Compassion.

        I would like to take advantage of this post and encourage you all to check out a few sites that I am positive will inspire you to give give give!

www.bloodwatermission.com

www.worldvision.org

www.compassion.com

www.hearts4heartsgirls.com

www.toms.com

          I am a firm believer in charity, compassion, and using the gifts God has given you in any way you can.  Being a servant of God doesn't require you to move or get your degree in theology in order to serve him. God calls us all to be servants and missionaries regardless of who or how. My husband and I sponsor an 8 year old boy in Swaziland named Landile. I can't begin to express our love for this little boy and his family and how excited we get when his letters and drawings are sent to us. It is truly a blessing to help provide for him in any way.

Deuteronomy 15:11
There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your brothers and toward the poor and needy in your land.

          Take the opportunity to give, donate, serve at your church, or become a sponsor. There are hundreds of sites and organizations that are dedicated to helping in so many ways. Be apart of changing someones life. :)

Ahava.

Ahava- Hebrew for love.
  
                With my one year anniversary on Sunday and Valentines Day coming up I can't help but think of love, in every sense. We tend to use the word unconditional or agape when talking about Jesus. His love has no condition and he loves us with no reservation knowing full well our past, present, and future sin. How blessed are we to be loved unconditionally by the creator. It is not to be taken lightly.

1 John 4:8Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.

                    In every relationship we must challenge ourselves to love others as Christ loves us. "Anyone who does not love does not know God." Short, sweet, and to the point. If you don't love like Jesus you don't know him because HE is love. Pretty heavy isn't it? Deeming a relationship impossible is telling God you are not willing to open your heart to him and let him work. When I think about Jesus being crucified for me it seems a little ridiculous that I would apprehensive to forgive someone. Regardless of the situation we are called to LOVE unconditionally. We are human, we have many flaws, but love is not one of them.

                              

                               

The M word.

Move. Moving .Moved.
      As I was sitting in the passenger seat of my car looking out the window I cried. I thought, here I am moving, again. I started to think about how excited we were to move into our own place and how perfect the timing was. Newly married, new jobs, new apartment...just to move to Illinois 6 months later. Why? What was the point? God don't you see us? Can't you see us struggling? I was angry...so angry. I was envious of the couples that buy new houses together when we had to throw away all of our furniture. It was my breaking point. We had moved away from home, from friends and family only to feel like a failures. How small our understanding is isn't it? If we only knew what was ahead.
     
     
                        Psalm 68:19 says " Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior, who daily bears our burdens.

       God knows your heart and he knew mine that day and everyday. He fully understands what concerns us. God knows what it's like to be troubled. He has complete understanding of what sorrow is like, what burden is. John 11:35 "Jesus wept."  I think we forget and start to pray as if God is this distant being in the sky whom we never hear from. In the midst of all the chaos in my life lately God has spoken his name in a way that shakes me. In moving I needed to trust in him completely, with my whole heart not knowing what was ahead. My mom often says that when God tells you to do something that you are terrified of it is like free falling...It is not knowing at all what is ahead and jumping anyway trusting that Jesus is going to be there to catch you, hold you, and tell you he loves you. We don't know what lies ahead but we trust that God does. Wouldn't you rather have him steering?

New and improved.

Welcome to my new! (old) blog! I have had this account since 2005 and this will be my first post, talk about procrastination. I will be posting often!