Give him first and best, not last.
Goes for time and money
God’s idea for you is deliverance
Freedom – God wants us to be freed up to do whatever God wants you to do.
Liberty – don’t use that liberty to go back into bondage
Exodus 3-7
God is tired of his people in bondage.
1. Deliverance is God’s idea for all.
God is not wanting you to stay in bondage
Tell the kids our salvation and deliverance stories over and over until they can repeat them.
Pass out party invitations
Make list of what we need for party
Carrots
Cherry tomatoes
Hidden Valley organic ranch dressing
English cucumber
Purple cabbage
Pinwheel ingredients: refried beans, sour cream, taco seasoning, tomato
Make Costco list
Make this week’s meal schedule
Make our budget – preliminary one
Make better budget
Have “committee meeting”
Tithe
Think about what kind of pay increase feels fair and how to address it.
Watch options movie
Deal with chicken run
Get rid of chickens
Clear out my room
Deal with carpet.
Ava 1-17-16
What makes me happy
Going to a party
All the kids go to bed and daddy and you get to watch a movie
What do I always say to you
Umm party
Play
What makes me sad
Umm when you said to go to bed and all the kids say no and get up. That makes you angry.
When one of your kids died.
Adi
What makes me happy
Uhhhhh me making silly faces and you laugh
Makes Adi happy = Somebody being silly
What do I always say to you
I love you
What makes me sad
Umm that somebody is doing sin.
Ama
What makes me happy
What do I always say to you
What makes me sad
Azri
What makes me happy
Umm God. Azri.
What do I always say to you
Umm. God.
What makes me sad
Umm. Jesus.
“Jesus makes mommy sad? Why?”. Because Jesus died on the cross.
“You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you! Trust in the Lord always, for the Lord God is the eternal Rock. Lord, we show our trust in you by obeying your laws; our heart’s desire is to glorify your name. In the night I search for you; in the morning I earnestly seek you. For only when you come to judge the earth will people learn what is right.”
Isaiah 26:3-4, 8-9 NLT
Fidelity – faithfulness motivated by love
1 Tim. 6:17
Two verses stood out to me today. The first, Proverbs 13:16a, “Wise people think before they act…” reminds me to not react, but to think before I act. Just like it is written in James1:19: “Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters: You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry.”
And the second compels me to pray for those who still await the desires of their heart. “Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a dream fulfilled is a tree of life.” Proverbs 13:12
As I look back on 2015 and ahead to 2016 I don’t even know how to pray and what to ask for. I wonder what I prayed for as 2014 wrapped up as this was one of my more challenging years, but truly a year of growth as comes with struggle. As it says in James 1:2-4, there are such blessings that come through trials. A passage read this morning at church is a sums up of my heart last year: Philippians 4:4-13.
I am unsure what I want to ask for because I know the truth of asking for patience and God puts hard things before me that require me to make the choice to be patient or for peace and God allows me to confront anxiety in a whole new way so I will really know how to rest in his peace. Although the results are good, the process is not unlike labor pains. Childbirth is not easy in any way. Thinking back on the births of my four, it was hard. I remember with my first, oh maybe an hour or so into pushing that I just couldn’t do it and that midwife was very direct (mean according to my mom but exactly what I needed) and firmly told me I could not give up and she continued to direct me and walk me through the delivery. In my fourth delivery, I remember it being much more difficult than #2&3 because I had to lay in a hospital bed hooked up to monitors for what felt like forever compared to the previous two. It was only about two hours, but it was hard and with each contraction, as I held onto Trevor, I kept repeating, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” And despite the fast moving labor, excruciating pain, and not having time for an epidural (so thankful for that in retrospect) with my 2nd, all that melted away when I held my baby girl in my arms. After the 22 hours in the hospital hooked up to everything known to man, throwing up.. When my first was just in my arms, I remember saying, “I could do it again.” The pain that seemed like it would never end, then actually got worse before getting better was all worth it. I wouldn’t trade the blessing to avoid that trial in a million years. I’m not who I am today were it not for those labor pains and those four kids. Likewise, I am not who I am today were it not for the sometimes excruciating trials God has walked with me through. Sure, I wish life was always happy and fluffy and easy, but growth and true blessing don’t come through those times. In those times we think we can do life on our own and need nothing from God. But he loves us too much to let us walk an easy path. He knows we eternally need him and if life is easy we won’t recognize our need for him. And though my eternity has been set for almost 30 years, I still need him every day for not just my salvation but the redemption of my day to day life. I have learned to shift my prayer from praying for a good day to praying that I will have a good attitude about whatever God holds for my day.
Resolve to
Commit again
Lead with love
To give up any grudge you hold – I’m gonna let go
Redeem the time – don’t wish for the future. Redeem the moment. I am going to bloom where he has planted me.
To walk in wisdom and take what you
Eph 5:15-33
I trust that God, as the potter, knows what He is doing with the clay of my life (and that of my family). He knows the purpose for all He does, like the knife cutting away lines through the side of the spinning pot creates the beautiful design of the master potter, so what seems like cutting away (trials) in our lives, I trust are for a beautiful purpose in the end. Thank you, God, that I can trust that you are working all things together for good.
“How foolish can you be? He is the Potter, and he is certainly greater than you, the clay! Should the created thing say of the one who made it, “He didn’t make me”? Does a jar ever say, “The potter who made me is stupid”?
Isaiah 29:16 NLT
Tues. 1/5 – ~12:30pm Benadryl
– ~ 6:45pm Benadryl (after Dr.)
– ~ 11:20pm Benadryl
We’d. 1/6 – ~7:45pm Benadryl (upon waking)
– 10:00am 6.6ml (or less) prednisolone
– 12:45pm Benadryl
– 5:15pm Benadryl
– 10:15pm Benadryl
Thurs. 1/7
– 2:20am Benadryl
I want to look to God first each day, have an eternal view in all things, and trust and honor God with all he blesses us with. I know that will allow me to have more of the abundant life God has offered me.
“Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be. “Your eye is a lamp that provides light for your body. When your eye is good, your whole body is filled with light. But when your eye is bad, your whole body is filled with darkness. And if the light you think you have is actually darkness, how deep that darkness is! “No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money. “That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing? Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are? Can all your worries add a single moment to your life? “And why worry about your clothing? Look at the lilies of the field and how they grow. They don’t work or make their clothing, yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are. And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith? “So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need. “So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.” Matthew 6:19-34 NLT