Thankfulness...

No matter how hard this year has been for us this year, we have so much for which to be thankful! I know it sounds cliche and all but the sentiment is true. We have never gone without food and been hungry or been cold. We have always been fed spiritually and have not experienced a drought in that area. We have a home and haven't had to sleep unprotected from the elements except for when we went camping and that was by choice. We have friends and family who are there for us when we are having good times and bad. I have a great group of ladies in Bible study without whom I can rarely get through the week. We are able to home school our kids and instill in them the values that we hold dear. We have children when so many can't and are heart broken. My oldest daughter accepted Christ into her heart this year and we are thankful that we will spend eternity with her! We have a great marriage and love each other so much.
I am thankful for the country in which I live despite the fact that I don't like the road on which it is going! I am thankful that even now and maybe for just a short while, I am able to express my opinion about my disagreements.
I am thankful that I get to hang out with some of the greatest young people in the world. I love seeing them and teaching them and hearing about their lives. They are awesome young men and women and I hope that they grow into great men and women of God.
I am thankful that the God who created the world would take a moment and spend time with me. He pursues me and wants, no, craves a relationship with me. I am grateful for the woman He is molding me to be. We talked this week that God could just mass us into groups and ZAP!!! we are all saved! But He does it individually in order that we might choose Him. Forced love is not love at all!
For what are you thankful in the year 2009?........

Jesus is a Democrat???

I was driving through Hendo the other day and on the back of a Subaru, I saw the bumper sticker "Jesus is a Democrat." I rolled my eyes as I read the other bumper stickers that were next to it! Then, I just shook my head and laughed! I hope that this is a joke and the people aren't serious. Jesus wouldn't get near any political party except to turn over the money tables of the people defiling His temple. What I want to know is why that person believes in this so strongly that he or she would place this on his/her car for the world to see. I am not sure what Bible they are reading but when Christ comes back to rule the world, it won't be a democracy or republic. There won't be voting or primaries. There won't be celebrity endorsements or debates. When Jesus Christ returns, He will return as the 1 and only supreme ruler! Every knee will bow, every tongue will confess that He is LORD. Not some, not just a few, but every one. Christ is referred to the King of kings and Lord of lords. He will set up a theocracy here in His millennial kingdom. There won't be any parties or any corruption. Christ, in His perfection, will rule with absolute authority. He will be fair and just and in no way will we feel oppressed or disenfranchised with Him. On the contrary, we will serve Him with joy and wild adoration! I am so disenfranchised right now that I look forward to those days. Are you ready to bow? You will have to whether you are ready or not. People get ready!

Self-confidence or self-esteem?

I have been teaching my youth girls what the Bible says that God thinks about them. I am using a Bible study that is based on Psalm 45:11 that states that the "King is enthralled with your beauty." That thought captivated me and I began to wish that someone had told me this is high school. In my pre-teen and teenage years, I struggled with identity and what I was worth. My sense of worth and identity was damaged by abuse, abandonment, and genetics. Even though I was adopted, I never felt truly free from what happened to me as a baby. To hear that the God of all creation, thinks I am beautiful and would do anything(and did)so that I might be called a daughter of the King of kings and Lord of lords was life changing. I wanted to share this with my teen girls in Sunday school. I wanted them to know that their self-worth should come from God and not from boys, accomplishments, or even their families.
I did some research on 2 terms: self-esteem and self-confidence. A major soap company had been promoting self-esteem among girls and women. I do think the idea is a great one but the concept is flawed. I believe that in America, we esteem ourselves too much. We are in an "all about me" generation and I don't think that we need to esteem ourselves anymore. I looked up the definition of self-esteem and this is what it says an "inordinately or exaggeratedly favorable impression of oneself" or "favorable impression of oneself". The synonym given was pride.
I, also, looked up the term for self-confidence and this is the definition "realistic confidence in one's own judgment, ability, power, etc" and "inordinately or exaggeratedly favorable impression of oneself."(dictionary.com)The synonyms given were assurance, poise, & self-respect. Now, while they seem to be similar, I think that being confidant is not the same as esteeming.
We can esteem someone that we don't even know like a president or a star. That doesn't mean that we have confidence in them. The same is true with ourselves. We can esteem ourselves without knowing who we really are. I didn't have confidence in myself until I knew whose I was. I know, now, from Whom my abilities & my gifts come. That has nothing to do with the way I look or act. My confidence comes from knowing that God sacrificed His Son so that I can come to Heaven and spend eternity there. He would rather die than to live without me. Philippians 4:13 states that I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Now, that is confidence!

Veteran's Day

Today is the day that we honor and celebrate those who serve in our military. I know that technically we should only honor those that served in a war or military offensive, however, in an effort to teach my children the importance of soldiers and their families, our family honors all those who have served. I want them to know and appreciate the sacrifice that these people make. This is a job that I couldn't do but I am so thankful that someone can!! The men and women who serve around the world and at home to keep the US free deserve a special day and I am glad to celebrate it! To those who are WWII, Korea, Vietnam, Iraq I & II, and Afghanistan, thank you for the price you have paid. Some of you lost friends and some of you lost body parts. So today we do our Veteran's walk(or in the case of today, drive) where we deliver homemade goodies and thank you cards to our neighbors and friends. Brownies don't make up for the sacrifice but it is a small token of our appreciation!
Jack Allison, Mr. McGuinn, Rich Irish, and Jurney Edgerton, we honor you today!

November Update

I totally forgot to do my update for this month. Not much has changed. I am currently at 145/146 with a BMI of 22.15. I am happy where I am now. I am wearing a size 8 and sometimes a size six. I have had to switch to small shirts. I feel better than I have in many years. My arms have definition and my new goal is to tone the C-section belly. I know they say it can't be completely gone but I was also told I might not live having my last baby and yet here I am writing you! I am running a 5K in December and I want to shave 10 minutes off my time from last year when I was 30 pounds heavier and recovering from surgery. I am not seeking to lose weight for the rest of 2009 but just to maintain and tone. I have reached the original goal that I set for my New Year's resolution. My husband is happy with my body and my spirit and thus so am I! I am going to try on my wedding dress since my 10 year anniversary is coming up in December. I don't know if I'll fit but I am going to try. I will post pics! Update coming.........