Becoming a Vessel of Honor

I am still here!

2011-03-09T09:50:00.003-06:00

I must be the worlds worst blog owner and/or keeper! Why do I even have a blog? I don't think that I can answer that, at least not completely! I will however say that I think I keep my blog so that I can, if I want to, write something, for posterity of course! :) No, seriously, I keep my blog so that I can leave comments on other peoples blogs and if they wonder who I am then they have a face to stick with my 2 cents....Ah well, there you have it.

At any rate sometimes I have to pop on and say something, not necessarily something worth saying, just something! Last time I updated I was in the middle of a 14 week challenge to lose bodyfat! I succeeded, it wasn't a walk in the park either, I attained the goal that I set out to reach! So, that was a success, now, I need to come up with some loftier goals to keep me focused and moving forward. I mean goals that go beyond the normal things that I expect from myself such as spending ample time with my Jesus praying and reading, lean on Him to be a good wife and mom, exercise, eat without being a glutton(this one is hard!), school my children well, and a smathering of other odds and ends that I expect of myself. I have learned in the past year that when I have goals and I write them down I am WAY MORE PRODUCTIVE!!! Not only am I productive I also have a tendency to accomplish what I set out before me! Thank you Jesus!!! I am under NO illusions that I could NEVER accomplish ANYTHING apart from Him! It is just that something happens when you write down the goal....I never knew that.

Now, I am contemplating new goals one of which includes finishing up my personal training certification and perhaps specializing in working with older people. I am enjoying this, school brings some pressure that I need and work better with! Maybe that is why goals written down work!?! I feel pressure to follow through! There may be something to that! Another goal I have in mind is to dig deeper into my relationship with God, I have been feeling a real drive to attain this, so I have been immersing myself in Him. Chasing after Him if you will.

Well, I have to go and be a mom and teacher now! I hope that all is well with everyone! God bless!
S

Hi. My Name is Sarah.....

2010-08-06T10:07:00.003-05:00

And I have been away for quite a while!

I have been busy doing a 14 week challenge(for fat burning and muscle building) on a forum that I have to journal/log weekly/daily and that has been about all this girl can handle in the way of typing/writing!!! If I could just talk to you people(is that presumptuous of me???!!! ;) )!!! That would be so much easier--because I assure you I am not nearly as quiet when chatting as I am on the old blog!

As I said I have been utilizing my time off of homeschooling to finally indulge in some selfish behavior, as in exercise and diet. By selfish I am saying that the me me me aspect of this challenge that I am in is almost unbearable....it reminds me that physical well being is only part of the package when it comes to improving! And that when one is out of balance in the physical/spiritual aspects of life then God is quick to bring it to the forefront! I don't know why, but I have a hard time being balanced with those two aspects. I suspect that that is a human characteristic?! ;) At any rate I have been focused mainly on the physical part of Sarah, I wanted to once and for all lose the baby weight from my first child(nearly 10 yrs. old) and then maintain(I have proven that I am a great maintainer over the past 10 yrs!!! ;)). I am happy to report that I have successfully achieved my goal! I am down to 163 lbs. with 16.5% body fat which puts me at a lean body mass of about 136 lbs. give or take a little! I am in better shape than I have ever been in in my whole adult life! Now, I hope that I win a free trip to Maui--because that is the prize for the challenge that I am in! AND all of this is just in time for.....SCHOOL to start!!! :)

School. I love homeschooling for SO many reasons, but I don't really like homeschooling for other reasons! Most of the reasons that I don't like it have to do with the training up of my children ie. the doing ALL things without grumbling and complaining.....is is just me and my kids or do others have children that are not all that excited about having school????!!!! I mean I hate to hear all the complaining....makes me cranky, just thinking about it!!!! ;)

We will be using Sonlight, again! LOVE LOVE LOVE Sonlight--I can teach multiple kids for several subjects and THAT my friends is what makes this momma happy! Math-u-see for math, again. And some other extras as my daughter needs some more challenges. I think that I will be encouraging her to write more book reports this year, she LOVES to read and devours books like nobody I know, so I think that a book report every now and again will be a good thing!

We will be starting school a little late this year as we are going to be taking care of my dh grandparents after his grandma has open heart surgery at the end of this month, for a month or so. Since that will be priority then school will have to be put off for an extra week or so, and that is one of the reasons I love homeschooling!!! :)

All in all it has been a wonderful summer. Hot, but wonderful. God is good and has been continuing His work in this vessel, albeit slowly(because of me not Him), but nonetheless He is still changing me from image to image and glory to glory!!!! Thank you Jesus for your patience with this vessel.....

God bless!

I Started Wondering....

2010-03-04T12:07:00.006-06:00

Whether or not I was in fact right about my stats. I mean really? 5.5 lbs of muscle??? At first, I of course was VERY excited, but after the excitement dissipated, I started to wonder if that in fact could be accurate. I know for a fact that I am leaner and my muscle is hard! I know for a fact that the scale says that I have lost 14.5 lbs. But the fat caliper testing, have I been pinching the SAME spot EVERY time? I started to doubt, so I went back to the instruction manual and read it and looked at the demo and tried again....I think I may have been pinching in the wrong spot from where I first pinched....SO this Saturday I am going to have my sweet hubby do a 4 point skin fold test(I did one around the start) and compare from around the first part of January to March 5th how the numbers have decreased. I just don't know how I could have packed on 5.5 lbs. of muscle! It seems a little too much to me! I will just continue with that. Obviously, this bit of news was discouraging! I am probably not as lean as I was thinking and that in itself is a bummer! Oh well, just happy that I am at least on a path that is actually getting me somewhere instead of where I was! :)

In other news, I get incredibly sick of myself. That is why I haven't posted on here for a while! I deal with me ALL day and why on earth would I want to get on ye olde blog and write yet MORE stuff about, you guessed it, ME! I know that in order to keep accountability, I need to stay in the loop! So, for those reasons I tell you that I have still been maintaining my cardio/weight training for 6 days a week for 3 weeks straight! I am planning on this being my 4th consecutive! AND I have been eating clean for about 80% of the time for the last 2 wks. In light of the fact that my eating has not been spot on I have amped up my cardio and ended last week with 20 miles logged in running! Not too mention the elliptical and the miles walked after my runs! I believe that because of this one fact I have still been able to lose fat, albeit, slowly, but lose none the less! :)

With that I am signing off, I hope that you are all well and achieving the goals set before you! God bless each of you with His PERFECT WILL in your life!!

S

Just Need To Keep It Real....

2010-02-25T11:28:00.002-06:00

Real as in I am at a break in my progress. I(not surprisingly) am an emotional eater. That means that when I am not sitting perfectly on top of my proverbial mountain I need to feed on food that isn't healthy! I don't know about any of you, but health food is not the variety I grew up eating ALL the time. So, when I need some comfort it definetly does not comfort me to sit down with a BIG bowl of chicken breast and broccoli with a heaping side of brown rice!!! :) Just being real. So after 9 wks of meticulous eating I am struggling....And it is a vicious cycle--I am not emotionally on top of my game so I want to eat but the food that I should eat makes me sad.....Pathetic, isn't it?!! To have such a problem is so.....menial in the grand scheme of things. I mean look at how many children die EVERYDAY because they have NOTHING to eat....

Which leads me to something other than my diet, thank God. The Lord has been bringing some SERIOUS conviction to this servant of His. I have been SO convicted over everything that I have not given up to serve Him. I(we in western civilization, actually) live in such abundance compared to over half the world population, and the sad part is that I find myself still wanting more....But I DO NOT need more, I have EVERYTHING that I could ever need and WAY more!!!!! While these people live in poverty, literally starving to death the people like me(and much of western civilization) say oh well, it isn't in my country, my town , my neighborhood, etc. etc.. But what if I had been born there? What if you had been born there, fighting for your very life, scrounging for food so that you could eat once a week? These people did not ask for their circumstances they just are what they are and what are we doing about it, better yet as a Christian, a follower and friend of Jesus Christ what are we doing about it? Because I bet you when it is our time to stand before the throne of judgement He is going to ask us why did you not feed me when I was hungry? and why did you not give water when I thirsted? and cloth me when I was naked? What will I say, what will you say? I have been praying that God would open the doors for me to be His hands to help the desperate and I know that whatsoever I ask in His name He will give......

Amen.

Still Going strong!

2010-02-20T18:09:00.002-06:00

So, I am still alive and going at it!

I finished this week as ANOTHER week of 6 days of exercise!!! Very excited about that! In fact I did something that I almost always convince myself I don't need to do, I worked out/cardio 7 days in a row!!! I am notorius for saying to myself that "I should take a break, I deserve it"! But not right now, there will be time to take breaks once I am on my maintenance part of this adventure and that isn't for another 11 lbs of FAT!!!! I will be 14% body fat by Apr. 19th(that is when my sweet hubby and I will be on the beach in South Carolina without children!!!!!!)! :D That was the happy dance right there, did you see it?! :P Anyway, I must be looking good enough(not to mention be able to fit into my new size smaller than I am) to wear my new bathing suit!!!! I will do it you shall see!

Thank you Jesus, for EVERYTHING! :)

I AM SO EXCITED!!!!

2010-02-17T08:25:00.003-06:00

AND I JUST CAN'T HIDE IT!!!!

So, I am going to tell you about it--

When I became pregnant with our third child at the age of 32, I decided that this pregnancy would be different in that I would exercise through out the WHOLE time I was pregnant. During my two previous pregnancies I used them as an excuse to relax because I was in a "delicate" way! Combine that with the "I can eat anything(not to mention ALL I want)I want" mentality and you have a recipe for some pretty severe weight gain! So, having learned my lesson I changed strategies. I did not gain as much with my 3rd as I had with 1 and 2, however I also started out 18 lbs. heavier! Needless to say each time I gave birth I weighed exactly the same! And trust me, it was not a pretty number!

Ok, so after having exercised the WHOLE time during #3, after he was born and was the ripe old age of 7 wks I started running again. I lost about 37 of the 70 lbs. that were necessary to lose, so that I could be my pre-baby weight as per the 1st! I ran ALOT started training for a 1/2 marathon and everything, I ran for 2 yrs.(obviously not straight! ;)), trying to keep up a consistent habit of exercise. When I reached a point where I wasn't seeing ANY change in my weight not to mention the burnout of running, I started going to the gym and using weights. This helped, I lost another 8 lbs. or so, but after doing it for a year and pounding out the cardio 5-6 days a week I became desperate... I was starting to believe that I had thyroid problems or that my metabolism was shot! You can imagine how discouraged I was after 3 yrs of consistent exercise I was not seeing the kind of results that I desired!

If you have read my blog at all then you know that my VERY best friend is Jesus Christ, I love Him. He saved me from a road leading to an early grave for sure! I tell you this because I pray about E.V.E.R.Y.T.H.I.N.G. including my weight issues! I begged Him to help me get healthy--show me the path! That is when it dawned on me that the VERY best way to lose fat(which is my ultimate goal-not just weight-but fat) would be to google bodybuilder diets! This is when Tom Venuto and the Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle e-book came on this scene, that is my life!!! I cannot express to you HOW MUCH THIS BOOK HAS HELPED me! Thank you Jesus for leading me straight to it! I bought it, read it, started implementing the diet RIGHT AWAY and I am not kidding immediately started seeing results!!!

So here is what I started doing, eating 5 times per day every 3 hours, having lean protein with EVERY meal, and eating what Tom calls A+ to B(he grades food based on whether they are in their natural form)foods only! I of course already exercised consistently, but now I was going to start lifting with HEAVY weights! :)

I am happy to report that my muscles have not gotten bigger, but have gotten REALLY hard(dense!), thank God!!! And I have lost 8.4% body fat with a total loss of 18 lbs. of fat and gained 5.48 lbs of muscle!!!! AND since muscle burns more calories than fat that my friends is A-OK with me!!!! As you can imagine I am ecstatic! ALOT of hard work for not much payback is NO more! I am(thanks to my Saviour) no longer spinning my wheels on the exercise track!!!

I just had to share ALL of that with you maybe it could help you! If it helped me, who thought I would NEVER lose another pound then I am sure it can help ANYONE!!! Just need to stay the course and eat that elephant ONE BITE AT A TIME!!!

I DID IT!!!!!

2010-02-15T09:30:00.005-06:00

I ended up going to the gym yesterday evening! I did 30min. elliptical, heavy weights for chest, shoulders and tri's then onto the treadmill for 3 miles! So, mission accomplished for the week! Thank you, Wendy for the challenge! Eating has remained clean other than the cheat meal of saturday evening with my hubby and children for V-day.

I am tightening up my eating schedule as I believe that I have been eating too many calories according to my level of activity....oh well, just two weeks of not a whole lotta progress but didn't gain either!

So, my stats, I need to redo them and post them later! BUT,my goal is soooo close I can taste it! ;)

So far today I have gotten the workout business out of the way and now it is off to do laundry, manhandle a 3 yr. old(who is as we speak smearing playdoh on my walls) and edjumicate my kiddos! ;) Have a good one! God bless!

P.S. here is a photo of me before I started this ride!

Did not make my 6 workouts....

2010-02-14T12:34:00.002-06:00

I don't have a good excuse other than this weekend has been an emotional challenge for me.... And unfortunately when I have difficulties in that area ALOT of times the exercise? it does get sacrificed on the altar of self pity....Which in turn creates a problem because exercise? it does improve my outlook. So, I might possibly go and do some cardio on the elliptical or run later today, we shall see. Then my 6 days would be fulfilled and I will have managed to fill my verbal agreement thus also helping my overall mental status....Thank God that I have Jesus otherwise it would REALLY be hard and bad and all of that!

In other news it is snowing here. AGAIN. Snow it is not a bad thing when it happens where it should!!!!! ;) So, that means that I will probably not have access to the internet either later today or possibly tomorrow! Which leads me to my next random thought--I will be working out and doing cardio at least 5 days next week and continuing on my burn the fat feed the muscle endeavor with GREAT fervor!

I hope that you all have a wonderful evening and day tomorrow! :)

2010-02-12T11:49:00.002-06:00

We have satelite internet and because it snowed a MASSIVE amount of snow in our neck of the woods for the better part of yesterday I could not log a.n.y.t.h.i.n.g.!!!! I couldn't even check the weather!!! How do ya like them apples!!!

Wednesday:
stairmaster-30min.
1 hr. cross training class
ate my 5 meals and kept it clean!

Thursday:
workout with heavy weights--chest, shoulders, triceps and abs
ran HIIT for 2.2 miles and walked .75miles.

ate good ALL day until the end....I could not control the urge to binge...I HATE THAT!!! Sometimes it is SOOOOOO hard to stay on a healthy plan for eating. Oh well, off to a good start on the eating plan today!!! And that my friends is how you(I) have to do it! Mess up, and just get back to business with the next thing! My workout was canceled this am so I am off to workout! See ya!

Keepin' on keepin' on!

2010-02-09T18:14:00.002-06:00

Ok, so I got my workout in for the day. I did legs, back and biceps today followed by a 4 mile run on the treadmill. Needless to say I am TIRED!!! :)

My eating has been clean and top notch! Only by the grace of God and the strength of Jesus Christ that is FOR SURE!!!

Changin' my approach....

2010-02-08T10:03:00.004-06:00

So, I am going to give this blogging thing a new go. I need a place to journal and track my progress towards a challenging goal that I set for myself and I need to make it official by publicly declaring it thus hopefully keeping me accountable(or more accountable)!

Starting off with my stats:

I am 5'7"
today I weigh 177lbs.(I started 7 weeks ago at 189)
my body fat(using a one site hand caliper) is 19.6%
Body fat mass is 34.7 lbs.
Lean Body mass is 142.3 lbs.

My goals:

1-Achieving 16% bodyfat by April 15, 2010.
2-Getting down to a dress size 8 and feeling comfortable in a swimsuit for once!
3-Eating 5-6 times per day and only eating clean A+-B graded foods(as per Tom Venuto's book Burn the Fat Feed the Muscle)
4-working out 5-6X/wk.
5-drinking at least a gallon of water/day

These a short term goals and of course they are only my physical goals for health.... I have MANY areas in my life that I have goals for, but like I said I need to become more accountable. For some reason I let my health goals slip because I know noone cares and so it makes it easy to let them slide. BUT NO MORE!!! I cannot blame my 3yr. old "baby" for the last 15lbs. anymore!!!! They(the pounds) are ALL mine! I, coupled with 35 yr old metabolism, have been lazy in doing the appropriate things to exterminate this unwanted fat!!!

So there is my public declaration! I will be posting progress as I go. Not sure how often but hopefully at least every other day.

daily workout today was as follows:
ran 3 miles walked .5 mile
1 hr cross training class

meals:
1-protein shake with psyllium husk
2-1whole egg, 4 egg whites, 1/2 c. old fashioned oats with 1 1/2 t. natural peanut butter pluss 3 T skim milk
3-5 haven't eaten yet!! :)

Surrender....

2009-10-02T10:07:00.006-05:00

such a heavy word when coupled with a Godly desire to surrender completely to Him. I don't think I fully understood what that would entailed when I was laying at my precious Saviours feet several years ago....

You see, I used to be a christian that did not care about the lost, simply because my heart? it was hard. I felt like, or rather thought that people were just stupid(sorry) for rejecting this wonderful Jesus Christ that I had come to know personally, and that it was their loss. Silly in hindsight, because obviously their eyes are blinded and their ears don't hear.... I used to be one of them.

So, while I lay at the base of God's throne and asked Him to give me a heart like His, one that loves people(all people) like He does, He started to soften this sinners heart. While I was there I also requested that He show me my deceitful heart(Jer. 17:9-10). That has been rough. There are lots of sinful things that our hearts hold that our flesh(sin nature) tries to cover up and/or hide. It also does not help that our culture actually embraces many of these evil heart deceptions as being acceptable and dare I say "normal".... Anyway, I digress.

Loving others as God does. That is NOT at all what I thought it would be. Love is an action and sometimes it is an action that the recipient does not perceive as what is needed. ALOT of times the very thing that we need from God is NOT AT ALL what we think we need. But let me just say that I believe that ALOT of suffering that the Israelites endured did not seem like the "right" thing to them, even though our perfect and just God was the One doling out the love. Gods love can "feel" tough, and it is even tougher as one of His servants to be the giver of this kind of love.... But if you ask me I would much rather love this way(which by the way isn't how my flesh would like to do it my flesh would rather keep peace and have "friends and/or family") then pat my loved ones on the back as they go to hell.... Following God fully, without abandon, isn't the most popular way to go. Speaking the truth of God's Word because you not only love them, but you love Jesus Christ enought to only care about pleasing Him, and then stepping out of the way to let the Creator of ALL things go to work, is not an easy thing to do. We as a general rule want acceptance and our flesh wants to please man, but pleasing God comes first and loving people sometimes isn't what we think it should be. Rather loving in deed and truth and not with word(something said), neither in tongue(1John3:18), is not what we "think" love actually is. I know that in actually following my Saviour in loving this way that He is able to work in both hearts a wonderful transformation and fruit does follow....

If you asked me 3 yrs ago what it meant to be fully surrendered to Jesus Christ and His will for my life I would not have told you that this would be the lesson that I was learning....I had NO clue what I was asking for when I asked for His heart to love others. And to say that I wasn't prepared is an understatement. However, I would not trade it for ANYTHING!

Boy I hope that wasn't too confusing!!! I have a hard time putting into words the wonderful lesson that God has been teaching me!! :)

HEY Look a MeMe--Right Up My Alley!!!!

2009-08-19T09:06:00.007-05:00

The Movie Meme:

(please list up to 3 per genre)

Favorite Comedy Film:(I prefer romantic comedy and don't much enjoy plain comedy...)

■How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days
■Better Off Dead circa 1985ish(with John Cusack)
■Confessions of a Shopaholic was slightly amusing! :)

Favorite Romance Film:

■P.S. I Love You
■Pride and Prejudice
■FireProof

Favorite Sci-Fi Movie:

■Starman (with Jeff Bridges)
■Enemy Mine
■I Robot

Favorite Animated Movie:

■Over the Hedge
■Flushed Away
■Robin Hood

Favorite Disaster Movie:

■Twister
■Armageddon
■Blood Diamonds

Favorite Christmas Movie:

■The Christmas Story
■The Grinch
■The Christmas Child

Favorite Horror Movie:(I try not to watch these anymore)

■Taken
■The Sixth Sense

Movies With Music:

■Fiddler on the Roof
■Mary Poppins
■My Fair Lady

Favorite Book to Movie:

■Black Beauty
■Notebook
■The Grinch???! :)

Favorite Classic:

■My Fair Lady
■Heidi(Shirley Temple)
■Fiddler on the Roof

Favorite Chick Flick:

■The Presidents Daughter
■The Prince and Me
■Sense and Sensability

Movie You Could Watch Ad Nauseum:

■Sense and Sensability(with Kate Winslet)
■Pride and Prejudice(with Kiera Knightly)
■P.S. I Love You

Worst Movie of All Time:

■Anchor Man

Favorites of Another Kind...

-The Nativity Story
-Gladiator
-Schindler's List
-A Beautiful Mind

Rosetta Stone Foreign Language Freebie!!!

2009-05-14T18:19:00.002-05:00

There is a wonderful opportunity to win a Latin foreign language course from Rosetta Stone!! Here are that details:

****
Rosetta Stone is the fastest way to learn a language and has been the #1 foreign language curriculum among homeschoolers for a while — and you can WIN the *all new* version 3 Rosetta Stone Homeschool LATIN program… FOR FREE! This is the first year you can get Latin in the brand new Version III update.

This is a $259 program (and believe me it’s worth every penny!)
This is a computer based curriculum and Rosetta Stone will also include a headset with microphone, and a supplementary “Audio Companion” CD so you can practice lessons in the car, on the go, or where-ever! Students participate in life-like conversations and actually produce language to advance through the program. Rosetta Stone incorporates listening, reading, grammar, vocabulary and writing along with speaking and pronunciation lessons. For parents, the new Parent Administrative Tools are integrated into the program to allow parents to easily enroll up to ten students in any of 12 predetermined lesson plans, monitor student progress, grade completed work (the program grades the work automatically as the students progress- I love that!), and you can view and print reports for transcripts. Homeschooling a lot of kids at your house? This program is designed to enroll and track up to ten students (five users on two computers) and will work for nearly all ages — from beginning readers up to college students.

To win this most excellent Latin program copy these paragraphs and post them in (or as) your next blog post, and/OR link to the contest from your facebook page and/OR email the information to your homeschool support group – Then go to the original page http://Jeneralities.com and leave a comment saying that you’ve posted about, or have linked to, the contest. Please make sure the link works to get back to the original contest page when you post. And good luck!

****

Good luck to ALL TWO of you!!! ;)

Are YOU Getting Involved in the TEAparty of America???

2009-03-27T08:34:00.004-05:00

We need to take our country back to the Republic that it was started as! I think that taking a stand against this HUGE machine, that is a majority of our government at the moment, is necessary! If not now, then when? When will YOU stand up and say NO MORE???

Watch this

or visit www.TEAPartyDay.com

I Interrupt This Blog to Tell You....

2009-03-05T11:08:00.005-06:00

Actually, I should say I Interupt this "not" blog!!! ;)

Back to my point of this post, there is this give away happening at a great blog that I read! If you go here then you can have a chance to win a prize from this VERY funny lady! I might add, that she has a wealth of info to share on raising a family in general--not to mention a large family!!

I hope that you will go and enter! God bless!

25 Random Things About Me In No Particular Order...

2009-02-02T11:05:00.004-06:00

I know I haven't post FOREVER and then I do something like this! I must confess, I have become a Facebook--aholic! I can control who sees my personal stuff there! Anyhow, I was tagged on there to do this 25 Things, and thought that I would post it here as well...

1. I am living on a farm in southeastern Oklahoma--not exactly where I thought I would live...

2. I always wanted a farm just didn't know about the Oklahoma part!

3. God literally moved us here! I love knowing that I am here because of His perfect will for my life. There is ALOT of peace in that knowledge.

4. My husband and I did not plan for our third baby. He is a very welcome blessing!

5. The Lord has informed us that our family is not complete even though we are no longer able to have any biological children.

6. We plan on adopting. International adoption.

7. My heart breaks to know that there are 150 million children in this world that do not have a mommy and a daddy to love them...

8. I wish that I could adopt a whole bunch of children.

9. I was RADICALLY saved by Jesus Christ from a life of drugs and selfishness where I am certain that I would have died...

10. I LOVE Jesus Christ with my whole heart and I would do ANYTHING for Him just to hear Him say well done my faithful servant.

11. Noone else in my extended family loves Jesus except my Dad's brother!

12. Not surprisingly, my uncle is the only one in my family that never gave up on me while I lived a wreckless life...

13. I still want my mom when I cry...

14. I still miss my grandma--she died when I was 7 years old. We were VERY close.

15. I don't have a biological sister but God blessed me with a sister. I love you Aim...

16. I miss summers in Idaho.

17. I love the smell of Pine trees on warm humid mornings in Oklahoma. It reminds me of McCall in the summer afternoons! If I close my eyes I can pretend that I am there!!!LOL :) I miss McCall most of all...

18. There are alot of pine trees in this part of Oklahoma--we live in the only pretty part of the state!!! Thank you Jesus for that!

19. I would thank him even if it wasn't pretty here! :)

20. I am incredibly insecure, and my husband knows it and loves me anyway...

21. I can be not very nice when I am allowing my insecurities to run me--And yet, Brandon, knows what the problem is and forgives me before I ask...

22. I love my husband VERY much, he is probably the best gift(after salvation) that Jesus gave me.

23. I asked God for my husband in a letter listing 26 things that I wanted in a husband 9 mos. before I met my husband. When I met him I knew he was my husband within the first week and he fulfilled all 26 things, but 3...

24. A week after my husband met me we were talking and he saw in his mind what our kids would look like--it scared him!! He turned white! When I asked him what was wrong he told me what had happened. I told him that that made sense because he was my husband! We were married three weeks later! We just celebrated our 9th anniversary! Praise God--because He gets ALL the glory!

25. I was married before.. twice. It's a good thing God can change us if we are willing to come to Him...humbly.

Your supposed to tag 25 people, but honestly I don't even think 25 people know about my blog!!! LOL! :) So I will tag the few that do: Amy, Heather, and Pam, oh and Grafted Branch if you still read ;)!!

We Live a Humble Life

2008-12-06T09:04:00.003-06:00

Without a dishwasher. I mean we have many able bodied dishwashers, but none that require electricity. I tell this because I have relinquished most dishwashing duties to the 8 year old and the 6 year old. It. Is. Killing. Me. Which is actually good for the control freak in me. After all they have to become contributing responsible citizens at some point. It is just hard to watch the drying towel wrap around my sons head and God only knows what else it does just before it goes to dry a dish...

In other news. My older two bathe themselves. After this next dialogue that I am going to share I am questioning whether that was a good call on my part...

One of my children who shall remain nameless, because I am sure at some point they will care that I share things about them, informed us that they liked the smell of skunks. This comment was then followed by I like the smell of skunks because it is not half as bad as the smell between my toes...

And I will leave you with that.

God bless.

Smoothing Off the Rough Edges

2008-12-05T09:10:00.003-06:00

As you know I have 3 children. The first two were VERY well behaved babies and toddlers for the most part. I could reprimand them with minimal scolding or hand swats. My third, notsomuch, let's just say that he is very different...

I have puzzled over this matter for many hours wondering is it because I am doing something different? No, I mean things are a little different, but I am not easier on him than the other two. Here is what the Lord has imparted to me.

Being a parent, as you probably know, helps us to become selfless(hopefully!) and more like Jesus Christ--servantlike. Caleb was given to us because we had A LOT more work that needed to be done. Apparently, my rough edges had not been smoothed down at all with the first two! And now, I am struggling.

I have been praying for the last year that the Lord would search my heart and use the fire of His Holy Spirit to cleanse my heart to make me more like Him(I do not tell you this because I think that I am anything great--I am not, quite the opposite actually--I am in desperate need of change). It just so happens that He will give you anything that you ask as long as it is not to consume upon the lusts of your flesh!

OH MY GOODNESS!!! I never thought that there could be SO much darkness and sin in ONE heart... And He often uses my little man to show me. Because honestly, Caleb wears me out. And sometimes I get grumbly and say things like "I cannot wait for him to grow up he breaks EVERYTHING!!! I just want my stuff to stay nice and I just want my house to be safe and I and my blahblahblah!!!" Then the Holy Spirit is quick to show me my selfish thinkin', imagine! I asked for it! Of course there is grace, praise Jesus, and of course His mercies endure forever thank you GOD, but that does not negate the fact that I am having a VERY difficult time enjoying being a mommy with this one. I am constantly needing the gently reminder from the Lord that being a mom is an act of servanthood--selflessness, for some reason I do not do that well. Is this normal? Or, am I a spoiled brat? Sometimes I am merely treading water with the parenting of this wee one.

All of that to say that God has a WHOLE LOT of work to do in me! SO as I draw closer to Him the sinful condition of my flesh becomes more obvious and that much more detestable because honestly there are MANY days that I feel like I may be barely moving forward toward a more Christlike nature. It certainly is a very good thing that we never "arrive"...

Jesus Please help me to be more like you, I am failing soooo much!!! I need you. Help me, Lord. AMEN.

God bless and I hope that I am not alone in this!
Sarah

To Post Personal Stuff or Not to Post...

2008-12-04T08:55:00.003-06:00

That is the question...

I have struggled with this one question for some time! I really want to share my life with some people... However, I don't know about others! I don't mind sharing my testimonies about what the Lord is doing and has done in my life for His glory!

But the mundane details of my life and that of my families I am just not sure... And then there is always the problem of where do I start??? I don't know... It baffles me.

So, today I am going to share with whoever would care to know that I run. And lest you think too highly of me, don't. Because honestly, I don't like the actual act of running--it hurts me. I do, however enjoy the benefits, you know like blowing off steam aka decompressing, staying healthy, maybe keeping the pounds at bay, I think that about sums it up. And so since the benefits outway the loathing that I feel toward running I continue to do it! I made a goal on Jan. 8, 2007(when my baby was 5wks) that I would run regularly for a year, when that goal passed I just made it another year goal and now we are approaching 2 years of consistant running! Which is a miracle in itself because I do not stick to consistant workout. EVER. I go in 6 month spurts and it seems like that is my M.O. I am determined to break that habit and so I run.

And man I feel so good when I finish a run.

I share all of this with you to tell you about a run that I had on Monday. If you have never ran then this might be difficult for you to understand. Running is painful, if you run distance. Monday was my long run, 10 miles, and it was VERY windy with temps at about 35-40 degrees. I run on a mile long track and everytime I came around this certain corner the wind would nearly push me backwards-made my eyes water. I kept asking the Lord to please spare me!!! This is what He spoke to me:

"Your walk with Me is much like running. It is hard. Not popular, painful even, alot of the time. Sometimes the run is less painful and you have joy, you feel good, the temperature is perfect and you cannot quit being glad that you are able to run and feel this good, but most of the time there are hurdles and trials and the road is long and arduous. This wind you are experiencing is similiar to the wind that is about to come to this nation. It is going to be feirce, painful, you will "feel" like you are being pushed backwards, your eyes may pour tears from the sting of it, but DO NOT FEAR, cling to Me, keep your eyes on Me DO NOT GIVE UP! The outcome for you may not look like what you have in mind, for my ways are not your ways and my thoughts are above you thoughts."

Alot of times, in fact, most of the time, the Lord uses my runs to speak to me, or ask me to pray. This time was not different it was just way more obvious(not sure how to explain) like His voice in my spirit was "louder". So, my plan is to press into Him with all that I have and not look to the left or the right, just keep my eyes on Jesus Christ. I can assure you that during this race that we are in toward the prize of the high calling of Jesus Christ that that will be the ONLY way that we can make it...

God bless,
Sarah

LOOK!!! An Update, and Not Another Political Alert, or Morality Stance!!!

2008-11-13T15:05:00.003-06:00

Ok, so I realize that I have been HEAVY on the controversial issues, but I just cannot get over how much EVIL is gushing out in the USofA these days...

But that is not why I am posting!

I am posting because I wanted to talk about what the Lord is doing on the adoption front at the moment!

Well, we know that we will adopt. We did ALOT of research on agencies, homestudies, cost, countries, etc., etc. and we are now in the prepare mode. Which translates into Jesus has told us what we are going to be doing and now we are waiting for His perfect timing!

We have to get our house in order, so that when we have our homestudy there will be enough room for another child! When we moved to our farmhouse we moved from a house that had a 2 car garage with built in shelving and MANY closets to another tiny home with NO garage, and hardly any closet space! So, one of our 3 bedrooms is a storage room! I have tried not to let it get that way, but have failed miserably! So, our 3children share a room which works alright for now, but it won't be long before that will no longer be the case!

I am so very excited about what the Lord is doing, but anxious as well! I don't want to miss Him and His perfect will for our lives. In the mean time I will keep putting one foot in front of the other and getting our ducks all in a row!

God bless!

Also, wanted to leave you with this WONDERFUL song! Holy Holy is HE!

Parental Rights... Who Should Have Them?

2008-11-10T12:24:00.002-06:00

According to the United Nations they should have them. Or, at least they should have the access to make sure that you are a good "care giver".

I just read this article and am saddened because their is a president about to take office that will probably be very supportive of this measure. All I can say is Come quickly Lord Jesus! And of course, lift up ALL the precious children and babies whose lives are and may be ripped apart by this, in prayer to the very One who created them...

What in the WORLD!????!

2008-10-30T16:30:00.000-05:00

Is this????
Obama should never have even made it this far...

BIG RESPONSIBILITY

2008-10-30T15:58:00.005-05:00

Let me just say that as a Christ follower I hold a very big responsibility to vote according to HIS ways. Not just me, but we, the Bride of Christ--the TRUE BRIDE OF CHRIST--hold a VERY big responsibility. If you think that for one minute God really cares about our financial comforts more than He does the murdering of unborn children, or the redefining of marriage then you are ABSOLUTELY wrong! Because He does not. He tells us to sell everything and follow Him... HE will supply our needs according to HIS riches and glory--that may not look like what you think it does! I, for the life of me cannot seem to find it anywhere in the Word of God, that it is ok to turn a blind eye to the sins that this nations leaders are trying to legalize and redefine as moral liberty!!!

So, if you call yourself a christian, and you say that you believe the word of God to be the one and only truth, then you had better hope that your votes are not for those who support abortion or gay marriage... Because one day you WILL stand before the Lord and have to explain why your financial comforts were more important than your responsibility in representing Jesus...

Vote against this

I Feel Led to Share This With the Few That Might Read!!!

2008-10-17T21:56:00.005-05:00

So if you feel the need to be educated on the current housing market crash then please grab a drink maybe even a snack and watch this-

If you would care to know...

2008-10-13T08:54:00.002-05:00

I got my cute new background for free!!!! Just click on the the "cutest little blog on the block" icon in the top lefthand corner of my blog and you too can have your own new blog look for free!!! What is better than free?! God bless!

Just a song on my heart...

2008-10-12T13:42:00.002-05:00

Oh how I love Jesus
Oh how I love Je-esus
Oh how I love Jesus, becau-ause He first loved me.
To me He is so wonderful and I lo-ove Him
To me He is so wonderful and I lo-ove Him
To me He is so wonderful and I love Him becau-ause He first loved me!!!!!

UNBELIEVABLE!

2008-10-12T13:26:00.005-05:00

Homosexuality is ABSOLUTELY an abomination to God, God loves the people snared by the bondage, but HATES the sin. Whoa to those who say that same sex marriage is "ok"...

If you do not serve Jesus Christ then you will not enter the Kingdom of Heaven.

No man comith unto the Father, but by me. Jesus Christ

Prayers No Matter How Small Are Important to The King of Kings

2008-10-09T09:06:00.001-05:00

We have changed homeschooling curriculum this year and I must say that I am LOVING it! We started out with ABeka and I liked it--it is a very good curriculum, but my daughter is a very artistic person and the worksheets were not her style!(much to my chagrin ;)) So, I started asking the Lord to help me find the perfect curriculum for All my children. After all they are His children! After nearly two months of pondering and praying a sweet friend of mine told me that she was going to use Sonlight and that I should look into it.

I went to Sonlight's websight and began the research. I fell in love. I love the Charlotte Mason idea of teaching, however, my personality requires more structure! ;) And Sonlight happened to have both! I knew that the Lord had plopped this in my lap! He is SOOOO wonderful, all we need to do is ask for His help and guidance and He will give it! I am so thankful to have been chosen by you Father, thank you Jesus for dying for me!

Praise God!

So, since I changed to a curriculum that embraces a Charlotte Mason type learning, that means that I am more involved than before, because I am reading a.lot. to them!!! This is also another answer to prayer! I am spending more quality time with my children doing something we all enjoy, reading! Before this I felt as though I wasn't able to spend quality time with all three kids like I should be, because I am not the playful type! My imagination is VERY lacking! But, with reading, everyone's needs are being met! Thank you again Lord! See, serving Him is absolutely the ONLY way! God bless!

Just a Minute...

2008-10-09T09:02:00.002-05:00

That is exactly what the Lord has been speaking to me lately. He whispers His plans to us and then we must wait for His perfect timing! Which may or may not be soon! I am not sure when Jesus would have us to adopt, but the time does not appear to be right now! However, our hearts have heard and we will be obedient when He says the time is right. Not my will, Lord, but Thine be done.

God is Still Workin' on Adding to Our Family!

2008-08-29T14:29:00.012-05:00

PRAISE JESUS!!!

Aren't you glad that God doesn't ever quit on us?

I know I am!

When I first married the man that God chose for me, AKA my DH, I wanted at least 4 kids.

Then I got pregnant...

I had it in mind that a woman felt her best when she was pregnant and that they glowed and blah blah blah!

I NEVER felt my best when I was pregnant and it just progressively got worse as the pregnancies insued! By the time I was pregnant with our third child I almost needed to have a wheelchair to get around at the end. My pelvis, for whatever reason, starts its separating shinanigans around the 5th week of pregnancy.

Did you catch that--the 5th week!

Why?!

I don't rightly know, just the way I was made I suppose. At any rate it wasn't good and my husband promptly informed me that we would not be having any more babies because he couldn't handle watching me like that, oh and the worrying about me and the baby and so on and so forth.

So, prayerfully, my husband made the decision to permanently stop his ability to bring forth spawn. Which, I would like to add here, was THE hardest decision for me.

Because.I.did.not.feel.done.

Done with growing our family, I mean.

Apparently, God knew more! What a surprise huh?!!! I am always so awed by Jesus' wonderful ability to answer those desires and needs in us that we just.can't.seem.to.get.

GOD is leading us to ADOPT!!!!!

I am so excited! Scared. Overwhelmed. Nervous. Worried. Did I mention I was scared? Well, I am, but, I know that Jesus Christ is able to do, when we cannot and so I REST in Him(Most of the time that is true ;)--you have to remember I AM human).

Ok. So this is how it went.

My husband and I were sitting in the living room about 3 weeks ago and I just blurted out "I think we should adopt." His reply shocked me really, because I totally expected him to say--"NO WAY, we don't even get to love on these kids enough, imagine having more, or NO WAY, most days I come home and you want to pull your hair out and run away, or NO WAY, you say that schooling two kids with a toddler is impossible!"--You get the picture?! Being a mom is probably the HARDEST thing that I have ever done. I feel such a HUGE responsibility to the Lord to raise them as best I can and I know that I fall short of that ALL the time! If it weren't for the fact that Jesus Christ if full of mercy and grace I would never make it as a mother! ;) BUT, my husband did not reply that way! He said--"I thought about doing that too!" Then it dawned on me that I told my husband a coulpe of years ago that "I would never adopt(unless of course God told us to), because I would be afraid I wouldn't love them as much as our biological kids."

So, I guess, "never say never"

Let the adventure begin!!!!

We Definitely Need To Be Seeking The LORD About Our Next President...

2008-08-23T16:03:00.003-05:00

I received a very disturbing youtube clip today in my e-mail! And my heart is breaking for the children that do not/or will never have a voice to speak for themselves. We, as followers of Jesus Christ must stand up against the evils of this world IN JESUS NAME!

O Holy Night

2008-07-31T16:34:00.004-05:00

This is the most beautiful rendition of a WONDERFUL song--Fabulous!!!!

Everyone--You NEED to Enter to Win This!

2008-07-16T15:16:00.003-05:00

Click on the link and enter NOW!!!!

Somebody Please Tell Me WHY Are We Not

2008-07-16T14:40:00.003-05:00

PURSUING THIS!!!??!!!??
Good greif! :)

I Found The Perfect Song That Tells How I Feel...

2008-07-10T13:37:00.004-05:00

about a certain man in my life...

This is for my wonderful husband, who works very hard for our family. I thank God for you everyday and I Thank you...I love you!!!!
Sarah

I Just Want To Say THANK YOU To ALL Who Serve

2008-07-09T11:31:00.003-05:00

Our country. Whether you are actually military or the wife or husband that holds the fort down at home--thank you and may the Lord, Jesus Christ bless you and keep you.
Go here and watch a very convicting video.
God bless,
Sarah

Please Add This Sweet Family To Your Prayer List...

2008-06-28T12:14:00.002-05:00

They have been going through a VERY intense trial for nearly two years now. And I believe that they could use some more diligent intercessors praying for them! So, please take them before our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and ask for His divine hand to intervene. God bless!

Just Thinkin' About ALL Who Give Without Expecting Anything In Return...

2008-06-05T09:41:00.003-05:00

GO HERE AND PRAY FOR THESE SELFLESS PEOPLE AND THEIR TRIALS...

There is a Wonderful Giveaway!

2008-06-03T01:11:00.004-05:00

Pam at Good News From A Far Country has a wonderful opportunity to win some unique prizes! So hop on over and visit her a while, after you enter her give-away of course! ;)

The Beginnings of a Life Together

2008-05-29T15:34:00.016-05:00

(These pictures were taken in July of 2006 at my brothers wedding--they are not of our wedding! Just the most recent photos that I have of us together alone! :))

So, my last post left off on New Years Eve of 2000! And DH and I were married on January 30, 2000! We had to do that, because otherwise we would slip up. When you know that someone IS your spouse, it is incredibly hard to keep your flesh from jumping ahead of things and needless to say I fell down. However, I told my soon to be husband who wasn't of the same mindset, but was incredibly understanding and patient that we had to be married--Because there would not be, could not be ANY. more. of. that. He obliged and we were married in a very quiet ceremony at my pastors house with my pastors wife, his daughter and of course he officiated--It was simple and very sweet. Plus we saved a WHOLE LOTTA money doing it that way! ;)

I promptly moved onto the Air Force Base about 45 minutes from my the city where I grew up. We were blessed at every corner! On February 8th we found out that we were expecting our first baby! No sense in wasting any time!

I am going to pause here to let you know that the Lord had told me through a prophetic word that when I was united with my husband that I would become pregnant on my wedding night! He wasn't kidding. I became pregnant immediately as in we didn't even need to try more than once. So-that means that we conceived the one time that we slipped up before we were married by law, however our hearts were knit together and we felt married before the actual ceremony(I don't know if that makes sense, sorry). Except we did not know about it until after our marriage ceremony. I want all to know that I do not condone fornication at. all. I know that God does not condone it either. That is why we got married so soon-we knew that it would be better to marry knowing that we were intended for one another and not knowing each other, so that ALL things could be done in accordance to God's Word and how He says they should be done rather than putting ourselves in a tempting situation.

Alrighty then, moving on--

As you may or may not remember DH had not asked Jesus to be Lord of his life yet, but God promised me before we were married that he would be saved very shortly after. And my God CANNOT lie! So, on February 23rd, 2000 in the wee hours of the night, DH woke up frantic for some reason. I quickly turned my lamp on and asked him what was wrong, I had never seen such terror on someone's face.
Husband: I just had a terrrible dream, I was in this tunnel and there were all these demons/creature things and they were chasing me and they were coming out of these holes along the tunnel. Jim(our/my pastor) was there and he was fighting them off for me and telling them to go away in Jesus Name. That was the only thing that was keeping them from getting me.
Me: Well, you need to ask Jesus into you heart. Do you want Jesus to be your Lord and Savior?
Husband: Yes.
Me: Ok, pray this after me... And we prayed
My husband became a child of the Most High God that night! Not only that but I layed hands on him and he received the baptism of the Holy Spirit as well. Then I called Nita to tell her all about what had happened(at like 3am) and as she and I were talking the Lord delivered DH from some demonic bondage that had been hindering him from the time he was a little guy!!!! Praise Jesus! Isn't God good?! He ALWAYS goes above and beyond anything that we could ever imagine! So, now my DH was a born again believer of Jesus Christ! Thank you Jesus for always being so faithful to your children, you never cease to amaze me!

We were very blessed, but by the world's standards we were poor! However, God made sure that all our needs were met! We had a house-paid for, we had medical-free, we had food allowance plus the meager salary of an E-2(I believe?). Anyhow, I quit my job as an Orthodontic Assistant when I was 5 months pregnant with our daughter and became a homemaker! I loved it. It was a very "honeymoonish" time in my life. I got to take leisurely walks with my dog daily and have lunch with my husband and basicly get used to being a wife for about 4 months!

Then on September 27th, 2 weeks before her due date, my daughter started her decent into this world. She was born on September 28th, 2000 at 2:15 am. That is a very awesome testimony/story that I may have to type up on this here blog one of these days. But until then God bless you and I will be typing again soon!

Meeting My Intended

2008-05-06T16:00:00.002-05:00

Well, I have good intentions! I really would like to be able to keep up with the whole posting part of blogging, but it takes such a huge chunk outta my precious time with my family! Not to mention that I am incredibly lazy when it comes to typing(I am not what you would call fast ;))!
However, I have a whole lot of wonderful testimonies of what the Lord has done in my life and I know that their are people out there that need to know that I am nothing special and that Jesus will do these types of things for them too! So, time to get off my proverbial bottom and get busy typing!
By May of 1999 I had reached the bottom of me. I had been saved for a year and some months and had just gotten back on the path with Jesus. I had stepped off for a time to see if I could go back to my old life, but I was different and God made sure that I was very aware of that fact. Anyway, I was walking with the Lord again and life was good. Let me pause here to tell you that in my shady past I had been married on two separate occasions to two separate men, both of whom I had joined myself together with. Needless to say I KNEW what I did NOT want in a spouse. So, I took it upon myself to write the Lord a letter listing a total of 26 things that I would like in a man and I placed the letter in my Bible(knowing the Lord the way that I do now this act seems rather presumptuous to me!;)). The months went by and I knew that God was going to have to move miraculously because there was very little possibility of my meeting a godly man anywhere that I went, which was only work and home and of course church. Church was a small group of wonderful full gospel believing Christians that met at our pastors house, so that did not look hopeful! I also spent a lot of time under the mentoring of my pastors wife and therefor spent lots of time at their home.
When Christmas rolled around my pastors wife, Nita, and I were going to the local jail to visit with a woman there and I was telling Nita how I just wish that Jesus would bring me my husband the one that I knew He had intended for me ALL along.
Nita: How do you talk to Jesus?
Me: Lord, Please etc. etc., in Jesus name, Amen.
Nita: Sarah, is Jesus your friend?
Me: Yes.
Nita: If I had something you wanted, how would you ask me for it?
Me: I would say, Nita please give *it* to me!
Nita: Alright then, tell Jesus, talk to Him just as you would talk to any of your friends.
Me: Jesus, Please bring me MY husband, I am sooooo tired of being alone! I just want my own family...
The Next day was Christmas day and I was going to have Christmas dinner at Nita's and celebrate Jesus' birthday. Her oldest daughter had asked if a couple of military guys could come for dinner because they didn't have anywhere to go. I was a little put out by this because I had a feeling that they would probably be obnoxious at best!
When they arrived there didn't seem to be anything out of the ordinary about either of them. I wasn't drawn to either of them although they weren't annoying either.
After that day and having been introduced to Brandon the whole following week his name would float through my thoughts like that of a banner behind an airplane. I would be at work talking with someone and suddenly his name would just pass through! WEIRD!!!! I had never experienced anything like it in the past. So, one evening about 5 days after meeting him I was talking with Nita again and I told her about what had been happening. She got a big grin on her face, I asked her what she was smiling about and she replied with, what did you ask Jesus for? A husband was my response. So, she said, I believe Jesus answered your prayer! I immediately started praying about that, because of course I DID NOT want to mess that whole thing up again!
On New Years Eve Nita had invited Brandon and his friend back to her house for dinner. When they arrived it was as though the Lord put a spot light on me because all of a sudden Brandon seemed drawn to me. We talked nearly all night long. At one point he got very pale and looked scared, so I asked him what was up?! He told me that he had just seen what our kids were going to look like! I would like to tell you that I just smiled quietly at him, however that would be lying. Instead I said well that makes sense because I am your wife. God picked you for my husband. I am surprised even to this day that he did not leave immediately and never return because the poor man had only met me two times and one of those meetings we never really said more than a few words to one another! But, God, is so so patient and merciful, because Brandon did not run away and never talk to me again, no he stepped up to the challenge and trusted a God that he hadn't even given himself over to...

Can I just say that

2008-04-18T09:25:00.002-05:00

serving Jesus Christ is the MOST life changing experience EVER!!! We were offered the job! It is such an awesome testimony to the Glory of God!!! I give Him ALL the credit. So, after much prayer and seeking my DH will let them know today that we will accept the position! Thank you Jesus.

Praise Jesus in the Highest!!!!

2008-04-16T10:12:00.006-05:00

About a year ago I was incredibly frustrated with the position that my husband was in at work. He has a wonderful job financially, way above what we ever had imagined, but his employer had just put him on salary and then promptly tacked on the responsibility of a whole nother position!!!! Imagine my irritation! BUT!!!! I serve the God of Heaven and Earth! So, naturally I went to prayer, after some teensy weensy wailing and gnashing of my teeth(sheepish grin). After all I am human and incredibly fallible!
I digress.
So, where was I? Oh ya, he was working TWO jobs for one salary. The second position that they gave to him was a position that was supervising, sometimes, up to 30 employees, all the other supervisors were making $10,000-15,000/year more than he was making! So, here is what I prayed-"Father you say in your Word that a man is worth his hire! And I believe ALL of your word I am going to stand on your Word--Please pay DH what he worth." Then I promptly informed the thief(that is Satan in case you were wonderin') that he HAD to return to us everything that he was stealing and that he had stolen(in regards to this work situation)in Jesus name and that I wanted him to return it sevenfold(it is scriptural!).
I know that I should not be surprised, but Jesus just reminded me that I had prayed that, and right this very minute my husband is being interveiwed for a position that if you look at in the natural is IMPOSSIBLE, but with our GOD, JESUS CHRIST, NOTHING is impossible! Mix faith in Him and prayer(according to God's Word) and a splash of spiritual warfare and you have a recipe for God to be GLORIFIED! PRAISE YOU JESUS! I LOVE YOU.
GOD BLESS YOU ALL!
KEEP YOU EYES ON THE RESURRECTED JESUS CHRIST !!!!!

Lots of Concern for Lost Souls...

2008-04-08T12:44:00.017-05:00

In light of the "Cult" that Oprah is raising up and supporting, I thought that these youtube clips would absolutely let you know where she stands. It is so sad. Pray, for her and AAAALLLLLLLLL the countless people that she is leading astray, not to mention the actual Christians that are buying into her lies.

Watch it here.

And then here.

If you are a Christian and you are absolutely walking with the Lord Jesus Christ in a personal relationship with Him, then YOU are needed. Not just to pray about and for Oprah and what she is doing, but to be praying that God's man, whomever that may be, will be voted into office in the upcoming election. It is imperative that we, as the bride of Christ seek Him for His wisdom about who He wants as President of this country. If we do not then it is very possible that our freedoms, to outright, be Christians will be jeopardized. Wake up! Do not let the enemy lull you to sleep any longer. Get on your face before the Lord and ask Him for His will and His man to be elected...

We, as Christians, need to care about the lost souls in our country. We need the continuing freedom to preach the truth within our own country, that we may be able to continue bringing in the harvest. Don't turn a blind eye to the possibility of losing that freedom---Please get on your face before our Father in Heaven. He says: If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray , and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. 2Chron 7:14.

So, I guess, I am asking for you, who read this and serve our Lord Jesus Christ with all your heart, to be in agreement with me in prayer. I am going into God's throne room daily and petitioning the Lord to allow His man to be elected, that God would even cause the hands of those who don't serve Him to vote for His man(who may not be a "Christian" just the "one" that God has chosen for the job). And to continue to allow us to harvest new souls that are being won for Jesus Christ in relative peace and freedom. God bless.

So the next part of my tranformation was...

2008-02-27T10:19:00.005-06:00

Being set free from spiritual bondage. You see, I had a problem from about the age of 15, with promiscuity. I was never taught that you should wait for marriage to have sex, noone EVER told me that fornication was wrong. But God says that it is and if you don't believe me:
Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body. 1Cor6:18
God's Word is true even if you do not know it. Just because you do not serve Him, or believe His Words or His commandments does not mean that that makes them not BE. So, while I was out committing sexual sin, the enemy, or satan, was putting me in spiritual bondage, i.e. demonic bondage. Satan only has a right to attack us if we are in direct opposition to God's Word and I was.

I had decided in the summer of '97(I think it was '97!) that I couldn't be a good christian so I gave up and went back to a life that I was familiar with. The only problem with that was that I was a new creature in Christ Jesus and no amount of going back would change that fact. Try as I might I was not able to "fit" in with my old crowd! However, that did not deter me. I kept on(did I mention that I can be stubborn?!). Satan took it upon himself to deceive me, he brought a man into my life and literally, very audibly spoke into my ear that "this was my husband". I was shocked and excited and I thought that that HAD to be God!!! However I did not know Gods still small voice during that part of my walk or lack of my walk. So, I married this man, I did not love him, but oh how he professed to love me. I tried sooooo hard to love him, I thought that my family loves him and he loves me that should be enough. Eventually, I could not lie to him, myself, and my family and friends anymore, I had to tell them that I had made ANOTHER mistake. During this time the Lord had been wooing me with His Holy Spirit, whispering to me that I needed to come back to Him. He would love me no matter what that all I needed to do was come back--repent and turn away.

That time in my walk is a time that I have tried desperately to shove way down into a dark pit, so that I won't have to feel the pain of the treacherous mistakes that I made. I very seldom share this part of my testimony, out of shame I suppose. The Lord told me I must for His Glory, because I have been abundantly blessed, much like the prodigal son.

So, I told this man that I had joined myself together with that I did not love him, that I never had felt any type of emotion other than friendship for him and that I wanted to get a divorce. Now lest you see that I made this decision in haste, I PRAYED and agonized over my situation for a VERY longtime. I searched the Word, poured over it, consulted mature Christians that God had placed in my path, went to the pastors at the church that I attended, you name it I did it, but in the end it was just me alone with God. There is a scripture that we use ALL the time that I guess most of us miss the first part, at least I had:
What God has joined together, let no man put asunder. Matt19:6b
God had not joined us together. We had put ourselves together. Do not think that I am OK with divorce, I am not. The Word of God is very clear on this issue. God is also clear on the issue of Him joining man and woman. I believe that there is a perfect someone for everyone, God made each of us a husband and visa versa. I know this only because He has shown me.

OK, so during this terrible time of emotional and spiritual upheaval in my life some friends(christian) of mine had mentioned that I needed to meet this woman that they knew. She was a christian woman who the Lord used in the gifting of word of knowledge and deliverance from spiritual bondage. I had ignored them until one day I woke up and I KNEW that I had to meet her, so I called my friend.

I met this woman, Nita, at my friends house, I saw a peace in her that I wanted, a kindness, a gentleness--I saw Jesus. The Lord started out by using Nita to tell me some personal things that no one would know, heart things(not physical things) stuff that I had thought and felt but never shared with anyone, only God could have known. Then she asked me if I would like to be free from a demon spirit that I was in bondage to, I said "what? of course I don't want a demon on me." So, she prayed for me and took authority over that spirit in Jesus Name rebuking it and told it to leave. I am telling you that that was one of the most AWESOME things that has happened to me in my walk. It was like I could suddenly think clear, there was a VERY dark cloud that left. I felt joy and peace and warmth! It was amazing! That night I went right to sleep, I had trouble falling asleep in the past with racing thoughts of insignificant things going through my head, but now those thoughts were gone! And they have NEVER come back! Praise be to God! Jesus Christ came to set the captives free!!!! And I was free indeed!

This bondage that I had accumulated was because of sexual sin. It was a demon that also caused me to lust in a sexual manner among other types of lust. The biggest change that I noticed right away was that I did not have a driving desire to be in a sexual relationship. I no longer HAD TO HAVE a male to make me feel worth something. It is very hard to explain, but the obsession that satan and his demons make you feel for ungodly things is VERY overwhelming and hard to stop yourself from doing. They always make your fleshly desires stronger almost superhuman strong(not in a good way either because they want you to sin so that you won't ever experience freedom and might possibly end up in hell for eternity, that is their main goal.). I just hope that you understand that sexual sin opens your spirit up to a bunch of spiritual bondage, stuff that ONLY Jesus Christ has the power to set you free from. I pray that if you have issues with anything that you are not able to stop then you will call on the name of the Lord.
Jesus says that Ye ask, and receive not because ye ask amiss, that ye may comsume it upon your lusts. Jam4:3
So, ask Him, He will answer you and take care of you.

That was only the beginning of a wonderful walk with the Lord, because He was not(and still isn't) done with me!
God bless you all.

Did I mention that I am lousy at staying in touch?

2008-02-25T15:08:00.003-06:00

Well, I am. I think that it is just plain old laziness. Not necessarily an attribute. I would rather browse around and read what everyone else is writing! I am soo lazy about it that I don't even comment! What is that all about?! People I know will be celebrating something and I don't even want to take the time to log in and wish them "happy whathaveyou"! Man, I really need to have this looked into!

Have you ever noticed that when you seem to be gaining ground in one area of your life and walking well with the Lord there, there is ANOTHER area that seems to be going down the slippery slope? Yah? You too, huh? Well, that is me in my insane laziness about staying in touch... Usually, I have to make myself(but I can most often overcome the urge to not do it), but lately I just don't. So, I am going to try to at least post once a week. Not that anyone cares, but I do! Why have a blog if you aren't going to post?!

Besides, I started this blog so that I could testify about my walk with the Lord and give Jesus Christ ALL the glory!!!! Because, the Word says that We are saved by the Blood of the Lamb AND the word of our testimony! Praise be to God! So, I need to get a move on and start sharing, maybe somebody needs to hear it! God bless you all!

Hello! Again. Do We Know You?

2007-12-31T11:08:00.000-06:00

I just thought it appropriate to get reaquainted with whoever may be interested in a visit to my blog! I have been highly distracted with various different events happening with us personally and don't forget the "event" of Christmas. Not to be confused with the actual meaning of Christmas which is something I try to celebrate daily with my Savior! Anyway, I am back for a brief interlude to let you know a little more about us and what it is we do(or don't do as the case often is! ;))

We have had a very full and exciting year here on our farm! We decided to add a couple of goats to the mix and with them had to come this

She is so cute and fluffy, for now, but someday soon she will be a BIG goat protecting dog!

That isn't all that we have been doing here. We have been raising a small herd of cattle, eleven cows and 4 heifers and 2 bull calves to be exact! We have a small flock of chickens, and 4 horses. We have been talking about perhaps downsizing even more, but not sure where we could at this point seeings how we have only a small farm to begin with! It may seem small, but sometimes I can feel very overwhelmed by the responsibility that comes with caring for animals! However, there are many more positives than negatives. For instance, I am learning that raising my children out here coupled with homeschooling is such a stark contrast to how I was raised. They love to be home with their Mommy and Daddy, they love each other, they absolutely love being able to go outside and play with the goats and horses, and they are mostly unaffected by other peoples opinions of what they wear, how they play, how they act etc etc. I love that! Someday they will be grown enough on a solid foundation of love and truth in the admonition of the Lord, that I can put my trust in the Lord and hand them into His care, but for now He has given them to us(my husband and I of course!) to train up and with His grace we will perservere!

We have been blessed abundantly with ALL that God has trusted us with even when there have been intense valleys. One thing this past year the Lord has taught me more than ANYTHING is to Praise God ALWAYS, especially in the valleys! And that can be difficult when the shadows of those mountains are looming over you and it seems as though darkness might swallow you up! Always Praise Jesus, ALWAYS...
GOD BLESS YOU ALL AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!!!

ANOTHER Give Away?!

2007-12-17T16:06:00.000-06:00

I know!!!! The only thing you get out of me is go here and win this or go there and win that, but a girl has to do what a girl has to do!! I LOOOOOOVVVVEEE give aways! We happen to live on one income for 5 people, so I sign up where signing up is due! ;) However, I also know that a few of you live on one income as well and could be blessed by some free bidness!!!! So, without delay go here and sign up to win a $200 gift certificate for JEANS!!!!
Hurry Hurry!!! I will definetly have an update on my blog about something other than give aways some time, it just might have to be after Christmas! Being a wife, mommy, teacher, baker, cook, budgetier, house cleaner, and ALL the hats that I sport throughout the day, seems to take up a WHOLE lot of my time!!! ;) Who'd a thunk!
Ta Ta For Now! God bless you!

There is a Music Give Away!

2007-11-21T08:44:00.000-06:00

If you like Michael W. Smith, you will definetely enjoy this christmas album! Just click free music and sign up--So maybe you can be the blessed recipient of a free CD!!!! God bless you all! Now run along and get yours!!!!

One of my Favorites...

2007-11-12T11:02:00.000-06:00

"Over a hundred years ago, Annie Hawks said of this song:

"One day as a young wife and mother of 37 years of age, I was busy with my regular household tasks. Suddenly, I became so filled with the sense of nearness to the Master that, wondering how one could live without Him, either in joy or pain, these words, 'I Need Thee Every Hour,' were ushered into my mind, the thought at once taking full possession of me."

The song was met with great acceptance, which she didn't understand until the day she faced the death of her husband. "It was not until long after," she wrote, "when the shadow fell over my way, the shadow of a great loss, " that she experienced herself the comfort of the truth in the song she had felt compelled to write so many years before." Nicole Sponberg, of Selah.

PART THE WATERS/I NEED THEE EVERY HOUR

When I think I'm going under, part the waters, Lord

When I feel the waves around me, calm the sea

When I cry for help, oh, hear me

Lord and hold out Your hand

Touch my life

Still the raging storm in me

I need Thee every hour, most gracious Lord

No tender voice like Thine can peace afford

Refrain

I need Thee, O I need Thee

Every hour I need Thee

O bless me now, my Savior

I come to Thee

I need Thee every hour, in joy or pain

Come quickly and abide, or life is vain

Refrain

Tempering His Vessel

2007-11-09T15:12:00.000-06:00

I have been learning a LOT in my walk with Jesus lately about various things, that when written in and of themselves don't sound all that profound, but in the heart they have been DEEP, and sometimes painful procedures. Lessons that have been difficult for my natural mind to fully grasp because of the intense supernaturalness(is this a word? If not I want to make it one!:)) that has been occurring!

One of these lessons, probably one of the BIGGEST ones for me lately has been about the "seed" of complaint. What I mean is that it can be so easy to complain, "I'm too fat", "I'm to skinny", "I'm not a good housekeeper", "I'm not doing what I was called to do, I shouldn't be a chaperon God has bigger plans for me, don't these people see that", and yadayadayada the list could be endless, really. But if you look at these things that we complain about, the complaint is really towards God about how He created me or you, or where He has you in your life right this moment. Whatever the complaint, ALL complaints come from Satan, himself. He, was and still is the first complainer, Satan's complaint against God was that he himself wanted to be like God. Satan wasn't satisfied with being an angel in heaven, and not just any angel, as we can read in Isaiah 28:13-17, but a VERY beautiful angel, he wanted to be recognized and worshipped. So he complained against God. Satan's complaint got him kicked out of heaven for eternity. NEVER to be allowed back in again. When he left heaven, 1/3 of the angel's went with him, how do you think that happened? I propose that over time(since God isn't confined by time and this ultimately was before time) Satan approached the hosts of heaven with his "seed" of complaint against God and planted the "seed" in the minds and thoughts of thousands of angel's. Thus bringing a devastating end to their heavenly placement.

Never being allowed back into heaven, my friends, makes Satan VERY mad. So, who, do you think he targets? God's creation, human beings. It started in the garden of Eden, when he approached Eve. He told her that God had not given them EVERYTHING, they only knew of the good. If God really loved them then He would have told them that they too could be as God is and know good AND evil. Thus, placing the seed of complaint against God and His wisdom, into the very heart of Eve and subsequently Adam. This seed of complaint was that God hadn't done His job right. No, apparently He had messed up and forgotten to tell them something, never mind that He created the WHOLE UNIVERSE with His words!!!! So, this little seed of complaint brought all of mankind to be born with a sin nature, or a nature that tries to make evil into good. It doesn't stop there. Oh No... Satan is a roaring lion, walking about, seeking whom he may devour... He has his eyes set on all of God's human creation, because he knows that we are created in God's image! And he HATES God. He wants so desperately to get back at God, that he is willing to pull out all the stops so that he can take as many people as he can to Hell, for eternity. Where he will torment them mercilessly.

"Where is she going with this?" you ask. Well, let me tell you. When we, as TRUE followers of Jesus Christ, have something in our lives, some circumstance, some imperfection, whatever it may be and we openly complain about our dissatisfaction to somebody other than taking it to the Throne of God, then we are ultimately complaining against God. NOTHING can happen or does happen without His consent or knowledge. We have to make our complaints known to Him by spilling our hearts out to Him not complaining about it to other believers. When we complain to other believers about what it is we are not happy with, then we are planting "seeds" of complaint. These "seeds" bring a VERY dark harvest... They can cause a stop in growth, or lead people away from salvation rather than drawing them.

Jesus has been showing me through my struggles with vanity(of the appearance variety) that ultimately this has been a complaint against the Very One who knit me in my mothers womb, exactly the way that HE wanted me! It is a whole lot more involved and deeper than that. But suffice it to say that this has been something that I have been complaining about FOR YEARS!! And Jesus took me through the movie reel of my life to show me the harvest that it has been producing! Not pretty, it has been the underlying discontent in EVERYTHING that I do or don't do! Amazing. This complaint has caused needless hours of unhappiness, where the enemy has wreaked havoc in our lives, for my family. Thank GOD that He is patient and slow to wrath, His mercies endure forever, His grace is sufficient for ALL that He allows us to encounter and endure. So, Take it to the Lord when you are feeling unsatisfied!!!

Anyway, that is one of the lessons He has been teaching me lately.

2007-11-08T10:04:00.000-06:00

You must go to this website and watch this touchingpost!

Staight from the Motherland with Camouflage

2007-11-01T22:55:00.000-05:00

You might recall me telling you that I am a transplant to the "south". Not just to the "south", but to a farm in the "south". And one of my adjustments, as it were, is that finding decent Italian food is VERY challenging. At best. This poses as a BIG problem for me. You see I LOVE me some great, authentic, mouth watering cuisine, from Italy! People from these parts have only been exposed to what the world of chain restaurants have to offer... Enough said.

So, imagine my joy, my sheer elation at the discovery of a VERY fine restaurant, of AUTHENTIC Italian cuisine! Straight from Rome! AWESOME!!!! It has been over 3 yrs. since I have partaken of such a succulent feast. First on the menu calamari! Yum! Just as I suspected--delightful, lightly breaded, served with a fabulous tomatoey, garlicy type of yumminess. I thougtht that maybe we had made it to a part of my new world that was more, shall we say refined in the art of detecting AUTHENTIC cuisine not of the Hispanic persuasion, or the Chinese(albeit American) persuasion, or even the fried food persuasion.

Let me preface this with a Restaurant that serves some kind of authentic food(and by authentic I am sayin' the food could be served in it's motherland and pass) does not last, people! They go down like "skinny" jeans should. The people have been soooooo brainwashed by mediocre chain restaurant's renditions, that they think it, I don't know, maybe "tastes bad"? It boggles my taste buds, not to mention my mind!

ANYHOO. Moving on to my point.

Not that I make it a practice to be a nosy neighbor, but these people were EXCEPTIONALLY LOUD! My husband noticed that they had ordered the calamari as well! Yeah for them! BUT, then he looks at me and says they just asked for some ketchup(catsup) for their calamari!!!!!!!!!! OH. MY. GOODNESS!!! I could not believe that they were about to assault their mouth with that stuff slathered on some of the best squid I think I have ever eaten! That, my friends sums up the the extent at which some people around my new domain enjoy AUTHENTIC Italian cuisine! They don't. Without some camouflage, anyway.

Now, I have to say here, that there truly is something all together strange about me pointing out the ketchup on calamari thing. Because when you call it squid. It sure sounds gross.

I was just thinkin'.

You Might Be a Redneck if...

2007-11-01T11:15:00.000-05:00

Your husband brings this home to you...

Cleverly placed on the HOOD of a jeep.

With strings tied to its legs, for them to hold onto.

So as not to allow the beast to fall.

OH MY whatever would we do if that were to be the case! :)

When you thought they were going to be hunting for deer...

Not at all what I had my sights set on!

Praise God anyway, right?! Right.

Because here is what it ended up looking like!

And MAN is it good(the seasoning we used is absolutely fabulous!)...

My Wish List for the Vision Forum Giveaway!

2007-10-30T23:05:00.000-05:00

AN AWESOME GIVEAWAY!!!!!!

My wish list for the Vision Forum giveaway is:

1-Passionate Housewives Desperate For God(84332) $16
2-Women of Vision (67850) $20
3-George Washington's Sacred Fire(57738) $24
4- The Anti-Historical Revisionism Home School Kit(23507) $45
5-The League of Greatful Sons(67880) $20
6-Noah Webster's 1828 Dictionary(36547) $56
7-The Original Blue Back Speller(51030) $13
8- Puritans vs. Witches(64105) $10
9-The Kathleen Set(83590) $30

If you are interested in a chance to win $250 worth of awesome christian stuff go here coolstuffgivaway and dream away! God speed and best wishes for you to win!

New(Not Better)

2007-10-22T15:54:00.000-05:00

I have been SOOO busy, what with being a mother of 3, one of which is a 10 mos. old bebe!!! I am learning in this walk with the Lord about my need to take EVERYTHING to Him and TRUE servanthood! Which, after all, is what Jesus asks us to be, a servant to the lowly and unlovable... So, since our very lives are a means of tempering the glass if you will, my family is that flame with which He tempers me. Sometimes.

With that being said, do you ever have days when one, or both, or all your children seem to have a new(not better), attitude? And it would seem as if they collaborated in the wee hours of the morning that not one but ALL should don this new(not better), attitude? Well, I have. Today happens to be one of those days! Daughter, age 7 yrs., woke up early, with nary a peep from any other sibling, however when other sibling(i.e. 5yr old brother) appears the crabby comes out as if he had been pestering her all along! Not to mention the ugly that pokes its nose in the business, thus, setting the ball of new(not better), attitudes a rollin' in our home this morning...

And did I mention we home school!! So, when the new(not better) attitude arrives it is ALL mine to "try" and deal with it(appropriately). How, I ask, does one deal with an attitude "problem" that seems to permeate every being in the house by this time?!!! I know, I will send them to their room, to sit on their beds! And that is what I did. Today it worked, for now(since today is not yet through). But this is not the first time that this has happened, nor will it be the last I am sure. I am just not entirely sure how to curtail "bad attitudes". One thing I do know! I can ALWAYS take it to the Lord and lay it at His feet! Now, if I can only remember to do that before my emotions of irritation direct my reaction! That my friend. I am certain. Is the secret.

Knowing is sweet freedom (Part 2)

2007-10-18T11:31:00.000-05:00

I left off with me feeling completely weird about that whole introduction! However on the following morning, again at 5AM, Jonathon hollered at me from across the gym! Again, I was thinking, who is this guy?, and WHY is he waving at me?, he is married for crying out loud!!! He seemed to have come out of nowhere--meaning I had NEVER seen him there before and I knew ALL the faces there--not to mention the fact that he continued to be focused on ME!!! WHY?!

I proceeded to do my routine about 45 min. went by and Jonathon approached me. He asked if I knew what my name meant? I told him yes, it means God's princess in Hebrew, he told me that in fact it did, but he expounded on it's definition. Then he told me that God had told him to talk to me(I later found out that he was TERRIFIED to talk to me! because he did not know me AT ALL). Next he told me that he was married to a wife that he loved very much and had two wonderful children with her!(SEE, God knew!!!) What he told me next was that God wanted him to tell me that He(meaning Jesus) knew that I was having, and I quote, "man problems"!!! At this point the Holy Spirit was dealing with and speaking to my heart, because after all it was God using Jonathon, a willing and obedient vessel, to let me know that HE knew me, HE knew where I was at 5AM everyday, HE knew ALL the trouble in my life! What happened next is kind of a blur! I was stunned, shocked, amazed, astounded, but most of all I was FREE!!!! Because I knew, that I knew, that I knew, that I had just had an encounter with the ONE AND ONLY LIVING GOD, JESUS CHRIST!!!! It was glorious! Jonathon told me over the next 45min that he was a youth pastor, that they would be having service that night and that he would really really like me to meet his wife, Raydean. After we finished talking I went into the showers closed the curtain and lifted my hands towards heaven and just began to weep and say thank you(you must remember that I had never even opened a Bible to this point, never believed an any kind of doctrine, but that there was no doctrine!).

Then I knew that I had to have more, right?!! Who wouldn't want more of that!!! So, I went to church and I started to read a Bible that I bought. My curiosity was peaked about the Holy Spirit! Who is this Holy Spirit?! I must know. I asked a friend from church if she could give me some scripture about the Holy Spirit. She gave me a HUGE list! I noticed right away that a good portion of those scriptures were in Acts. I came to the conclusion that I should probably just read the whole book of Acts and so I did. About half way through Acts I told the Lord one night, in my room on my knees, that I wanted the Holy Spirit to baptize me, or whatever it was that I said. I didn't really know christianese at that point, so all my praying was just "talk" to God in my understanding. About 1-2weeks later I went forward for prayer at youth service one night and Raydean started praying Psalm 91: "let Sarah dwell in your secret place Lord, let her abide in your shadow Father, Cover her with your feathers, under your wing she will trust..."--but THEN she started FERVENTLY praying that the Holy Spirit would come down now on me, and she proceeded to pray in that manner. It wasn't very long into it and the Holy Spirit fell on me like I had never dreamed could EVER happen to anyone! It was the most amazing experience that I had ever had outside of salvation. God's peace, love, power, might, fear, glory, and anything else that He has, touched my physical body and I almost went down, but my mind was worried that I might knock my head! So, I tried to collect myself and some people ushered me to a seat not far from where I was being prayed for. Literally, people sitting in the front row directly behind me, ALL felt the power of God as he baptized me with HIS FIRE and Holy Spirit! It was amazing... Words cannot do it justice. I was not the same after that experience, I could read my Bible and actually understand it! I had a boldness that wasn't there before, lots of things were different--it was like the scales had been lifted from my eyes!

Now! I was a new creature! A new creature in CHRIST JESUS!!!!! Praise be to GOD!!! Thank you Jesus for your obedience and choosing me! Because Many are called but few are chosen! Thank you, Jesus, for the grace that is sufficient everyday and the mercy that endures forever!!!!!!! And just knowing THAT is sweet freedom!

Introductions can be awkward(Part 1)

2007-10-17T20:41:00.000-05:00

Hello. I am going to just give a little history. I am still trying to figure this whole "blog" thing out! To say that I am technologically challenged would be too kind! I am at best only challenged!

Anyhoo. Moving on.

I am 33 yrs. young, married with 3 children and we live in Rural Oklahoma on a "hobby" farm... I call it a "hobby" farm because it is in fact just a hobby! I don't think that it will be what we as a family will be doing with the rest of our time here on this earth! Plus, I still have a hard time believing that I live on a farm! :)

It has been a wonderful experience choc full of intense learning! Jesus moved us here 3 years ago this November. And you might ask how did He do that? But, I assure you that He did it all, down to selling our house without ever putting it on the market! It is an AWESOME testimony to the faithfulness of our God, Jesus Christ, and what He will and can do if we seek His Will and not our own! Oh how I love Jesus! I will share that testimony at a later date, first I would like to share my AWESOME testimony of how Jesus Christ saved me from Hell...

So here we go, I was RADICALLY saved out of drugs and a very bad life at the age of 22 yrs, by none only than Jesus Christ! I had reached such a low in my life that merely going on and having no point in it was not going to suffice. I was brought up to believe that there was not a God. So, when I reached adolescence I was very immoral and did not understand anything about purity or keeping oneself for marriage, I started down the road of drugs and alcohol at a very young age as well. That road, that I chose, led me to the darkest pits of despair that any human being could ever endure. I started dabbling in the occult, playing with ouiji boards and looking for anything spiritual or paranormal... I had a discernment for spiritual "things" as it were, but had no knowledge of Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. By the time I was 21 I had already tried to end my life physically, had suffered terribly from an eating disorder, and had a real problem with alcohol and any drug that would cause me to hallucinate. So, marrying someone that I barely knew at 22 years of age was not too far out of character for me. He ended up not being my husband, at least, not the husband that God had intended for me when He created me. But during that brief marriage I realized that I needed to quit doing drugs and drinking, so I joined AA. It was in Alcoholics Anonymous that I decided that there really IS a God(not yet ready to accept that Jesus was God), but there is A God.

God had been preparing this encounter with me for quite some time, which does not come as a shock to me now, but back then it was amazing--it still is amazing to think that the Creator of the universe cared about little ol' me! Anyway, my best friend, from 5 th grade, Tonya, had moved back to where we grew up(I had never left) and she was now a Christian! She would try to tell me about Jesus and I would tell her-"Don't talk to me about YOUR Jesus, I don't want to hear about that @#%^&*^!" and I am sure other choice things flew from my filthy mouth. Nevertheless she remained my friend. I was in college at the time and in my History class(my favorite class that semester) we had assigned seating, and wouldn't you know it, God sat me right smack in between two Christians! Not just any old Christians, either! They were not scared to profess the name of Jesus Christ! One of those Christians ended up being a very dear friend of mine throughout school! So, the scene is set, I once did not believe there was a God, and now I believe there is, God has seen to it that I am surrounded by Christians--softening that soil of my heart! One night about 1-2mos. after all this happened I told Tonya, that I would accept HER Jesus! That is all I said. She was very excited, but I didn't feel anything had really happened. Move forward about 3 weeks and I was at the gym at 5AM-now bear in mind that not many people frequent the gym at 5AM and usually it is the same group--we all knew each other. I was on the stairmaster reading some school book and somebody got on the stairmaster next to mine, I could tell that this someone was watching me. So, when I thought that Mr. Someone wasn't looking I glanced over. Upon glancing I noticed that he was wearing a wedding ring-not a good sign in my book and that I had NEVER seen him before--He never came to the gym not at 5AM anyway. I finished and went over to the water fountain, where he promptly followed, he stuck out his hand and said "Hi, my name is Jonathon!" and I grabbed his hand and said "Hi, I'm Sarah, I've never seen you here before, glad to meet you." All the while thinking in my head WHAT ON EARTH are you saying, you sound like an idiot, why would you say THAT to him! But I turned and went in the locker room, red face and all, anything to get away from the very awkward moment!

Hello.

2007-10-16T19:10:00.000-05:00

I wasn't ever going to start a blog... Famous last words, I guess.

I love reading other people's blogs, but one of my own never really seemed realistic. For one I am not a writer, nor will I ever pretend that I am. And two, I don't know why I would have one, a blog that is. The idea of sharing silly stories about my family and myself, or sharing photos is neat in theory, but think of ALL the people weird or otherwise that might be viewing them! I guess, I will have to use caution and discretion as I share about my journey in the Potter's Hand.

Anyhoo- I am here to tell you that you should never say never!!