2010 In Review

2010 has been a whirlwind year for us. I have lived in 4 different houses and 2 states!

Jan.: We lived in Olive Branch,MS and I stayed home with Emma Kate and worked 10-15 hours a week.

Feb.: We found out that we had to move out of the house we were renting so we starting to look for a house to buy in the Olive Branch/Hernando area. Jeff started a new job.

March: We found a house we LOVED and started the buying process. Towards the end of the month we had a major hiccup in our marriage and Emma Kate and I left MS.

April: Emma and I spent Easter in Alabaster and was loved on by my sweet friends there. We then made our way to Atlanta to start over.

May: Emma and I spent the month living with my brother. I also spent a lot of time finding childcare for Emma in Atlanta, setting up a new work routine, and rebuilding my relationship with Jeff.

June: We spent the first week of the month on family vacation at the beach in a beautiful house. Jeff moved to Atlanta and we moved into an apartment. I turned 30!

July: I received a promotion at work and was asked to run our direct placement business in Atlanta.

Aug.: Jeff and I celebrated our 8th wedding anniversary. It was truly a milestone to celebrate and an event that would not have happened without the grace of God over both of our lives.

Sept: Emma started Pre-K at a new school and is loving it. We also spent a fun family day at Stone Mountain Park.

Oct.: Emma turned 4! Ms. Sandy, Caitlin, and Miss Jordan came down to celebrate. Later in the month we spent the day at a farm and had a lot of fun learning how to milk a cow and see cattle being herded.

Nov. : Jeff went to play with a band from MS so he dropped me off in Alabaster for quick visit on his way to the gig. We also had some of our old students (who are now all in college) come for a weekend visit with us in Atlanta. We spent Thanksgiving at his parents house in Hernando. We left Emma in Hernando so we got to spend the whole week after Thanksgiving with just each other.

Dec. : I went to Deeper Still in Birmingham the first weekend in December. Other then that first weekend we spent every weekend after that celebrating Christmas. The 2nd weekend we did Christmas in Atlanta with my entire family. The 3rd weekend Jeff's parents came to celebrate Christmas and Jeff's 32nd birthday. We spent Christmas weekend with my brother and his family as well as my mom and sister. Emma was so much fun and it was topped off with snow! We also found out this month that Emma is going to be a big sister!

2010 was full of a lot of changes but the one thing that never changed was the faithfulness of our God. We end the year being able to see His hand across all things and thankful for His continued provision over us.

Emma Kate is going to be a big sister!

We are celebrating some exciting news at the McKenzie house....we are having another baby! Emma Kate is beyond excited and is going to be such a great big sister. Here are some of her statements over the last 24 hours.

"Mommy you sure do have a lot of people in your body. You have Jesus in your heart, a baby in your belly, and all the food and water you have had today in your belly. How do you have room for all that?"

I was drinking water with my dinner and she said "mommy the baby does not like water the baby only likes milk. I know because I only drank milk when I was a baby and I did not like water at all."

"Why is the baby naked in your belly? I think you should buy some clothes for her?"
(We do not know what we are having yet she just wants a girl! :)

"Is it time to go to the hospital yet?"
(Nope we still have 9 months to go!)

"Can the baby's bed be in my room? When she cries I will either call for you to help me or just put the baby in bed with me. The baby will love sleeping with me."

Emma has rubbed and kissed on my belly non stop! I do not know who the nine months is going to be longer for....me or Emma.

White Christmas Day 2010

Click here to view these pictures larger

Merry Christmas!

I just wanted to jump on and wish everyone a Merry Christmas! I have a few posts brewing in my mind and heart but tonight is not the night to write them.

Today was a great day at the McKenzie house. Emma woke up around 8:00 and she opened her presents. She is at such a fun age and really loved everything she opened. She was even quick to tell me she saw one of the dolls in our closet that was wrapped under the tree! It is good thing that "Santa" only brings her stocking and mommy and daddy bring everything else because we would have had some explaining to do :) Jeff and I were not going to exchange presents so I was not expecting to have anything under the tree. However, I was pleasantly surprised to find 2 presents under the tree for me! I am very excited about both and thankful for a sweet husband who knows my love language.

Today I have a lot of things to be thankful for. However, I am most thankful for "The word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the One and Only who came from the Father, full of grace and truth." John. 1:14

Emma Kate

Emma Kate,

I have had the privilege to stay home with you for the past 3 years. A month ago I decided to go back to work more on a full time basis and you are now in school 3 days one week and 4 days the next. However, today I get to stay home with you again and take a breath to just be your mommy. We started the day snuggling and talking about how you are not a baby anymore but my big girl. You loved listening to me list all the things you can do now that you could not as a baby. We said things like "now you can walk and you used to be able to only scoot, now you can drink out of a big girl cup and you used to only be able to drink out of a bottle, now you eat everything and you used to only to have milk" and the list went on and on! I am so proud of you and the little big girl you have become.

You have quite the imagination and talk non stop. When I say you talk non stop.....that is EXACTLY what I mean :) A few nights ago as you were praying you said " God I know in the past that I have told you I just want to be a mommy but I changed my mind. I still want to be a mommy when I am 20 but then I want to be a doctor when I am 60. I want to do both ok????" When you were talking to Ms. Sandy yesterday you decided that you and Kae Kae could open a practice together but you would need to wear gloves before you helped the patients. Last night you decided our living room floor was the ocean and you proceeded to jump from the chair to into the ocean while holding your nose. You just came into the room with your bathing suit on and told me you were going to the ocean again and needed me to blow up your floats.

You did not think a lot about your school but it has grown on you and now you love it. You have a lot of friends there and really like Ms. Marie. On Friday you get your face painted so you have asked me if you go for a little while today to do that. Your most favorite thing to do right now is go to the pool. You have come a long way this summer in your love for the pool. You now can jump off the side all by yourself and LOVE IT when mommy and daddy throw you in from the side. Your second most favorite thing is going to get ice cream after dinner. You had only been awake for a few minuets when you started negotiating with daddy about getting ice cream when he came home from work today.

Your mommy and daddy love you very much Miss Emma Kate McKenzie and count it our highest calling to get to be your parents.

Some Random Thoughts

I am currently at the beach with my entire family enjoying a week in the sun! We are staying in a beautiful house living a life of leisure. Due to the unhurried pace of the last few days I have had time just to sit back and reflect on the last few months. Here are my thoughts:

1. I am thankful.

• I am thankful I have friends who love me well and will take me in on a moments notice.
• I am thankful I have friends who will pray for me and will hold me accountable to the right standard not just the easy one.
• I am thankful that I serve a God who loves me and knows me and meets me right where I am.
• I am thankful I serve a God who sometimes gives me clear answers and direction.
• I am thankful that I serve a God who more often just whispers for me to fix my eyes on Him and trust that He is good.
• I am thankful for the work of the Holy Spirit in the life of someone who I love dearly. I have seen them become a completely new person and love as Christ loves the church.
• I am thankful that God has proven Himself faithful to me time and time again.
• I am thankful for the sweet friendships that God allowed me to have in MS and know that some of them will last a lifetime and not just for a season.
• I am thankful for the men that God has placed in my husbands life.
• I am thankful for restoration.
• I am thankful for a God who indeed makes all things new.

2. I am excited.

• I am excited about moving into our new home when we get back.
• I am excited about starting over again in our new state.
• I am excited about getting plugged into our new church.
• I am excited about having my family under the same roof again.
• I am excited to enter into a new decade (my 30's) in a few more days.
• I am excited about my husband's new job.

3. I am anxious.

• I am anxious about the possibility of working full time. I have been offered 3 full time jobs in the last month. This last one is exactly what I want to do long term but would mean that Emma Kate would have to in daycare 5 days a week instead of 3. I am torn about what to do. My heart's desire is to be a stay at home mom and nurture Emma as long as can. I know that I am the only mommy that she will ever have but my company has plenty of people to do the this job. However, I am still torn. Is it an opportunity that I am supposed to take? I was not looking for it...it found me. Or is this just another time that God is asking me to trust Him.
• I am anxious about history repeating itself. In the end if it does then I know I will be ok. God has been faithful to me time and time again. I have no reason to doubt He will not be faithful to me again. He is my strong tower. My Prince of Peace. The Unchanging One.

Getting the hang of couponing!

Over the last 6 months I have really been trying to figure out the whole cutting coupons thing! In the past I had dabbled in them and used them if I remembered, but now I am cutting with a purpose! In the past I cut them because I thought it was fun to save a few dollars here and there but now I have a whole new perspective. I spend the time going to couponing sites and cutting/organizing coupons mainly because I want to be a good steward of the money God gives me. It has been so much fun over the last few months seeing my saving increase. This year I even downloaded an Excel spreadsheet so I can track what I save on each of my visits. For the month of January I saved $285.91 using coupons which was 38.5% savings for the month. My goal is to save a minimum of 50% off my bill for the month.

It takes a little bit to get the hang of the whole couponing thing. You have to figure out what stores accept what coupons, who doubles, where can you stack, etc but in the end it is well worth it. For me anyway it has been worth the $285.91 that was saved last month! For example take my Target trip today. Today I saved $31.33 at Target and received 4 things FREE!

How did I do this???? I am glad you asked! The first thing I did was look at my favorite sites. My personal favorite are:
www.hip2save.com
www.couponingtodisney.com
www.faithfulprovisions.com

These ladies work so hard and do a great job to help me save money. They each have Target post about what is on sale this week and the best coupons to use. I read thru each of them and then figured out which coupons I had. I made my list, gathered all my coupons, and headed to Target. Now, all together I probably spent around 30-45 minuets doing the above. That is a good chuck of time but you could also look at it like I paid myself $31.33 for less then an hours work! I had coupons for everything I bought except the pink marshmallows that were thrown in for my 3 year old (not pictured)!



My total before coupons was 47.55
After all my coupons $14.22

My free items were:

• Double Stuff Oreos (I became a fan on facebook when they were having a special promotion so they sent me 3 FREE coupons)
• Olay Body Wash (In Sunday's Paper there was a coupon for buy Venus razor get Olay body wash for free)
• Venus razor- This normally cost 9.99 but Target had them on sale for $6.99. I had a Target coupon for $4.00 off and then a manufacturing coupon for $2.00 which dropped the price down to .99. However, I had an overage of .99 on something else I bought so that made the razor FREE!
• Herbal Essence hair gel(Sunday's paper had a buy a Herbal Essence shampoo, conditioner, or styler and get a styler product for free. This coupon did not have "excludes trail sizes on it so I purchased a .97 cent travel size conditioner and got the styler which normally cost $2.99 for FREE!

Items I had to pay something for:

• Johnsons Bubble Bath and Body Wash is normally $4.39 I paid $1.39! I had a $2.00 Target coupon and a $1.00 manufacturing coupon
• Pedisure Nutripal drink is normally $4.99 I paid $1.99! I had a $3.00 off manufacturing coupon.
• Boost Kid Nutrition 6 pack chocolate milk is normally $9.79 I paid $4.79! I had a $3.00 Target coupon and a $2.00 manufacturing coupon. I almost did not get it because that is still a lot to pay out of pocket but since it has immunity boosters in it and my child LOVES some chocolate milk I decided it really was just .79 a drink so that was not to bad.
• Post It Notes are normally $2.59. I paid $.59! I had a $1.00 off Target coupon and a $1.00 of manufacturing coupon.
• The Aqua-Fresh Toothpaste came from WalGreens not Target. It is normally $2.19. I paid .24 cents! WalGreens has in store coupon making it .99 cents and then I had a manufactoring coupon for an additonal .75 cents off!

The simple breakdown is I paid around $9.00 for everything in the picture! In my opinion it was well worth my time! I am excited about continuing to learn how to navigate this coupon world and everyday becoming a better steward of God has entrusted my family with.

Bear Hunt

From the mouth of a 3 year old

Here are just a few of the conversations I have had with Emma Kate over the last 24 hours.

Emma: Mommy go do your Bible Study and I will go do mine.
Me: Emma you can not read so you need mommy to help you do your Bible Study.
Emma: Mommy I know how to talk to God. I do not need your help. I am just going to tell Him something I already know about him like you know how he made everything. Then I am going to sing. I do not need your help. Now you go talk to God and leave me alone!


Emma: Mommy I dropped my princess shoes and want to be a princess so can you get them for me?
Me: I will get your shoes for you baby but guess what? Did you know you are princess because you have a kind heart not just because you have princess shoes.
Emma: I know that mommy but the princess shoes help too!

Emma has to take 100 things with her when we go somewhere. Her stash normally includes 3 purses and a wallet and then several loose things in her hands. Today when were leaving to go to Starbucks she had her cell phone, a calculator, and a bracelet. I told her that she could only take 2 things so she needed to decide what would stay here. She then proceeded to put her bracelet on her wrist and said "Now I only have 2 things in my hand mommy but I get to take all 3 with me."

Walking thru the Word...Catching Up

I have decided it is WAY TO HARD to try to get all my Bible Study in for the day AND write about all of it on the blog! So moving forward I am just going to hit the highlights of what I learned/thought was interesting. I have read Gen. 27-35, Psalms 11-15, Matt. 5:13-6:24, and Acts 7-8

The Gen. section is all about Jacob, who happens to be one of my favorite characters in the OT. I love him because he wrestled with God and taught me it was ok to do the same! I love the fact that I can ask God anything I want and He is big enough to handle it. It has given me great freedom in my walk with Him once I understood it is ok to ask Him "why". He can handle me telling Him that I don't understand and quiet frankly do not like His plan! God does not have an ego problem and is not turned off by our questions to Him or about Him.

Psalms 11:7 "For the Lord is righteous, He loves justice; upright men will see His face."
I loved how this verse went along with the whole theme of wrestling with God. Regardless of what are questions are to God, we ALWAYS have to go back to His righteousness. When I am in the middle of a wrestling match I think of and say aloud to God Dan. 9:14 "The Lord did not hesitate to bring the disaster upon us, for the Lord our God is righteous in everything He does." Even when I don't understand or even agree I can rest in the fact that indeed my God is righteous in EVERYTHING He does.

Matt. 5:13-6:24: In these verses God calls me to be salt and light. The thing about salt and light is they will ALWAYS change their surroundings. He then really steps on my toes and calls me to love my enemies. Can I just tell you that is a TOUGH TOUGH thing to do! He even goes as far to say that "even pagans love those who love them". I have by no means got the whole "love your enemies" thing down. But I do know the more I pray for my enemies the more I start to see them thru the lenses of Christ love and not my hurt.

Acts 7 & 8: Acts 7 gives us a great overview of the Old Testament. Acts 8 is just crazy to me. v. 39 "When they came up out of the water, the spirit of the Lord suddenly took Philip away and the eunuch did not see him again but went on his way rejoicing." WHAT??? Phillip just disappeared...and then later it says in v. 40 "Phillip however appeared at Azotus and traveled about , preaching the gospel in the towns until he reached Caesarea." So then scripture just causally tells us that Phillip reappeared at so and so and went on with his life! That is some crazy stuff.

Beauty Shop

One of Emma's new loves is to play "beauty shop". Emma becomes "the lady" and you have to call to make an appointment because she is so busy. After you view the pictures you will understand why people stand in line a long time to get their hair done by her! Our good friends Ms. Sandy and Kae Kae came for a visit earlier this week and both got their hair done by "the lady" You know someone has to love your child very much to allow the torture they both went through!

Thanks for coming to visit Ms. Sandy and Kae Kae. We love you and are so thankful for your friendship!

Small Enough

I came across this song on a blog that I read frequently and LOVE IT! I am not a big fan of the music that goes with it but thought the words were SOLID. I am so very thankful that we serve a God who is small enough to bottle up my tears and big enough to part the red sea!


Smal Enough
By Nicole Nordeman

Oh, great God, be small enough to hear me now
There were times when I was crying from the dark of Daniel's den
And I have asked you once or twice if you would part the sea again
But tonight I do not need a fiery pillar in the sky
Just wanna know you're gonna hold me if I start to cry

Oh, great God, be small enough to hear me now
Oh, great God, be close enough to feel you now
There have been moments when I could not face Goliath on my own
And how could I forget we've marched around our share of Jerichos
But I will not be setting out a fleece for you tonight
Just wanna know that everything will be alright

Oh great God, be close enough to feel you now
All praise and all honor be to the God of ancient mysteries
Whose every sign and wonder turn the pages of our history
But tonight my heart is heavy and I cannot keep from whispering this prayer

"Are you there?"

And I know you could leave writing on the wall that's just for me
Or send wisdom while I'm sleeping, like in Solomon's sweet dreams
But I don't need the strength of Samson or a chariot in the end
Just want to know that you still know how many hairs are on my head

Oh great God, be small enough to hear me now

Walking thru the Word Days 8-10

I have done relatively well keeping up with what I am supposed to be reading but not so well on putting it on the blog!

Gen. 21-26, Ps. 8-10, Matt. 4-5:12, Acts 5-6

Gen. 21: I love v. 1 and 2 "Now the Lord was gracious to Sarah as he had said and the Lord did for Sarah what he had promised. Sarah became pregnant and bore a son to Abraham in his old age at the very time God had promised him." I am so very thankful that God is gracious....gracious even after we laugh when he reveals His plan to us! The thing that really struck out to me in those verses was a little phrase found in v. 2..."at the very time God promised". God is going to do what He has promised. Not only that He is going to do it at the very time he promised it....not before or after but the very time He promised. The problem is God's timing is not my timing and I would much rather Him fulfil a promise sooner then later! However, I am thankful that His ways are not my ways and His thoughts are not my thoughts. His timing is perfect. He is gracious and He is going to do what He said He will do!

A new name is also revealed of God in this chapter...El Olam....The Eternal God.

Gen. 22: Can you imagine how Isaac must have felt? Do you think he walked away from the being strapped down on an alter with his dad holding a knife over his body with the same lessons that Abraham did? I wander if he was a little, ok... a lot mad that his dad would do such a thing. Scripture does not us anything about Isaac's response to the whole scene. I wander want Sarah's response was when they came back to camp and she heard the story?

Another name for God that is in the chapter is Jehovah Jireh...The Lord will Provide.

Gen. 23: Death of Sarah. She is buried in Cannon which is important later.

Gen. 24: v. 24 God answers Abraham's servant prayer "Before he had finished praying" Don't you love those answers that come without waiting!
v. 27 Praise be to the Lord, the God of my master Abraham who has not abandoned his kindness and faithfulness to my master..." Yes Lord, prasie Your holy name that I can say you have not abandoned Your kindness or faithfulness to me either! I don't understand Your kindness or Your faithfulness to me but I am so thankful it.

Gen. 25: Death of Abraham. v.21 is a beautiful picture of a husband's headship and love over his wife "Isaac prayed to the Lord on behalf of his wife, because she was barren. The Lord answered his prayer." Husbands have the potential to bring so much good to their wife when praying for them and over them. Later in Eph 5:26 it talks about husbands making their wives holy by cleansing her by the washing with water through the word.
Women, are you allowing your husband to take his rightful place of authority over you? Men, are you taking advantage of the privilege you have to serve your wife by praying for her and leading her in the Word?

Isaac and Rebecka had been married 20 years when Jacob and Esau were born. We learn Esau is a skilled hunter and Isaac's favorite child. Jacob is quiet and stays around the house. Rebecka favors him.

Gen. 26: Isaac repeats the sins of his father and lies about his relationship with Rebecka and says she is his sister. v. 11 is another disturbing verse in scripture.

Psalms 8: 3-4 " When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him.?"

Psalms 9:10 "Those who know your name will trust in you, for you Lord have never forsaken those who seek you."

Psalms 10:14 &17: "But You O God, do see trouble and grief; you consider it to take it in hand. The victim commits himself to you, you are the helper of the fatherless."(v.14) "You hear O Lord the desire of the afflicted; you encourage them, and you listen to their cry." (v.17)

Matt. 4: Jesus is tempted. He begins to preach and call his first disciples.

Matt. 51-11:I love the promise found in verse 6 "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled." There is not one second my study of God's Word that is wasted! He promises us that if we run after Him and study His Word.....He will fill us!

Day 6 and 7 of Walking Thru the Word

So this one blog post will have 2 days worth of my time in the Word. I have kept up with doing it daily but have had a hard time time finding time to read AND post!
The segments for the last 2 days are Gen. 15-20, Psalms 6-7, Matt. 3:13-4:11, and Acts 4.

Gen. 15: If you have done any type of Precept Study then you know that any 1st mention is important. In. Gen. 15th we come across 2 first mentions. v.6 is the first time the word believe is mentioned and also the first time that "cutting covenant" is seen.

Gen. 16: I LOVE v. 7 "the angel of the Lord found Hagar." I am so very thankful that we serve a God who is in the business of finding us in our desert places. I also love the 2 questions that she is asked: "Where have you come from and where are you going?" I think it is a great thing for us to ponder. This chapter also holds my favorite name of God, El Roi, The God who sees me. Only God alone knows how many times I have thanked Him that HE indeed is the One who sees me.

Gen. 17th: We learn the sign of the covenant is circumcision. My take away from this chapter comes in v. 23 "On that very day".....Abram had immediate obedience. He did not wait he simply heard from God and then obeyed! May I have the kind of faith that displays immediate obedience....even if it involves pain!

Gen. 18th: I would love to know the time lapse between chapter 17 and 18. If you know please leave a comment or your thoughts. The exchange between God and Sarah in v. 15 cracks me up!!

Gen. 19th: This is a very disturbing chapter all around. When I studied The Patriarchs by Beth Moore I remember this being a VERY somber week. I will say though that I am thankful that the Word of God does not leave out hard stuff.

Gen. 20th: Abraham does it again and says that Sarah is his sister (which is a half truth) but God protects her and no harm is done to her.

Psalms 6: v. 4 "Turn, O Lord, and deliver me; save me because of your unfailing love."

Psalms 7: v.17 "I will give thanks to the Lord because of his righteousness and will sing praise to the name of the Lord Most High.

Matt. 3:13-17: Baptism of Jesus

Matt. 4:1-11: Temptation of Jesus

Acts 4: I love the fact that God uses "unschooled ordinary men" v.13 to do His work! The apostles prayed for boldness to speak the truth. I love the community of the first church.

I would love to hear your thoughts on any of these verses or on what God has been teaching you over the last few days!

Walking Thru the Word Day 5

Today's segments were Gen. 12-14, Psalms 5, Matt. 3:1-12 and Acts. 3

Today in the Gen. segments there was a lot of talk about "pitching your tent". If you have not seen the YouTube video of the poor pastor who mixed up his words when he was preaching about "pitching your tent" you so need to find it! If you have already seen it then get your giggles out now and then read on!!

Gen. 12: v8 "From there he went on toward the hills east of Bethel and pitched his tent with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. There he built an alter to the Lord and called on the name of the Lord." When Abram was at a crossroad and had to go east or west (good decision or bad decision) he pitched his tent and called on the name of the Lord. Oh how I long to be still and learn to just wait and call on the name of the Lord when I do not know what direction I should go. I am a doer so I tend to run all over the place trying to figure out a solution instead of just being still. A little over a year ago I was in a situation where I had a decision to make. Was I going to go east or west? I am so very thankful that God brought this verse to my attention exactly 2 months before I even knew I would be going somewhere! Another verse that was and still is a great reminder to me is Is. 30:21 " Whether you turn to the right or to the left your ears will hear a voice behind you saying This the way-walk in it."

Gen. 13 and 14: v.12 Abram lived in the land of Canaan while Lot lived among the cities of the plain and pitched his tens near Sodom. There is one little word in that verse that is a great warning for us. Isn't Lot so much like us. He did not (as of v.12) actually go live in Sodom just near it. He was not really going all in, he just wanted to be around it. He liked flirting with sin/danger. Just like us, the whole near thing wasn't enough and in Gen. 14:12 we find out that indeed Lot has moved in to Sodom. One of the things that is most frustrating to me is that Satan really has not changed his ways or his methods to tempt us and the sad thing is he does not have too! We still want to flirt with sin and think when we get to deep we will stop. I do not know who said it but I love the quote " Sin will keep us longer then we ever intended to stay and cost us more then we ever intended to pay." I do not want my first response to be "Where is the line?" I want my first response to be "Where is Christ?"

v.18 Melchizedek.....I think Melchizedek is just going to be one of those people that I will not ever fully be able to wrap my head around this side of heaven! I have spent months studying about him and still really do not know anymore then when I started! If I ever complete Percepts Hebrews I hope to get a little glimpse but he is most definitely on my list to ask God about!

Psalms 5 v3 " In the morning O Lord, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my request before you and wait in expectation." I posted this on facebook earlier today and will include it here. I am very good at the laying my request out before him part but not so much the waiting in expectation. I long to have an expectant heart. I 100% believe that God can do anything I ask but my attitude while I am waiting does not match my belief. Instead of being anxious for an answer I long to be able to wait expectantly. My Lord does hear and He will answer. The difference is not the outcome but my heart during the process.

Matt. 3:1-12 The verse that really sticks out to me is verse 8 "Produce fruit in keeping with repentance." I also want to look into a little more exactly what a "winnowing fork" is. I know it has something to do with separating wheat but I want to dig a little more.

Acts 3 Peter and John heal the beggar at The Gate of Beautiful. I love verse 12 when Peter says "Men of Israel, why does this surprise you?" Don't you think God wants to say that to us today?! I know that He wants to shake me sometimes and say "Lori why does it surprise you that I came through on your behalf? I am who I say I am. I can do what I say I can do. You are who I say you are. The Word of God is alive and active in you. God holds the entire universe together by His powerful Word (Heb. 1:3) yet we do not think He can handle whatever it is that is currently rocking our world. When we hear about miracles today....are we surprised or do we say "well of course that happened because look at our God!"

Just take an umbrella!

I try to read a Bible story to Emma Kate every day. I tell her that I am doing my quiet time and when I am done we will do hers! Today her story was on The Flood. I was a little worried because I did not want to her to think that everytime it rains it means she is going to die! When it started talking about how Noah and all the animals had to get in the ark and everyone and everything not in the ark would die.....I started getting a little worried and wandered how I was going to explain this one. Well my child, in true Emma Kate form, looked at me and said,

"Mommy, it is ok I will not die when it rains because I have an umbrella!"

So there you have it.....take an umbrella when it rains or you will die :)

I would love to hear your ideas on how you teach your little ones about Jesus. What do you do with the hard stories? I never never want to water down the truth of God's Word but I want to be able to teach it in such a way her 3 year old little mind can understand. How do you do that yet stay true to what it says....like not leaving out the oh by the way everyone DIES that is not in the ark!

We always pray when it is over and today I thanked God that He still keeps his promises and for the beauty of the rainbow, and then prayed for Jeff since it is like 2 degrees outside! When it was her turn she prayed, "Jesus, thank you for my umbrella, and that I got to go to church on Sunday, and please make it warm for daddy so he has a good day. Oh wait....I want it to snow so don't make it warm because I really like snow but I want daddy to have a good day...oh gracious I don't know what to pray so AMEN!"

Day 4 of Walking Thru the Word

Today's segments were Gen. 9-11, Psalms 4, Matt. 2:13-23, and Acts 2:22-47

Gen. 9: Noahic Covenant
Gen. 10: Noah's line
Gen. 11: v.5 "But the Lord came down" I love the imagery of that! I wander if they could hear that what did it sound like? What will it sound like when the Lord comes in all of His glory to get us? Why did He come down? Because back in 9:1 God told them to "Be fruitful, increase in number, and fill the earth." They decided they liked all being together so God came down to do what He had already told them to do......SCATTER.

Ps. 4: v.8 "I will lay down and sleep in peace, for you alone O Lord make me dwell in safety."

Matt. 2:13-23: Two different prophesy are fulfilled in this section....the first was that Christ would be called out of Egypt (Hos. 11:1) and the 2nd is "He will be called a Nazarene."

Acts. 2:22-47: v.23 "Jesus was handed over by God's set purpose and foreknowledge...."
That is a big verse to mull over!
v.36 "Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified both Lord and Christ." Praise you Lord that you indeed are BOTH Lord and Christ!

Day 3 of Walking Thru the Word

Today's segments were from Gen. 5-8, Psalms 3, Matt. 2:1-12 and Acts 2:1-21

I am down to the wire today with only 2 hours left but I guess better late then never!

Gen. 5: Gives us the line of Adam. I particularly like v.22 because it talks about Enoch "walking with God" The only other person that I know of that is said to "walked with God" was Noah in Gen. 6:9. When it refers to the later Patriarchs it says they "walked before" God but not with. I find that to be very interested and one day want to look into that some more!

Gen. 6: God tells Noah about the flood and in v.18 says He will establish a convent with Him.

Gen. 7: v2 "Take with you seven kind of every clean animal, a male and its mate, and two of every unclean animal, a male and its mate." This is the first time that I have ever realized that he took more then 2 of some of the animals! Am I the only one who has missed this???!!!

Gen. 8: v.1 "But God remembered Noah......" Do you think that Noah thought God had forgotten all about him? I do. I have been in situations where I have felt like I was obedient but the flood waters kept coming and they did not seem to be receding. I have asked...."How long God until you come through on my behalf? How long will I feel so rocked by the waves? I have asked do you remember me Lord? I am thankful that just like Noah....God started the process of showing me the dry ground and reminding me of His covenant with me. How fitting that the next place we go is.....

Psalms 3 v.3-4 "But you are a shield around me, O Lord; you bestow glory on me and lift up my head. To the Lord I cry aloud, and He answers me from his holy hill."

Matt.2:1-12: This section is where the Magi come and present Jesus gifts and then being told in a dream do not return to Herod but go a different a route. I may be taking some liberates here but when I read this I thought how true that is today.....When we have a TRUE encounter with Christ we don't go back to what we know or what we intended. We are CHANGED! What else is there to do other then lay gifts at His feet and turn aways from what we know?

Acts. 2:1-21: Pentecost

Day 2 of Reading Thru the Word

Today's segments were Gen. 3-4, Psalms 2, Matt. 1:18-25, Acts. 1:12-26

Gen. 3:3 Satan led Eve to be careless with God's Word and she said that Christ said something He did not say. He did not say they could not look at it just that they could not eat it! This one verse really motivates me to be a true studier of God's Word so I can rightly divide the truth of God. It is one of the reasons that I am a strong believer in corporate bible study. If you do not study the word of God and are just relying on what other people tell you His Word says how can you ever rightly divide the truth? God desires to speak personally to you. Are you letting Him?

Gen. 4:7 "If you do what is right will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right sin is crouching at your door, it desires to have you but you must master it." This is a great reminder to me that sin is knocking at my door. There is an enemy and he will do WHATEVER it takes to distract me from God's purpose for me. I can not be idle in my attack. I have to live on purpose and be on guard. The only way I can master sin is through the Holy Spirit that lives inside of me. I must continue to study God's Word so that I will know what His will His for me His good and perfect pleasing will. (Romans 12:2)

Psalms 2 Great reminder that God has complete control over the "kings" we have here. It reminded me of the verse in Daniel that speaks about how God sets up kings and deposes them. He changes times and seasons; he sets up kings and deposes them. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning. (Dan. 2:21)

Matt. 1:18-25 Birth of Jesus Immanuel CHRIST WITH US! I love thinking about this in conjunction with John 1:14 " The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the One and Only who came from the Father, full of grace and truth."

Acts. 1:12-26: This is where the disciples choose Mathis to replace Judas by casting of lots. It is the last time in NT that casting of lots is mentioned. We never hear anything else about Mathis that I know of in scripture but scholars think he took the gospel to Ethiopia.

Day 1 of Reading Thru the Word

My segments today were Gen. 1&2, Psalms 1, Matt. 1:1-17, and Acts 1:1-11

Gen. 1 Creator God
Gen 2:7 "The Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being." I love the phrase "breathed into his nostrils the breath of life." God is the life giver and has breathed life into me on more the one occasion.

Psalms 1:2-3 Is one of my favorite verses. It reminds me that when I delight in the Lord and meditate on his Word "I will be like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever I do will prosper." I long to be so planted in the Word of God that I can not be moved by circumstances.

Matt. 1:1-17 Genealogy of Jesus

Acts 1:1-11 Jesus ascended into heaven and told his disciples to wait on the Holy Spirit.

I am also going thru a prayer journey called Whispers of Hope by Beth Moore. I am on day 24. My reading for that was in Exodus 16. I have had a love/hate relationship with the book of Exodus over the last 2 years. I have followed closely the wilderness journey of the Israelites and have many posts below this one talking about that journey. My favorite things she said in today's segment are "We are far less likely to be obedient when we are not in need." I am very sad to say that I have seen that to be so true in my own life. The times that I have sought God with my every breath were the times that I needed Him more then that breath! It is so easy for me to overlook my time with Him when all is well in my world.

She later goes on to say that "God is so faithful. So daily." I love that! The dailyness of our God. He did not just come once and die and for our sins and now is out of the picture.
He is our DAILY God.

Happy New Year

So I am really really bad at keeping up with this blog as noted since I have not posted since July. Some of the reason is due to privacy issues but most of it has to do with documenting life other places! However, I am going to try to jump back on the bandwagon! We have had a VERY laid back last 2 days. Football has been on our TV constantly and I have only left the house once in 48 hours! Today I even took a 3 hour nap....it was pure bliss!

I have created my goals for 2010 and cleaned the house but other then that I have had a very unproductive 2 days. Here are my goals in no particular order.

1. Loose 20 pounds with 10 of those pounds gone by May for our beach trip.
2. Clean my house once a week.
3. Be a better steward of everything God has given me (family, money, body, etc.)
4. Read thru the Bible in a year. To do this I am following a plan I found on line that has you in 4 different books a day. You read 2 OT and 2 NT excerpts each day.

I think most of this blog will be about my journey through God's Word this year as I document my thoughts each day. It will give me a place to keep up and be accountable even though I don't think anyone reads this except me!