The Most Important Thing I Will Ever Write

It seems in the past two weeks I have been bombarded with people commenting to me on their doubting of God, the Bible and all things true. I know this is happening for a reason and while I can personally explain truth to these people, I find it important to attempt to reach out to as many as possible via written word. First rebuttle I must make, God and Jesus Christ do exist and are the ONLY way to Heaven. Praying every once in a while, being a "good person", volunteering, praying to saints and such and all those other minor things we do that make us feel worthy of entering His kingdom are so far from what it really takes. Truth is not a single one of us is worthy but it is by His grace that we have the opportunity. And it is so simple, so very simple that it baffles me that I once did not understand: All He wants is to know us, to be what we keep closest, to be the one we run to in all times good and bad and to have our total faith that Christ is who He said He is and that no one comes above Him. Why is it so hard to believe? Well many people, most of whom have already closed the window to this blog and disregarded it as nonsense, do not open their bible or talk AND listen to God speaking to them and do not attend church where a bible based message is taught so clear as day. They block it off thinking life will go on and I have time to make it right. Life is too short and the older we all get the more we should realize this. My parents are now at an age where the obituaries are containing more and more people their age and if that isn't a slap in the face to the shortness of life I dont know what is. You do not have time to waste, any of you. Even if you live one hundred more years, a life without knowing Christ is no life at all. Second big lie I have been faced with recently: I do not believe in Hell and even if I could I can't fathom that everyone who doesnt base their life on Christ will go there. Well, plain as day this is what I have to say: fathom it or you will be believing it big time when you are there yourself in neverending misery. Everything the Bible says is true. It is not a pick and choose book; if you read and put the effort into the Word you will soon realize just how true it is, including Hell. I struggle a lot with anxiety and it is probably the sin I commit most often, not trusting in God and letting worry take me over. My biggest worry is that so many family members and close friends will end up in hell. I have to mention that I was praised so much for the work we recently did at Timberline, and while it is nice to hear a clap of praise over a putdown, it means nothing because all praise belongs to God. My brothers and sisters in Christ and I did not spend our day there helping those in need to feel good about ourselves or to provide them a meal, our goal is to make sure we see as many of them in Heaven someday as possible. Whether it was through words or just them observing the love we have for them and eachother, I pray so deeply that they saw God's love pouring out everywhere and have taken the first step to ensure their way into His kingdom. If we are honored and so happy to spend our day with strangers, imagine the way we care about those of you we know so well? I want more than anything to know I will see those I love in Heaven again someday. The third lie I have heard recently and often is that God does not have time for my prayers, He has so much more to worry about. And to that I must say, you truly underestimate the power of God and are so very wrong in what you believe in Him. That is what He wants most, to know you and to hear your every thought spoken to Him. To have each and every one of you turn to Him in times of extreme joy, devastating pain and sadness and all other emotions in between. Turn to Him, run to Him and make Him your number one. I hope that most of you have continued reading and although I am so far from where I want to be as a Christian, these things I have written I know to be more true than anything else I know. I pray that those of you who believe these lies take a further look and you will discover that there is a truth and it is the greatest thing you will ever know and I pray we are all together again someday when this life is over.

a place to call home

Attending church is not what it means to be a Christian, but it is a necessary element in growing each and every day closer in your walk with Christ. Yesterday, my church The Journey held a local outreach event to help those less fortunate, and I spent that day in awe that I have found a group of people so loving, motivated and truly beautiful each in their own way to call my brothers and sisters in Christ. The Timberline Outreach Event has been something God placed on my heart a long while ago yet many churches would not have taken the leap of faith to step out of the box and make this happen due to business reasons or other things having nothing to do with God. When I posed this idea to my pastor, he was more than thrilled to make this happen and willing to do what it took. I had no clue what to expect but it ranged somewhere around raising a hundred dollars and seeing maybe five volunteers show up. God proved me so wrong for putting any low expectations on the powerfulness he brought to this! Over thirty volunteers, hundreds of dollars collected and enough food to feed the residents well beyond the two hours we spent with them. We had planned to have a small message delivered but that was thrown out the window when we quickly saw just how much our church members were connecting deeply on a one to one basis with the residents. I had so many people giving me compliments for the work here but truth is, this was not me at all. It was entirely God and I know that we changed lives there because for those who say they need proof to believe, I believe they could see proof shining so brightly out of all of us that God exists! I sat in my car after and had to take a moment because I am so proud to call The Journey my second family and am so touched to have seen these people feel free to spend their time comfortably with us. The Journey is a place I am glad to say I call home and I pray so deeply that many of these residents will come to know it as home as well.

GOOD FRIDAY

It is Good Friday today and this day means more to me this year than ever before. I think I considered myself a Christian long long before I really was because if I had been, the impact of what Jesus has done for each and every one of us would not have been taken so lightly. Today is a day to mourn what He took on that cross for us but to rejoice in the freedom from hell that the act gave us. I urge you to take your relationship with Jesus to the next level each and every day and if He is not already, make Him your best friend. I have so many people in my life who are so far from God and I just want them to know that no prayer is too mundane, no sin is too great and no one is too far to be brought right back into His arms. Take the time to reflect today, and every day, on the impact of what He has done for us. Love to you all!

Fun Food

Since my last post was such a downer I am going to follow it up with a bit of fun! Rocklyn is getting to an extremely picky stage. As much as I have tried to stick to purely healthy and natural foods and only milk and water, he is rebelling! Well mama is rebelling back with funny foods! And it works! If you can make a child laugh, you can apparently win your way in the food battle. Here are a few fun food suggestions I found online! The top one is my favorite!!!!!

Dayblogging Part Dos...

The weather in my neck of the woods: sunny and gorgeous! All the moisture is drying up from yesterdays storms and the windows are open! It smells unbelievably ALIVE out there! Things that have made me happy today: Sleeping in until 7 and then pulling the boys into bed for a family cuddle session, waiting for 12 oclock ZUMBA, peach oatmeal and spending the morning listening to songs of praise and watching Rocklyn unable to control his rhythmic soul as he dances along as much as possible. Book I am Reading: textbooks!!!! I am slammed with end of semester work! On the Menu For Dinner: Chicken Parmesean seems like a good plan! Involves staying out of the grocery store because we have everything we need right here. On Today's To-Do List: Rocklyn's shots, Zumba, packing for Chicago!, checking up on the status of my car in the shop, browsing some SUVS, ten page paper on field experiences and my Secondary Teaching Methods final project! New Recipe I want to try soon: a new version of tofu nuggets that Cory found and a unique pasta salad for my neice's bday party Plans for the week: School observation of a friend's classroom for my diversity class. Hitting the road as soon as my car is fixed and headed to Chicago. Taking our time and enjoying the trip along the way this time! My niece Willow's birthday party this Saturday! Seeing all the family and friends I desparately miss! Favorite Blog Post this Week: Has anyone checked out Pioneer Woman's amazing red velvet sheet cake with cream cheese frosting post??????????????? mmmmmm Lesson learned in the past few days: i will survive being away from my boys when the time to teach comes! I hate admitting it though On My mind: school school school school school!