THANKFUL FOR THE HOLY SPIRIT

                                                                                                                                                                                                                  John 16:6-8 New Matthew Bible (NMB)

6 But because I have said such things to you, your hearts are full of sorrow. 7 Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is better for you that I go away. For if I do not go away, the Comforter will not come to you. But if I depart, I will send him to you. 8 And when He is come, he will rebuke the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment"

I am so thankful for the Holy Spirit. I think if I had to chose a "favorite" identity of the trinity, it would be the Holy Spirit.  I think its cool that some versions of the bible refer to Him as "the comforter" because He is God within us: He's the one that calms me when my mind is racing a 3 o'clock  in the morning with a million different thoughts are racing through my mind, or if I've  had issues with Barrett, Dalton or Bobbye Sue. ( with 2 teenager in the house I better have a comforter to keep from killing them.)

I person believe that the Holy spirit is intertwined with our conscious.  I think that If we don't believe God is good, we can't truly know what is wrong.  While unbelievers may know right fro wrong, they may only  know something is wrong because society tells us.  If I don't believe in God and` I kill someone,  I only know that it's wrong because the law dictates it.  However if I'm a believer and murder someone, I'm going to have compassion for the people who I have harm and be remorseful for what I have done.  (I know this is a very broad example.)  

I just think we need the Holy Spirit to help guide us.

THANKFUL FOR JESUS; THE SON

Jesus!  God Son.  The kid that was literally born to save the entire human race from the punishment of  sin that we all deserve.  I often think if I could willing give up one of  my two kids for the good of others?  Gut reaction - no thank you. 

 As I was thinking this, my brother, Luke, immediately came to my mind.  In Mach, he had to do what no parent wants to do.  He had to say good-bye to his son, Zach.   It was very unexpected and tragic.  They really don't know what happen and probably  never will.  Zach was 22, engaged to Haley and had a 9 month daughter named Tess who is the spitting image of him and a son named Bently .  He was a beloved son and grandson.  He was an awesome big brother to Caylie, Nathan and Presley, teased by his many aunts and uncles (mainly his UNCLES), and adored by a shrew of cousins.  (In case you didn't know, we are a BIG family!)    In the midst of their heartache,  the family choose to let Zach be a organ donor.  I think that he helped six or more individuals through  the donation of his organs
.
     Jesus is perhaps greatest organ donor off all, becaussHe shed His blood so that we can have life eternally.  You can only receive the transplant if you put you trus in Him.  

THANKFUL DAY 2 - GOD MY FATHER

Today I'm thankful for God,my heavenly Father.  I find it amazing that God reaches out to His people as a Father.  This intrigues me for many reasons.  First He is the creator.  He spoke everything into existence out of nothing ~  That also makes the world's first and greatest magician. Nothing we can ever create can ever even compare to the vast wonders of God's creations.  The farther is also the head and the bedrock of the family.  (Side NOTE - I am in no way trying to say mothers aren't as important as men or that they can't be the head of their family, because they can.  However, I do believe that the father is biblically  suppose to be the head of the father.)   The father is to lead the family and to have the final authority.  He carries the bulk of the responsibility of the family.  He can be stern and loving at the same time; knowing that true discipline is true love.  My first true image was my earthly father.  My Daddy was 6'7, strong, hard working and loving; but you knew if he took his belt off that you needed to run for the hills because you were in for it.  But the strange was, when all the dust settled, I could go back and talk to my Daddy and still receive that unconditional from Him because I was his daughter.  I can mess time and time keep running back to God because I know that I am His daughter and I'm loved by Him.

THANKFUL DAY 1 - FREEDOM OF RELIGION

 I'm sit sting here thinking about what to say.  There was a shooting at a church in a small Texas town killing  27 people.   The deadliest mass church shooting in American history.  This come on the heals of a attack in New York.  A month ago we were mourning Las Vegas were a man opened fire at an outdoor concert.  2 months ago a man opened fire on a church about 20 minutes from where we live. 

What's happened to our country where  we're not even safe  in our churches;  the places where many us feel the safest. The first amendment  assures us of the freedom of religion; the right to assembly peacefully.  Why does it seam like the  people  who are so anxious to express their freedom of speech are the ones that do it at the expense of steeling it from others?      

We go to a beautiful country church that just turned 115 years hold.  Its the church Bryan grew up in; the church our kids have grown up in.  It is our home.  I'm  so thankful for the first adornment and what it stands for.  We may all wake up next Sunday morning and no church doors will  be opened.  We shouldn't fear this because the true church is not a physical building, but the body of  fellow believers.  We, as Christian, are called to be a  holy  people; set apart to love our enemies as we love our-self; to turn the other cheek. While we should definitely not condone what other people do or say, we  must not live our lives in fear.  The bible tells us that we will go through  trails and tuber lance, and its during these times that our faith truly grow.

WHY I LOVE PSALM 139

Some of my favorite verses in the bible; I dare to say it's even my life verses is Psalm 139:  7-14

Psalm 139:7-14English Standard Version (ESV)

7 

Where shall I go from your Spirit?

    Or where shall I flee from your presence?

8 

If I ascend to heaven, you are there!

    If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!

9 

If I take the wings of the morning

    and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,

10 

even there your hand shall lead me,

    and your right hand shall hold me.

11 

If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me,

    and the light about me be night,”

12 

even the darkness is not dark to you;

    the night is bright as the day,r

    for darkness is as lie ght with you.

13 

For you formed my inward parts;

    you knitted me together in my mother's womb.

14 

I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.[a]

Wonderful are your works;

    my soul knows it very well. 

These are the types of verses that lead to jaw dropping moments.  It tells us that we cannot hide from God and He will always guide us,  Then, as if that wasn't great enough, He created me!  He didn't mold me out of clay and breathe breath into my nostrils, a miracle in itself.  But He knitted me together in my mother's womb.

I'm ashamed to say that I didn't always feel special.  As a child with a physical disability I fell more outcast than chosen.  There was nothing "special" about me.  I had nothing to offer the world.  I could not see past the selfishness of my heart.  I even blamed my parents, especially my mama for causing me to be disabled.  I didn't deserve to be disabled.  Why me?

Then, something amazing happened...I became pregnant!

It went against all odds; against what doctors said couldn't happen.  It went against what people said should happen.  God had answered my prayers.  I was going to have a baby.  On of the coolest things I've seen is when I was taking a bath one night the baby kicked me and I was able to see  Dalton's little foot.  It suddenly hit me...I had a ling person inside of me.  God has chosen Bryan and I to create this beautiful little boy who I loved and I didn't even know him yet

There's nothing like watching a child grow up, especially if the have one or more siblings,  It's amazing how kids that came from the same parent can be so different.  Only God  can do that.

Psalm 139:7-14 reminds me that I was created for a reason. God knew I would be disabled and have struggles, but God knew I'd meet the love of my life at a MTSU philosophy class that neither of us needed to take.  He knew that we would have these two wonderful kids who have grown up with the unique advantage of having a disabled mama.  God knew that I'd would fall in love with Him because I would be sent to a Christian school for disabled children.

HE KNEW BECAUSE HIS KNITTED ME TOGETHER IN MY MOTHER'S WOMB. 

CLUES TO THE PUZZLE

Today I release myself to You.  You know me inside and out, hast as Psalm 139 says.  I can't remember a time when I didn't love You or when I didn't feel loved by You.  I don't deserve Your love;  I can't earn it.  But You gave me the gift of You Son wrapped in a crimson red bow.  I'll never know what you see in me, but I'm so thankful that you see me through Christ's blood and not through my own merit.  Only you can see deep into my soul and still love me.  You alone know all my secrets, thoughts and feelings; even better than I do.  Nothing catches you of guard. There's no where I can go where You can't see me and nothing I can say  that you can't hear because You're always within ear shot.  So much of my life is a mystery to me, but You O God, hold all the clues and  reveal  one by one; when you know I can handle them.  Some how the clues complete me and fit snugly into this puzzle I call life;  a puzzle that only You can see for now.  I won't see it completed until You show me my life in review when I meet You face to face.

                                                 

SEEKING GOD AS A PRECIOUS JEWEL

I've been listening to this song lately.   This was a theme song one year at the women's retreat that my friend, Becki, and I attend every year. I'm sitting here wondering do I truly seek Jesus as the precious jewel He is or do I treat Him like and as a genie` in a lantern that I put on the back burner of my heart until I need him again?  Honestly, I probably do a little of both.  There are times when I'm so in tune with God that I get a glimpse of what Heaven may be like.  Then there are times when I feel so disconnected from God that He seems like a total stranger to me.  I wish I could say I got to busy or something r more important came up.  I can't.  it's a matter of choosing what I want to do.  It's a heart issue.  Am I going to choose to study and prayer of am I going to choose to watch one more episode of that TV show that I shouldn't be watching?  Uhm... why are that we don't (or me maybe even want) wrapped  in such beautiful and a luring paper?  The easy answer is to say the DEVIL.  O God, I wanted to study but Satan made me do it.  God must get so sick of us saying that.  We can be tempted by Satan, but we have to take responsibility of responding to that temptation.  (Remember His servant Job???)  
In Romans 7:15 Paul say "I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but that I hate I do."  I think through serious prayer and dedication to change.`  I've struggling with things for years, decades even, that I need to change.  It's easy for me to play the victim and say "That's just who I am.  But that's not who God created me to be.  I was created to seek, and find, Jesus as the precious jewel that He is.  He me; not some of me or my leftovers.   He wants ALL of me.  Not because He's a selfish control freak.  Simply because He LOVES me.