WHAM!!!

Funny...

Just when I walk into Barnes and Nobles, see a book on a shelf, and think, "I don't need that...I have it covered..."

I open it up and WHAM!!! Gotta buy it.

That is what happened today. I bought the book Breaking Free by Beth Moore. It is funny because I have heard about how wonderful it is and I am a HUGE fan of Beth, but I kept thinking, I have freedom in Christ, I should be good.

Well, I opened it up I read several things but understand the mindset I was reading from. I have been struggling a LOT these past few weeks with temptations and a conflict that I don't want to describe in detail yet. I have been allowing myself to be stifled and to be held "captive."

Here is what I read...

"Come to a place of breaking free. The place where we seek His glory and forget our own. The place where satisfaction comes from the only true satisfier of our souls. The place where we experience His peace no matter what the world may throw our way. And the place where His presence is our constant desire and our daily joy."

She goes on to say, "A Christian is held captive by anything that hinders the abundant and effective Spirit filled life God planned for him or her."

Boy oh boy oh boy...needless to say I walked out of Barnes and Nobles with this book and as much as I hate to admit it...a Godiva chocolate bar...it was tormenting me from the impulse buy section next to the register...the gold shiny paper promised silky smooth milk chocolate underneath...

So...I got back...called a friend in Mexico...talked a little bit...ok a LOT about myself and what I have been going through and then told her about what I saw in the book...

I say all of this to conclude with this...

My life is going somewhere that I didn't expect. I am not sure what steps it will take me to get there...but somehow I know this book and God and His book will help me through it. Along with the support and love of those around me.

In the midst of the trials I have faced, I know one thing for sure...God is who He says He is...and I am who He says I am...I can do all things through Christ... and God's Word is alive and active...and I believe God...OK...so that was 5 things...even better!

New Look

Let me know what you think about the new look of my blog! I took the pic at the top...after a particularly meaningful study in the hall of faith...The line I was particularly touched by was, "by faith the prostitute Rahab..." It isn't very often that faith and prostitute go together...LOVE IT! Anyhow, there may be more on that later...

Grace

For now all I can say is I am so glad that grace exists...

I am so unworthy to receive God's grace, yet He extends it to me each time I fail. He accepts me back with arms wide open!

I am praying that He will continue to provide me with the strength I need in the days to come!

The adjustment up north has been a hard one...but God is and always will be the same. He is my comfort, my safety, my refuge, and my home!

"Forget the former things;
do not dwell on the past.

See, I am doing a new thing!
Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the desert
and streams in the wasteland."

Isaiah 43:18-19

Here are a few pics from today!

Karen and I stopped to smell the roses during our break!

Karen and 2 new friends!!!

Two of my favorite people!

Becky and her work buddy! LOVE Beckster!

BEFORE the women invaded!

They're here!!!

My 7th grade history teacher (left) and her sis!

Miss Shirley...taught me in Whirly Birds when I was like 4 or 5... LOVE HER!!!

Part of the 300,000 that watched the satellite simulcast today!

Being fetched

All I can say that I know is true is the following...

I am imperfect....VERY imperfect...

I am sorry.

And God can put it back together if I let Him...

I love what I just read by Beth Moore... "Maybe that's what I love best of all about God. We've never gone so far that we can't be fetched."

I am praying that I can still be fetched...and that I would be fetched soon!

Here are a couple of fun pics I haven't posted yet...

SPRING!!!

So...I got a new job and have been busier than ever...and God still keeps blessing me with opportunities to take pictures! My favorite thing is capturing the precious moments that people will hold dear for years to come...here are a few from this past weekend!

Praise the Lord for beautiful weather, flowers, sunshine, babies, and families!!!

Only in Belmont County...

So...The past couple of days I have just been appreciating laughter...sometimes I forget how good it feels to laugh...

So, today I went to Starbucks. I saw my friend Kera walking out to a car and two ladies open the back up. I walked over to say hello and see how she is and low and behold...this is what I saw...



It just made me laugh...

In some places Starbucks customers are too refined for such things...I love that the ladies that brought this goat were laughing with me as I asked them if I could get my camera because where I am from...you would not see anything like it!