Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Under Construction!!!!!!!

Hey all :)
Yes I am bored and redoing some stuff so if you hop on DO NOT BE AFRAID I am just trying stuff out! Hopefully it will be done soon :)
Blessings!

Something worth thinking about

Hey all!
So lately the Lord has really been doing some pruning. It is amazing how you can get to a point and think oh I am doing better and then the Lord just shows you all that you have yet to work on! I got a book for christmas that has been a huge part of this conviction process! It is called "Set-Apart Femininity" and is by Leslie Ludy. Here is an excerpt that really grabbed my attention:

"For the past 12 years, Eric and I have challenged our generation not to ask the question "how far is too far" when it comes to inward and outward purity, but instead to ask "how far can i possibly go to please God and honor my future spouse?" Now, I realized that I needed to stop asking the question "how much can i get away with" when it comes to world entertainment, and instead ask "how much of my time, energy, money, and attention can i possible give to the Lord who died to save me?"
As I allowed God's Word to speak to my heart, I realized that asking that question would not lead to the stuffy, legalistic, no-fun version of christianity I was so turned-off by. Rather, it would lead to the dazzling, transforming, radiant beauty of Christ that I longed to exude. It would lead to an even greater depth of sweet intimacy with the Lover of my soul.
When we lay everything at the feet of Jesus and find out deepest fulfillment, rest, peace, strength, and joy in His presence alone-not dulling out spiritual life with wordly counterfeits-we are ushered into the supernatural, superhuman axistence God designed us to live. THat's when the presence of God draws near. That's when our prayers are heard and answered. That's when the life we read about in Scripture actually becomes our reality.
Most of us constantly battle with the fact that God is distant, intimacy with Christ is difficult to obtain, and our prayers don't seem to be heard. But God says, "You will seek Me and find Me, if you search for Me with ALL your hearts" (Jeremiah 29:13).
Today's young women aren't finding Him because wer aren't searching for HIm with ALL OUR HEARTS. We are to preoccupied with watching reality shows, too busy downloading the latest songs on iTunes, and too enamored with Hollywood's newest productionm to let our whole beings be poured forth in constant and unreserved devotion in the sevice of the Lord who dies to save us.
Most of us feel we don't have enough time for prayer and seeking God. But we don't even consider giving up our nightly TV time, out weekend movie fests, or our iTunes fetish in exchange for spending time in His presence?
First Timothy 5:6 says, "She who lives in pleasure is dead while she lives." That's a sadly accurate description of today's young Christian woman. Christ-professing modern femininity is steeped in selfish pleasure; pursuing the Marie lifestyle of popularity and worldly applause, pining after the attractions and delights of the culture, And, as a result, we are dead inside. We possess nothing but hollow, propped-up beauty and fake hearts. Christ came so that we might have LIFE and have it more abundanyly (John 10:10). Building our life around His pattern rather than the world's does not lead to stiff spirituality and legalism. Echanging counterfeit worldly pleasure for the eternal delights of God's kingdom does not bring misery and death.
IT BRINGS ABUNDANT LIFE."

It goes on to say more but you need to just read the book for yourself :) As I was reading that it was like the Lord just asked me point blank what kind of changes I was willing to make in order to get to know Him better...kinda scary to actually think about then do but SO worth it...so what do you think?

Saturday, December 27, 2008

Saturday Psalm & Praise

Saturday Psalm & Praise



Hey all :)
So I found this over at Miss Jocelyn's and thought I would give it a try :)

Last night I was having my devotions and I was reading in Psalms. You know how you can read the same verses over and over again but as soon as you read them like the 101st time THAT is when they really just bowl you over? I had one of those moments last night!

I was reading in Psalm 145 and these are some verses that really just spoke to me:

Psalm 145:

8 The LORD is gracious and full of compassion,
Slow to anger and great in mercy.
9 The LORD is good to all,
And His tender mercies are over all His works.
14 The LORD upholds all who fall,
And raises up all who are bowed down.
15 The eyes of all look expectantly to You,
And You give them their food in due season.
16 You open Your hand
And satisfy the desire of every living thing.

17 The LORD is righteous in all His ways,
Gracious in all His works.
18 The LORD is near to all who call upon Him,
To all who call upon Him in truth.
19 He will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him;
He also will hear their cry and save them.
20 The LORD preserves all who love Him,
But all the wicked He will destroy.
21 My mouth shall speak the praise of the LORD,
And all flesh shall bless His holy name
Forever and ever.

As I was reading that I was just struck by what an awesome God I serve! He is so wonderful to me and wow yeah I am just speechless! God is so Good!
So that is my 1st Psalm and Praise :)

Friday, December 26, 2008

Our Week of Christmas

Hey all :)
Sorry I haven't updated in so incredibly long (Katy hangs her head in shame)things have been crazy busy and I haven't really sat down long enough to collect my thoughts :)So yeah...(collecting thoughts).
Well, this past thursday one of my old friends got to come up and spend some time with us. It was a ton of fun! Her dad was the pastor of our church when we as a family started to attend and when we were 2 we were best friends soooo...this was us when we were 2:



Those were taken when we were 2 and they were taken on the steps in the church. Well, 16 years later we decided to take them again and this is how much we have changed:






I got to spend 2 days with the Marsh girls. That was a ton of fun :) Well 1st actually we had our candlelight service. Because of one of the worst storms we have had this winter a grand total of about 23 people came but it was fun :) Here are us girls after the service (Mrs. Marsh wanted to try out her new camera):




So I went home with the Marshes on Sunday night and ended up staying at their house till tuesday. We had a lot of fun. It was really nice to just spend time with them it had been a long time! Anywho, so here are some pics...mainly from when we went shopping and such fun girl stuff :-p



















So yeah there is more to come but I am going to actually post this since it has been awhile and I need to get to it :-p Blessings to you all!

Saturday, December 20, 2008

While I am Waiting...

I'm waiting
I'm waiting on You, Lord
And I am hopeful
I'm waiting on You, Lord
Though it is painful
But patiently, I will wait

I will move ahead, bold and confident
Takeing every step in obedience
While I'm waiting
I will serve You
While I'm waiting
I will worship
While I'm waiting
I will not faint
I'll be running the race
Even while I wait

I'm waiting
I'm waiting on You, Lord
And I am peaceful
I'm waiting on You, Lord
Though it's not easy
But faithfully, I will wait
Yes, I will wait
I will serve You while I'm waiting
I will worship while I'm waiting
I will serve You while I'm waiting
I will worship while I'm waiting
I will serve you while I'm waiting
I will worship while I'm waiting on You, Lord

By:
John Waller

Sunday, December 14, 2008

Girls day :)

SO yesterday was a really fun day :) Me and Abby and Jac and Jacquie and Laura all drove up to the city (well actually I drove) and went shopping at the mall. It was so awesome to relax and laugh together. We helped Abby buy a new wardrobe (always fun :-p) and Laura and Jac and Jacquie got their Christmas shopping done and I...drove lol :-p

Anywho, so we took a ton of pictures and had an overall great time :)


SO shall we start at the beginning??? This is Jac heading into the mall. Let me tell you she is a girl on a mission when she has Christmas presents to buy!
SO yeah here are the rest...just random pictures from shopping and lunch. Me and Abby got chinese food and Jac, Jacquie, and Laura got Arby's. Then after we got home Jacquie stayed and we watched movies and folded laundry and ate ramen. Yeah it was great :) Here are the pics :)









































It was such a fun day and I am just amazed over and over and over again the wonderful sisters-in-Christ I have been blessed with. Not only can we laugh together but we shared our hearts and talked about God. It was a wonderful day! If you are wondering :)
~The engagement rings...the one with the 3,000 price tag was my pic and the other was Jacquie's :-p I changed my mind though and I like hers better now b/c it is simple but elegant (the way I like things) plus...3,000 that is just WAYYYY too much! :-p
~The foot under the door...Abby was having wardrobe problems so Jac crawled under the door to save her :0)
~JUST FOR THE RECORD!!! I was having chinese for lunch (it was amazing) and all the other girls had Arby's. MY LUNCH WAS BETTER (*cough* Laura Jacquie and Jac) And abby thought so too :) Us sisters stick togetha! lol :-p
~The laundry thing...mom told me to fold and Jacquie b/c she chose being considered family over friends she pitched in too :) Explanation: whenever we have one of us kids friends that are "new" mom asks them if the would rather be friend or family. The difference? If you are just want to be considered a friend we kinda wait on you hand and foot. However, if you want to be considered family, you clean when needed and raid our cupboards when you want too and never ask "can i use your bathroom" you just go ahead and do it! lol :-p
~Me, Abby, and Jacquie on the couch...we were watching a movie and all were exhausted and so i was leaning on Jacquie's shoulder and then Danny took the picture and abby goes "wait! I have to look like i am touching her too!" Hence the very posed looking (on Abby's part) picture :-p
~And yes those pics on the couch are when I really don't care anymore. No make-up, my hair was crazy and I was so pale (from exhaustion) I look like death warmed over! And yet I still put them on blogland for you all to laugh at...wow!
Anywho, Just thought I would share that with ya'll!
God is so good :) I just cannot praise enough for His many blessings and His love and yeah...just amazing!
What is He doing in your life lately????
Have a blessed night :)