Another year older

Today is my birthday.

I am getting closer and closer to another decade. But why do you always feel 17 inside, 'cause the outside sure does not.

I have been trying to figure out what to write. It is much easier to write about my children or my husband on their birthdays.

Today is the day that the Lord chose for me to be born. There is some significance in that. He is the One that numbers our days, so I am sure He had a reason for it.

I was born almost two months early. My mother tells the story of how the doctor did not tell her until the next day that he was surprised that I lived through the night. The other family story is that I was two years old until I was "paid off", from all of the medical bills.

I guess it is a day to reflect on my life and what God has done. He continues to amaze me, that His lovingkindness towards me continually renews. I love Him more and more, with each year...each day...each hour that passes. I guess that is the lesson from my birthday.........Great is His Faithfulness!!

"For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother's womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
Your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place.
When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,
your eyes saw my unformed body.
All the days ordained for me
were written in your book before one of them came to be.
How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!
Were I to count them,
they would outnumber the grains of sand.
Search me, O God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
See if there is any offensive way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting."
Psalm 139:13-18, 23-24

You would think I would learn.......

This is a spill my guts post, just because I need to.

Last week, my family went to the Creation Museum. It was a wonderful trip and I will post about it later in the week, along with pictures. I was immersed in the world of Genesis, a book I love. We learned of Adam and Eve, Noah, Babel, Abraham and lots of wonderful evidence for our Creator. Learning about the faithful.

Yesterday, my youngest son was sick and we were not able to go to church. I spent the day in my Bible and watching preaching on TV.....good preachers, not bad ones.

I watched a well known preacher. He was preaching on the parable of the sower and the seed. I love that parable, there is much to learn. He had a point that struck me about the sustaining power of God's Word and having the faith to believe it.

After he was through, I watched another church and their annual Night to Honor Israel. The guest speaker did a wonderful presentation of the idea of God blessing those who bless Israel. This was the promise God gave Abraham when his faith was counted unto righteousness.

After that was through, I watched an apologetics show on the parables of Jesus. Jesus was trying to show the "religious" people they had it wrong about works. We still do it today, by forgetting the grace we are saved by, but wanting others to receive judgment.

After that, I found a movie about Joseph that was coming on. It was really good. They ordered a few things wrong, but all the parts of the story were there. It was told in flashback, as Joseph telling Potiphar his story. I liked it, and cried when Joseph forgives his brothers....like I didn't know it was coming!

Today, my oldest son and I were studying Mesopotamia and the call of Abram. We talked of how Abram had faith to believe God and obey.

So....where am I going with all this. I have been surrounded with Scripture, even on the computer...I am looking for verses to put on my walls. But, am I believing them?

You would think I would learn, that this is the perfect recipe for a stumble or a pitfall. It is always the same one, for me it is one thing, and for you it is probably something else, but it works the same way. The ideas come in my mind, the whispers of insecurity, and the feelings start. I see it for what it is now, not like times in the past. It does not mean that the feelings that come up don't hurt. I just know to go to God with them and cry to Him to help me...He can be trusted, my feelings can't.

Tonight, I watched The Way of the Master on TV. Kirk Cameron and Ray Comfort did a whole show on how our senses can not be trusted. Only the infallible Word of God can be trusted.

This time, I don't want to stumble. I want to believe. I choose to believe.

"I life up my eyes to the hills-where does my help come from?
My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth.

He will not let your foot slip-he who watches over you will not slumber;
indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.

The LORD watches over you- the LORD is your shade at your right hand;
the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night.

The LORD will keep you from all harm-he will watch over your life;
the LORD will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore."

Psalm 121

I stole this!

I got this idea from my friends Faith and Jennifer. Check out their blogs....they are listed on the right.

35 Odd Things About Me

1. Do you like blue cheese salad dressing? yes

2. Do you own a gun? no, but dh is police officer so he does

3. What's your favorite drink at Starbucks? Tall Double shot on ice, breve with sugar free vanilla

4. What do you prefer to drink in the morning? coffee

5. Do you do pushups? No.

6. What's your favorite piece of jewelry? The locket my husband gave me for our wedding, it says "Only God could love you more." on the back.

7. Favorite hobby? reading/cooking

8. Do you have A.D.D? No, but my friend says otherwise

9. What's one trait that you hate about yourself? easily distracted (maybe I am ADD)

10. Name 3 thoughts at this exact moment: I'm tired. I have a lot to do. I hope the game is rained out.

11. Name 4 drinks you regularly drink. Coffee, Diet Coke, Unsweet tea, Diet Mt Dew

12. Current worry right now? Election

13. Current hate right now? ???

14. Favorite place to be? with my family

15. Do you like to travel? Yes

16. What color shirt are you wearing? Green

17. Do you like sleeping on satin sheets? No!

18. Can you whistle? No.

19. Favorite color? Green

20. If you could, would you be a pirate? No, that is illegal.

21. What song do you sing in the shower? Hymns

22. Favorite girl's name? Grace

23. Favorite boy's name? Carson

24. What's in your pocket right now? I am in my pajamas....no pockets

25. Favorite bedsheets as a child? Strawberry Shortcake

26. Worst injury? broken ankle, broken leg, torn nerves, broken collarbone...all in a wreck.

27. Do you love where you live? Yes.

28. How many TVs do you have in your house? two

29. Who is your loudest friend? ???

30. How many pets do you have? one dog we claim, two cats that claim our yard.

31. Does someone have a crush on you? It's way past crush...I think he loves me.

32. What is your Favorite Book? Redeeming Love

33. What's your favorite candy? anything chocolate and mint

34. Favorite Sports Team? Bearcats (my son's team)

35. What was the first thing you thought of when you woke up? Morning, already?

What's in a name??? part 2

You know it's coming.....What about the Bible and names? There are a few name changes in there that God makes. He takes a name seriously and changes it in order to change a person inwardly. We will start in Genesis....Abram, probably the most famous renaming. Genesis 17:5 tells us that God changed his name to Abraham--Father of a Multitude or The Father is Exalted. A name to live up to. I am sure that Abraham was a little confused over the years as children did not come. But it was an outward sign of an inward promise. Then, in Genesis 17:15, Sarai gets a name change too. Sarai becomes Sarah, or princess. A name to show the blessings of God that would come to and through her. Then later, in Genesis 32:28, we see Jacob, the deceiver, get a new name after his all night wrestling match. He becomes Israel, for he struggles with God. All of these name changes were showing how God saw these people.

Two name changes in the New Testament have always fascinated me. One is in Acts 13. After the dramatic conversion of Saul on the Damascus Road, he is totally changed. In Acts 13, the local church in Antioch is fasting and praying and the Holy Spirit tells them to "set apart Barnabas and Saul for the work I have called them to." They fasted, prayed and layed hands on them, and sent them off. In the first trip they go on, they encounter a sorcerer. The Holy Spirit fills Saul and rebukes the sorcerer. That is the last time he is called Saul. From then on, he is Paul. Please read this for yourself and see what all this name change is about.

Simon, a friend to Jesus, is given a name change from the moment Jesus meets him. In John 1:41, Jesus calls him Cephas, an Aramaic name corresponding to the Greek Petros, which means "a mass of rock detached from the living rock." We call him Peter. Although Jesus never calls him Peter. I could go on and on with the story of Peter. He was a rash, unreliable, and arrogant man. But Jesus had given him a new name. Peter goes through many thing, and denies Jesus. But Jesus had given him a new name. Peter has an encounter with the resurrected Jesus in John 21:15-19, that changes him inwardly. Could there be something to this new name? Then we see Peter on the day of Pentecost in Acts 2. Please read this sermon. This is Peter living up to the new name. Boldly preaching the gospel and becoming the rock that Jesus told him he would be.

So, what about your name? Is it the one that you know, that your parents gave you? Do you see part of God's plan in how you were named? Or, is it the name that you don't know yet....the one Jesus has given you in Revelation 2:17....that no one else know...that one that you will live up to.

Trying, through Christ, to live up to my name,

Consecrated to God

What's in a name???? part 1

What's in a name, a rose by any other name would smell as sweet....

Uh-oh quoting Shakespeare, what is she up to now!!

Names...we all have them. We were given one or two at birth, added a surname and some of us later added a married name. Then there are the nicknames we get...."Honey, Sweetie, Mommy" or shortened versions of our name. In my home, my youngest son calls my older son "Bubba," that's his brother and that's what he calls him. I like it. It reminds them of the relationship God put them in.

So, what about your name. I have had issue with mine at times. I distictly remember that in fifth grade there were five girls named "Lisa" in my class. So then, I was "Lisa R." When I was a sophomore in high school, we moved and I changed high schools. I seriously thought of going by my middle name. Believe it or not, I was a quiet and sjy girl, did not make friends easily and thought if I changed my name when I changed schools it would help me change. I was so shy that I would not even go ask for ketchup at McDonald's! But, we see I didn't change it. But, God did start changing me. He began to help me open up more. He opened my mouth, and I don't think it has closed much since then.

If you have ever had to name a child, you know it can be hard, especially when you start to think about what a name means. I didn't thnk about that a lot with my boys (sorry to admit). My husband and I did not agree on a lot of names. He likes traditional names, I like different names(throwback to being one of five Lisa's). We got to "L" in the name book before we agreed, and that is how my first son was named. But it is fun to find out what your name means. We don't think about it often in modern times. But maybe we should.

My name means "Consecrated to God". Whoa--a lot to live up to! Promised and set apart for God. That is the name I want to live up to. I still struggle with wanting to be a quiet loner---SHOCKING I KNOW! But, God has placed in me a passion for Him. My friend says that God did not give me this mouth and not want it used for Him. I could talk all day about God, His love, His mercy, His WORD, and the life changing things He has done for me. Normally, when I talk I use my hands...my mother used to say that if you tied my hands behind my back, I couldn't talk. But when I start talking about Him, or His Word, my whole body gets involved. Ask my Bible study gals! I don't understand it...but maybe it is the living up to my name. Set apart for Him....when I let Him takeover, I live up to it.

Tag! I'm it!

I have never been tagged before, so I hope I am doing this right. My friend, Erica, tagged me on her blog at, and here I am.

THE RULES:* Link your tagger and list these rules on your blog.* Share 7 little known facts about yourself on your blog.* Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.* Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

Anyway, here goes...

1. I am scared of frogs...can't stand them...bad childhood memories. This is hilarious to you if you know my bug/reptile/amphibian crazy boys.

2. I desperately wanted to go to Mars Hill College. God had other plans, but I still get a little sad about it. Two of my friends' husbands went there and I like them even more because of it!!!

3. I love history (this is not little known, if you really know me). How God works throughout time is amazing!

4. I like going to the gym. Finding the time can be the trouble.

5. I am an awful athlete. I had really bad asthma as a child. I could never participate in PE class, and never learned the skills.

6. I went to not one, but two Richard Marx concerts in high school. I don't know if I should share that or not!

7. I used to sing all the time in church growing up. I remember doing solos and singing in groups. I had sinus surgery in my early 20's and my voice has never been the same. I still love to sing in the choir, and am shocked when I open my mouth and hear the voice that comes out. I still expect the old one to be there.

Well, that's it. I don't think there are any earth shattering revelations, but I fulfilled the requirements.

I tag:

Carmen
Faith
Jennifer
Ryan

I don't know anybody else with a blog!!!