Day 7 Praise & Thank Him

One reason we don't thank God for his answers to our prayer is that frequently we don't recognize them as being answers to our prayers. We just take his bountiful supply or dramatic action for granted when it comes. --Evelyn Christenson

The best way to show my gratitude to God is to accept everything, even my problems, with joy.--Mother Teresa

Thanksgiving or complaining-- these words express two contrastive attitudes of the souls of God's children in regard to His dealings with them. The soul that gives thanks can find comfort in everything; the soul that complains can find comfort in nothing...---Hannah Whitall Smith

Model Car

Bryce doing (I mean helping Brittany) :) with her project of making a car

the finished product

100 Days of Praise

Day 3 Praising God for the gift of Christs love
The love of Christ is a fierce thing. It can take the picture you have of yourself and burn it in the fire of his loving eyes, replacing it with a true masterpiece--Sheila Walsh

It is when we come to the Lord in our nothingness, our powerlessness that He then enables us to love in a way which , without Him, would be absolutely impossible--Elisabeth Elliot

The amount of power you experience to live a victorious triumphant Christian life is directly proportional to the freedom you give the Spirit to be Lord of your life! -Anne Graham Lotz
(this one was an eye opener for me, I know I struggle with truly giving the Spirit control of my life & that is a big reason I feel I fail many times in my Christian walk)

Day 4 Serve Him
1 John 5:2 We know we love God's children if we love God & obey his commandments.

The teachings of Jesus are clear. We achieve greatness through service to others. But we fall short of this when we lift ourselves up & glorify our own accomplishments.We need to resist that temptation to be self serving & reach out to others. Find a need and fill it...humbly. Lend a helping hand and share a word of kindness...anonymously, for this is God's way.

God has lots of people who intend to go to work for him "some day". What He needs is more people who are willing to work for Him today.- Marie T Freeman

Doing something positive toward another person is a practical approach to feeling good about yourself.- Barbara Johnson

If you want to discover your spirritual gifts, start obeying God. As you serve Him, you will find that He has given you the gifts that are necessary to follow through in obedience.- Anne Graham Lotz

My prayer is that I wont need to build myself up but that I become a humble servant to those who need my encouragement, my help & my love. (This can be a real challenge, it goes against our worldly flesh). I need to keep my eyes on Christ & live by His example to serve others humbly, faithfully & lovingly.

entries from a teacher devotion I read

No matter what kind of person you work for, that person is not in control of your future. You depend on God, not the people around you. As you work hard, God will do His part and put you in the position He wants for you.

Heavenly Father, you know me inside & out. You fashioned me in the way you saw best, according to your unique purpose & plan for my life. Help me spend more time praising you for your work of love.

The sun..in its full glory, either at rising or setting- this and many other like blessings, we enjoy daily. And for most of them, because they are so common, most men forget to pay their praises. But let not us.---Izaak Walton

Only when my life is anchored in Your love will my joy endure regardless of the circumstances. And that's the kind of joy I want- steady and enduring. Thank you Lord, for a heart full of divine joy.

Your work makes a difference in people's lives. How you carry out your job is important not only to your boss but to God. Do your work for God's glory, not just the reward of a paycheck.

Taylor 3months

I have a new appreciation for Aunt Natalie & her photography skills. Our pictures we took today didnt turn out as great as Aunt Natalie's do. We were all tired & not very creative but hey we got the 3 month photos taken, hopefully Aunt Natalie will be back to taking them at 4 months.

We enjoyed visiting Ms Taylor today...and mom & dad of course

Presidents Day with Taylor (3mnth photos)

Taylor at 3 months

getting ready to go see mommy at school

watching tv with grandpa

she loves to be naked

hanging out with mommy at school

mommy's class

Im growing

me, daddy & the cheesehead

Yea Packers win superbowl

Taylors Headbands & bows container

I decided since I cant stop buying hair accessories for Ms Taylor I needed to find a cute way for Jess to store them in one place so she wouldnt forget to use them. So I recycled an oatmeal box.

The lid

Jess can store the barretts & clips inside the box & put the headbands on the outside of the box.

new hair clips

Also picked up on clearance, Ms T a new winter coat & snowpants for next year...:)

100 Days of Praise devotional Book

Day 1- Praise
And those who have reason to be thankful should continually sing praises to the Lord- James 5:13

The best moment to praise God is always the present- Marie T Freeman

Two wings are necessary to lift our souls toward God: prayer and praise. Prayers asks. Praise accepts the answer- Mrs Charles E Cowman

Day 2 - Abundance
Jesus intended for us to be overwhelmed by the blessings of regualr days. He said it was the reason hea had come: "I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly." - Gloria Gaither

Prayer:
I praise you , Lord for the abundant life given through Your Son Jesus Christ. You have blessed me beyond measure. Make me a faithful steward of the gifts You have given me so that I may share Your adbundance with all who cross my path. Amen

Quotes on Change & Challenges

There is nothing permanent except change- Heraclitus
Even if your on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there- Will Rogers
Happy is he who learns to bear what he cannot change- J C F von Schiller
We cannot change anything unless we accept it- Carl Jung

The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy- MLK

So often we try to alter cicumstances to suit ourselves, instead of letting them alter us, which is what they are meant to do- Mother Maribel

If you realize that all things change, there is nothing you will try to hold onto- Tao Te Ching

I really like the last 3.

Doing it my way or not at all - Battlefield book

Romans 5:19
For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.

Our choice to obey or not obey not only affects us, but multitudes of others. Just think of it: if the Isrealites had promptly obeyed God how much greater their lives would have been. Many of them & their children died in the wilderness because they would not submit to God's ways. Their children were affected by their decisions, and so are ours.

Im done with this book. I reread it a couple times a year because I struggle with the battle going on in my mind to control the thoughts I have in a positive way & not allow negative thoughts and actions control me. I hope you enjoyed & got some thing out of the posts...

Everyone is better off than I am-Battlefield of the mind

The author says she recently heard someone say that no matter how well we can do something, there will always arise someone who can do it better. This statment had an impact on her because she knows it to be true. And if this statemtn is true, then what is the purpose of struggling all our lives to get ahead of everyone else? As soon as we become number one, someone will be competing with us and, sooner or later , that one person will appear who can do whatever we're doing a little better than we can. (think of sports athletes, the current star holds the record but eventually someone somewhere is going to break that record). We need to set our minds to be happy for others & trust God with ourselves.

I dont Deserve Gods Blessings (Battlefield of Mind)

You must realize that you can never deserve God's blessings- you can never be worthy of them. You can onlly humbly accept and appreciate them, and be in awe of how good He is and how much He love you. ( Amen to that)

Are you a slave or a son- an heir or a bond servant? An heir is one who receieves something other than by merit, as when property is passed down from one person to another through a will. A bond servant or laborer, in the biblical sense, is one who is weary from trying t o follow the Law. The term denotes burdensome toil and trouble.

(I have wandered around in my life for years as a laborer, trying to be good enough to deserve what God wanted to give me freely by His grace.)

Hebrews 11:6 says
But without faith it is impossible to please and be satisfactory to Him. For whoever would come near to God must beleive that God exists and that He is the rewarder of those who earnestly and diligently seek Him.

Without faith I cannot please God; no matter how many "good works" I offer, it will not please Him if they were done to "earn" His favor. Whatever I do for God should be because I love Him, not because Im trying to get something from Him.

More Battlefield of the mind

The mentality of feeling sorry for ourselves because our life is miserable--
When we take the love God meant to be given away and turn it in towards ourselves, it becomes selfishness and self centeredness which actually destroys us. Self- pity is idolatry- turning in on ourselves, concentrating on us and our feelings. It makes us only aware of our own selves and our own needs and concerns- and that is certainly a narrow minded way to live.

It is amazing how easy it is to stay out of self pity if we look at the other person's side and not just at our own. Self pity is supported by thinking only of us and no one else.

Valentine

Well I decided to buy cards for MTW classes, too much other stuff I need to get done, the ones I bought had cute little riddles so I thought Id share.. :)

What did the football say to the football player? I get a kick out of you.....

What kind of birds always stick together? Vel crows! (never heard of them)

How does a rose ride a bike? By pushing its petals!!

What did the two oceans do when they met? They waved!!!

I feel like I should say Badump bump after each one...LOL

Valentines Party with THF class

I give the kids homework each month, this month they traced a big heart & were suppose to cut it out & decorate it & bring it back, Jackson is a new little guy I got this semester but his heart said I love Mrs Beth, our hands are kind of covering it. But how sweet..

Max brought me this big valentine today , it was sweet also. I have never thought much about Valentines day but the preschoolers are so excited for it you cant help but catch their enthusiasm. They love to give their friends little cards & candy..And talk about love.....Yes I have a great job....:) Happy Love month to everyone.....:)

Simple Valentines

Some how Valentines Day has snuck up on me, we have our class party tomorrow for the THF group & I realized I hadnt come up with a Valentine. So I bought some cute heart cookies & put them in little bags & made a quick topper. Simple & sweet... Love it...I tried to get Little Debbie valentine cake but Marsh didnt have any, hopefully Walmart will have some tomorrow when I shop for the MTW class.

Patiently Waiting

Rereading a good book called "Battlefield of the mind" by Joyce Meyer, good stuff in the chapter about waiting & patience. It says patience is not the ability to wait, it is the ability to keep a good attitude while waiting. Scripture doesnt say be patient IF you wait, it says be patient AS you wait. We need to learn to enjoy where we are while we are on our way to where we are going. John 16:33 says In the world you have tribulation & trials and distress and frustration; but be of good cheer. For I have overcome the world. Learn to respond patiently in all kinds of trials, and you will find yourself living a quality of life that is not just endured but enjoyed to the full. There are multitudes of unhappy unfulfilled Christians in the world simply because they are busy trying to make something happen, instead of waiting patiently for God to bring things to pass in His own time and His own way. Instead of pridefully taking matters into our own hands, we must learn to humble ourselves under Gods mighty hand. When He knows that the time is right, He will exalt us & lift us up. As we wait on God & refuse to move in fleshy zeal, there is a "dying to self" that takes place. We begin to die to our own ways and our own timing & to become alive to God's will and way for us.

Taylor scrap page

Ive been wanting to scrap this sweet photo of Taylor, she is our little angel sent straight from God...

Sledding & Snowmen

I suggested to the kids after church that we go sledding (see I can be spontaneous) :) Yes Andrew is eating the snowman

The boys started throwing snowballs at Britt.

cool snowman (mom can you believe I still can squeeze -barely) into your snowmobile ski suit) I was toasty warm the kids were not even going to take gloves, I made them get some, they' re crazy..

walking back up the hill at Matter park. It was nice there wasnt anyone there except one of my favorite preschool familes.

me coming down the hill

Andy & Brittany

making a huge snowball for the snowman. It packed & rolled great right down to the bottom of the hill, it kind of got away from us, it was funny

Bryce , Britt & I with Landons sled

Bryce decided to be a dare devil & slide down the stairs.

me sledding with Esther & Libby

4 of the Renbarger kids, Esther, Sydney, Libby & Andrew, I have had them all, Andrew is in my class right now.

Britt coming down backwards

at the top ready to race

Natalie emergency

Natalie called & said her car got stuck at the end of her driveway & when she got out to look at it, the door shut & locked itself with the car running. Lucky for her we have a spare key (thanks to her dad's prompting). Now getting that key to her was a challenge, the roads are terrible & have not been plowed, even Hwy 15 was terrible. Luckily little PT made it..

hmmm one time Nat doesnt want her photo taken...

Lucky for Nat her cousin Adam lives 2 houses down he was trying to get her door open with a coat hanger when I showed up with the keys. He ended up having to use his truck to pull Nat out of the drift of ice she was in. Im ready to stay tucked in for the rest of the day & possibly the weekend..

Snow Snow Snow

probably cant read the ruler but it says 3 inches mind you Bryce & I just shoveled an hour ago, its a good thing Nana got out of here when she did or she might just be stuck here another week. We are suppose to have snow today, sunday & MOnday. Im having a hard time using the cool snow shovel board CHuck made as the sides of the driveway are getting to high full of snow. I cant lift the snow on the board so next time I go out I might have to go back to the old fashioned shovel.

Brittany car was snow "free" yesterday now its covered again. Bryce & I plus several neighbors spent about an hour trying to get another neighbor unstuck in front of our house..

Its pretty snow...:) Its still coming down pretty hard Im sure I will be out shoveling a few more times before Chuck gets home. He will be tired walking in this mess all day..