressed in the armor that He provides (Ephesians 6:10-18) and stand firm. I am glad that I happened to read this verse this week to remind me yet again to keep working on these areas that I struggle in. On my own I will have trouble but I have a mighty God who has sent His Spirit to work in me if I just let Him.

"Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance, and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endure the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."

Hebrews 12: 1 & 2