Beauty

 

  

Isaiah 61:3 (King James Version)

 To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified.

The prophet Isaiah describes a God who will replace His people's suffering with joy, and remove the ashes and grime that cover them to reveal the beauty beneath.  I found this here 

Do you see the red bird in the second picture?  How beautiful is the picture of red in the middle of white and pure snow.  Pretty amazing.  He shed His blood so we could live.  Live a life of joy with Him!   

Funny

I can't keep this to myself. The other night it was my turn to put Lawson to bed. I tell her to go to the bathroom before she gets in bed. Then. She screams. Runs into her room..... screaming, "Baby Jesus fell in the toilet! Baby Jesus fell in the toilet!" Bawling. Big tears streaming down her face. Both Leighton and I run into the bathroom sure enough and find Baby Jesus was in the toilet. Leighton looks up at me while he is sticking his hand in the toilet and says, "This needs to be documented, for sure:)"

Thank goodness she had not gone to the bathroom yet. That would have been horrible (for Leighton that is;)" So, Lawson just so you don't forget. Jesus rode the tractor and fell out into the toilet. Your sweet Daddy cleaned Baby Jesus and He slept with you. Maybe we need to put Him back in the nativity box:)

Memories

Snow happens to hold a lot of my happiest memories. Growing up in Alabama, we were blessed to have a few really amazing snow storms. So, when snow was being predicted for Columbia, Leighton and I decided to stay home instead of going on our marriage retreat weekend. We wanted to be able to have fun with our kids in the snow. You know it could be another ten years before we get another snow:)

My mom was here, but I was so sad that my dad wasn't here. You see, he was the one who helped me have some of the fondest memories of snow. He would take us to the farm. Hook up the sled behind the truck and drive us around. Fun. Laughing. No fear. Free. Beauty. We would ice skate on ponds. Snowball fights were a must. Sledding down big hills. They are etched into my memory like it was yesterday.

You see this man has been instrumental in my life. He has loved me as I was his own from the very beginning. He started dating my mom when I was seven. He married his first wife, Jean, knowing that she would die. She had Cystic Fibrosis. They had Anna and then two years later Jean died. So, when he married my mom we became a blended family. At some point, I started to call him dad. My real father wasn't around much. Gregg became my dad. He loved me as his own. A gift from God. Seriously. A gift.

But, I wish he had been here this weekend so I could have thrown this on him....
'Cause I am a fighter......I totally got Mac with that big one:) I would have also done this...
then this.....
then this.......
We always make up. Because we love each other:) Thank you, Daddy for sharing Momma with us. Especially on Valentine's Day. You mean the world to me. I am so thankful that you are my Daddy! Thank you for loving me as I were your own. Your love has transformed me. Your love is a gift from God. I am so thankful that I now see Him in you.

Don't worry though, we saved some snowballs for the next time you come to South Carolina...hehe!

God Is Love

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us. By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.
1 John 4:7-16

Cans

“Someone has said that success comes in cans and failure in cannots. Believing that you can succeed at Christian growth and maturity takes no more effort than believing you cannot succeed. So why not believe that you can walk in faith and in the Spirit, that you can resist the temptations of the world, the flesh and the devil, and that you can grow to maturity as a Christian. The following “Twenty Cans of Success,” taken from God’s Word, will expand your knowledge of our faith-object, the Almighty God. Building your faith by internalizing these truths will lift you from the miry clay of the cannots to sit with Christ in the heavenlies:

Twenty Cans of Success
1. Why should I say I can’t when the Bible says I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength (Phil. 4:13)?
2. Why should I lack when I know that God shall supply all my needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus (Phil.4:19)?
3. Why should I fear when the Bible says God has not given me a spirit of fear, but of power, love and a sound mind (2 Tim. 1:7)?
4. Why should I lack faith to fulfill my calling knowing that God has allotted to me a measure of faith (Rom. 12:3)?
5. Why should I be weak when the Bible says that the Lord is the strength of my life and that I will display strength and take action because I know God (Psa. 27:1;Dan. 11:32)?
6. Why should I allow Satan supremacy over my life when He that is in me is greater than he that is in the world (1 John 4:4)?
7. Why should I accept defeat when the Bible says that God always leads me in triumph (2 Cor. 2:14)?
8. Why should I lack wisdom when Christ became wisdom to me from God and God gives wisdom to me generously when I ask Him for it (1 Cor. 1:30; Jas. 1:5)?
9. Why should I be depressed when I can recall to mind God’s lovingkindness, compassion and faithfulness and have hope (Lam. 3:21-23)?
10. Why should I worry and fret when I can cast all my anxiety on Christ who cares for me (1 Peter 5:7)?
11. Why should I ever be in bondage knowing that there is liberty where the Spirit of the Lord is (Gal 5:1)?
12. Why should I feel condemned when the Bible says I am not condemned because I am in Christ (Rom. 8:1)?
13. Why should I feel alone when Jesus said He is with me always and He will never leave me nor forsake me (Matt. 28:20; Heb. 13:5)?
14. Why should I feel accursed or that I am the victim of bad luck when the Bible says that Christ redeemed me from the curse of the law that I might receive His Spirit (Gal. 3:13,14)?
15. Why should I be discontented when I, like Paul, can learn to be content in all my circumstances (Phil. 4:11)?
16. Why should I feel worthless when Christ became sin on my behalf that I might become the righteousness of God in Him (2 Cor. 5:21)?
17. Why should I have a persecution complex knowing that nobody can be against me when God is for me (Rom. 8:31)?
18. Why should I be confused when God is the author of peace (not confusion) and He gives me knowledge through His indwelling Spirit (1 Cor. 14:33; 2:12)?
19. Why should I feel like a failure when I am a conqueror in all things through Christ (Rom. 8:37)?
20. Why should I let the pressures of life bother me when I can take courage knowing that Jesus has overcome the world and its tribulations (John 16:33)?”

“Victory Over the Darkness: Realizing the Power of Your Identity in Christ.” By Neil T. Anderson