Daily, I praise His NAME

Thank you, dearest Jocelyn. She encouraged me to read this everyday as I stay home with Tatum. I bolded what resonates with my soul.

 Psalm 145:

I will extol you, my God and King,

and bless your name forever and ever.

2  Every day I will bless you

and praise your name forever and ever.

3 Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised,

and his greatness is unsearchable.

4 One generation shall commend your works to another,

and shall declare your mighty acts.

5  On the glorious splendor of your majesty,

and on your wondrous works, I will meditate.

6  They shall speak of the might of your awesome deeds,

and I will declare your greatness. 

7  They shall pour forth the fame of your abundant goodness

and shall sing aloud of your righteousness.

8  The Lord is gracious and merciful,

slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.

9  The Lord is good to all,

and his mercy is over all that he has made.

10 All your works shall give thanks to you, O Lord,

and all your saints shall bless you!

11  They shall speak of the glory of your kingdom

and tell of your power,

12  to make known to the children of man your mighty deeds,

and the glorious splendor of your kingdom.

13 Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,

and your dominion endures throughout all generations.

[The Lord is faithful in all his words

and kind in all his works.]

14  The Lord upholds all who are falling

and raises up all who are bowed down.

15  The eyes of all look to you,

and you give them their food in due season.

16  You open your hand;

you satisfy the desire of every living thing.

17  The Lord is righteous in all his ways

and kind in all his works.

18  The Lord is near to all who call on him,

to all who call on him in truth.

19  He fulfills the desire of those who fear him;

he also hears their cry and saves them.

20  The Lord preserves all who love him,

but all the wicked he will destroy.

21  My mouth will speak the praise of the Lord,

and let all flesh bless his holy name forever and ever.

How do we worship thee? Let me count four ways

1. By Standing ON TRUTH (with cute shoes of course). Here is the TRUTH: There is no greater Love than that of Jesus. God loves us that much, and sometimes, for reasons I just don’t understand, He plants things in our lives, good and bad, which are to refine us for the better.

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2. By being our true selves, making the most of each moment, silliness and all. God created us all different, thank goodness. We all have a side that is child-like, that we suppress, and so what happens? We forget that laughing is good medicine. And sometimes being silly is just good for the soul. We can worship Him by being unafraid to let it all out and rejoice in the day.

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3. Singing! Raising our hands to Him shows our reverence and our adoration for His presence in our lives. Sometimes, also, we just want to feel Him. 

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I know that my need for personal touch and Love from Him overwhelms me; I need to express my AWE of Him.

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…. and I just need to hold on to His rock of stability.

4. By Loving others and showing it always. I worship Him by being mindful that my needs are secondary to loving others more than myself. His Spirit gives me the ability to be completely selfless (and only Him because I sure cannot do it solely!) and take care of others, whether it be smiling at a stranger, helping a student after school, or just being an ear.

For now….. I just am taking my days one at a time, loving Tatum with all my heart, asking God to help me be the best mommy ever, and trying to serve others with a smile. IMG_4955


 

 

 

Put it to rest

A death is putting something to rest.

GOOD Friday. What makes it GOOD? Something good cannot be a death, and especially Jesus’ death which was horrific and gruesome. However, can something that is such be made right? Be made good?

Understanding good means we need to first understand the opposite: Our condition. I only need to think of my heart as not always pure to understand my fallen nature. Raising a daughter from birth helps me see the power of our sin in a baby. The beautiful is not always perfect, and no human is. Proving our hopeless condition, the law pointed out how impossible it was to achieve perfection.

Sin cannot live in God and He cannot justify it without a sacrifice. Who would be the sacrificed? Who would be big enough to take this on? How could he make it right with us once and for all? Good Friday HAD to happen in order for the beauty of justice and LIFE to occur. Forgiveness. Salvation….all coming from the CROSS: Psalm 85:10 praises the moment when “righteousness and peace” will “kiss each other.” God’s justice (Good Friday) intersected and crossed with his love and mercy (Easter).

Ignorantly, we don’t comprehend how God created us to have free will to make poor decisions; ones that allow us to then sin. But, little did we know that he had a plan of redemption. He knew that there would be suffering, and as we question it and shake our fist at it and Him, He has omnipotent knowledge of the GOOD. His plan will reunite us back to him and forgive this ultimate sin of separation, but also the grace to proceed after we continue to mess up.

C.S. Lewis even writes about God creating us as His own “parasites” and he is allowing us to “take advantage of Him.” But God demonstrates his own love for us in this:  While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8-9, NIV). He died so we could live back with Him for now (in this fallen difficult world) and in eternity. That is truly love.

So what? So what!? What does it all meant today and tomorrow when I wake up and go about my day? Gratitude. Peace, right? Can I now rest in the hope of tomorrow and the knowledge of how much LOVE there is for me and for others (when I don’t “feel” it) in today? That is the significance.

Finally, an empty life is what I had for years although it seemed meaningful with work and relationships. However, focusing on those things, it was found to be futile and a dark hole. In John 6:35, Jesus said, ‘I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst’.

Find the “it” and Put it to rest. He has it in His hands and lifts it from ours.

May it be a “Good” Godly Friday.

 

Yielding control

The influence I have on one little life is insurmountable. However, I cannot control it. Currently, I am reading a wonderful book by Elizabeth George, Raising a Daughter After God’s Own Heart.

It is abundantly clear that the choices that I make, the tone I set, and the modeling I do will affect her for the rest of her life. I can only do so much, but what I can do cannot be stressed enough.

Often I will just stare it her and wonder what she will be like? Will she be the class clown? Will she be the one with the sunny disposition? Will she be the one everyone respects? Will she be the athletic jock type? Will she be a girly girl? It really does not matter. What I care about goes so much deeper and for that, I can have a positive influence. 

First, she needs my prayers. It is not a chore, as George puts it, it is my mission. “Evil” will come my daughter’s way; that is inevitable. However, I can shield her with prayer. Here is a list of prayers I diligently lift up to God:

  • That she would come to believe in the Christ and His lovingkindness
  • That she would desire to follow Jesus (her OWN desire)
  • That she would grow spiritually
  • That she would reflect Jesus in character.  (This is my favorite)
  • That she would choose wisely her associations
  • That she would marry wisely who is also a lover of Jesus

These prayers are my biggest weapon for her to have a clean heart. I will beg God to help me and do battle in prayer. He and ONLY He can grow and transform. I am just a vessel to be used. Tatum, you are adored and loved beyond belief. God is your daddy, and He wants the best for YOU because you are HIS.

She can STAND on all of these words.


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Does God Laugh?

This was the first question out of Hugh Hewitt’s mouth at the  “Ask A Jew” event last night, September 22nd, at Scottsdale Bible Church. Dennis Prager and Hugh Hewitt, two of my favorite talk radio hosts, shared the stage with Dr. Wayne Grudem to discuss Christian values and the Jewish take on how we can be alike and different.

The main discovery I had last night was how much we actually do share in common in terms of our love and desire to follow God. However, what grieves me a bit, is the fact that Dennis has to go through rituals in order to follow God, whereas the Christian believes Jesus has made it possible to grow into His likeness and actually desires to please God out of His heart. We are born with sin and dirty hearts, and it does not matter HOW much you do, nothing can reunite us with God in relationship except purity. This is impossible in our own strength. Not 2 or 2000 laws can force someone to love. God wants to be obeyed because we want to obey…out of a love for Him; not out of duty. We also have so much hope for a future with Him where the evil will be judged.This gives us peace on this broken earth. One day, the earth will NOT be so broken.

The evening was a great reminder of the beauty of our country; we can all come together and discuss our differences in peace! We don’t have to worry about persecution.

This is actually the FOURTH time I have seen Dennis live. His wit, his intelligence, and his ability to clarify difficult issues make me absolutely adore him.

Dennis and me
Dennis and me
Dennis (left), Hugh (right)
Dennis (left), Hugh (right)

Mom and I attended the VIP event beforehand to meet and greet the panel. What a treat!

By the way, Dennis believes that God does more weeping than laughing due to the amount of rebellion his creation has performed. God was so pleased (saying it was “very good”) when He created man and woman, yet within minutes, they fell into sin. Since then, man continues to fall, and for that, God is grieved. Dr. Grudem, on the other hand, believes we serve a loving, joyful God who has a plan for His people and will redeem them with Jesus’ second coming. Jesus will bring in a new heaven and new earth. Jesus also provides a way of forgiveness, so we can be in fellowship with God again. So for that, God has joy.

10 months and steadfast

“Blessed be the Lord, for he has wondrously shown his steadfast love to me” (Psalm 131: 21). This verse is a stark reminder that God never gives up on His people. Steadfast means resolutely or dutifully firm and unwavering. Another way to say it is committed and constant. As a mother, I now get how God loves me because this is how much I love Tatum. My love for her grows daily, but it is unwavering and never ending. The fact that He can have this much love for me blows my mind, and I often feel so undeserving. However, it is committed and constant; nothing I can do will change that even when I blow it in every way (and often I do).
The last verse of this Psalm says, “Be strong, and let your heart take courage, all you who wait for the Lord.” My strength and might comes from this infused love; this unearned love; this grace-filled love which is bestowed upon me. I pray that Tatum can understand this power of love which comes from her mom and from Him. Nothing she can do or say will ever change the amount of love she has surrounding her.

Entering the double digit of 10 months, IMG_3172

she is a bundle of joy and verve. Her smile is infections and she often makes everyone in the room laugh.

Bless you my little one. May angels surround your life and protect you. May you be filled with kindness and love.

Staying Power

I have planned it well, I must say! We arrive when the music is playing, and Tatum is in AWE! She loves the music and the singing,

Then I feed her while the service begins. This takes a good 15 minutes, and then LAP TIME! She seems to keep it quiet and happy the whole time. God is good. Holy Spirit is in the air and in her 🙂IMG_9292