I will be attending my first online conference, and I am very excited. Finally, I won't have to worry about finding a babysitter. Since starting my business, the kids know my business mode and for the most part they try to respect my time. So I will be on business mode for the conference....God's Business. I am excited about what message God has for me in this season of my life. I have for the last year been feeling a new found purpose in my life. I have a drive, that is about doing things that have purpose. This is my purpose driven year. Is that age? wisdom? I don't know but I am ready for God to continue to reveal Himself to me. So join me at the A Woman Inspired conference.

The Hope which we profess

Today was a very emotionally draining day, I am faced with a situation I don't want to be in. As I sat in tears most of the day, I kept trying to stay focused on God,who knows all things. While walking home from school with my daughter, very absorbed in my thoughts, my daughter story of her day seemed distant. I nodded as if I heard everything that she said, all the while overwhelmed by my thoughts. A verse came to my mind, Hold on unswervingly to the hope which you profess, for He who has promised is faithful.

I have been sharing about God's faithfulness and His covering over us, and now I needed to hold on very tightly to that Hope that I spoke off. My pastor spoke about the challenges that we will face as Christians, but reminded us that we serve a God who is beyond the moment, He knows our future. So I HAVE to with all that I have left trust that God is not leaving me now, now when things seem so dim I will hold on

Pray with me and for me as I pray for myself

If I could touch somebody......

If I could touch somebody as I go my way then my living shall not be in vain.....the song lyrics echo in my head even as I sit here writing. I love this song it is a reflection of everything that God wants and expects us to be. Oh to be His hand extended, reaching out to the oppressed, let me touch Him, let me touch Jesus so that other may know and be blessed. This beautiful hymn also echos our requirement to extend ourselves to others in need.

I was watching ABC's What would you do? with John Quinones. If you have not seen the show the show sets up actors to portray different situations, while people pass by, all in an effort to see who would step in to help. I was particularly moved my one scene where a man (actor) was passed out on the floor, this homeless woman stood by him and called out to people passing by to help him, only one woman stopped. The woman who was calling out for help was known to be homeless at times. She recognized a need and stood by this man until someone could help him, since she herself was unable to do so. I wept when I saw how people just passed by and I wept that this homeless woman took the time to help when she herself was in need. The actor who played the man on the floor , said that he was touched by her persistance and concern and called her an angel.

In this time of economic hardship, it might be easy to be consumed in your own problems. "I can't help anyone, I need help myself" but I feel that this is when we should help.



I Kings 17

7 Some time later the brook dried up because there had been no rain in the land. 8 Then the word of the LORD came to him: 9 "Go at once to Zarephath of Sidon and stay there. I have commanded a widow in that place to supply you with food." 10 So he went to Zarephath. When he came to the town gate, a widow was there gathering sticks. He called to her and asked, "Would you bring me a little water in a jar so I may have a drink?" 11 As she was going to get it, he called, "And bring me, please, a piece of bread."
12 "As surely as the LORD your God lives," she replied, "I don't have any bread—only a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug. I am gathering a few sticks to take home and make a meal for myself and my son, that we may eat it—and die."

13 Elijah said to her, "Don't be afraid. Go home and do as you have said. But first make a small cake of bread for me from what you have and bring it to me, and then make something for yourself and your son. 14 For this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: 'The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the LORD gives rain on the land.' "

15 She went away and did as Elijah had told her. So there was food every day for Elijah and for the woman and her family. 16 For the jar of flour was not used up and the jug of oil did not run dry, in keeping with the word of the LORD spoken by Elijah.

The widow in I Kings 17 , had the last bit of flour and oil, and hope. But she was obedient and God was faithful. He is always Faithful, let us be His hand extended even...especially during these most difficult times.

In keeping with a blog that I follow I will start 3 things Thursday. Sharing three random things about anything.

1. I would like to extend a prayer requests for my friends, two friends are currently experiencing cancer in their families. One friend has a mom with cancer, and one has a mother in law with cancer. So join me in prayer for these families.

2. My daughter Titi, season 2, will be student of the week, next week. WooHoo, I am proud of her, she works very hard.

3.I just bought the most amazing makeup bag from Avon. I have never been able to fit all of my makeup in one bag, and don't use that much make up. great bag

The Love of God

In this economically challenge period that we are in, is nice to be reminded of the love of God towards us. I had devotion this morning and I would like to share the verse with you. I am going to share two versions, sometimes reading a scripture in several different versions, lets the meaning really hit home.

Contemporary EnglishEphesians 3 - 14-19

I kneel in prayer to the Father. All beings in heaven and on earth receive their life from him. [a] 16God is wonderful and glorious. I pray that his Spirit will make you become strong followers 17and that Christ will live in your hearts because of your faith. Stand firm and be deeply rooted in his love. 18I pray that you and all of God's people will understand what is called wide or long or high or deep. [b] 19I want you to know all about Christ's love, although it is too wonderful to be measured. Then your lives will be filled with all that God is

Todays New International Version

For this reason I kneel before the Father, 15 from whom every family [a] in heaven and on earth derives its name. 16 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18 may have power, together with all the Lord's people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.


How deep and wide is His love that insulates us from all of the concerns of this time. I sat the other day wondering if I had become desensitized to the things going on around me, the foreclosures, and lost jobs and the increase of visitors to food shelters. I spoke to my friend about it and she called it God's insulation. You know that even when we are going through the hardest times, our kids would not be aware because we try to keep things as normal as possible. We know that we don't want them to get concerned and scared, so we insulate them. That is what God does He insulates His children and reminds them that "Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us," .

He reminds us of His love and then reminds us that He is able. Glory be to God. I can't imagine my life without the Hope that is in Christ Jesus.

So today be encouraged that He is able in the midst of the chaos.

Worship

Psalm 96:9
Worship the LORD in the splendor of his holiness; tremble before him, all the earth.

I love to worship, I could go to church and just worship and feel rejuvanated without a sermon. I strongly believe that we need to teach our children to worship, it is the best time to teach them about this special part of their faith. Teaching them why we raise our hands and why we stand and worship. Or simply why we worship. Teaching them that we have been created to worship. We have a Kids Ministry at my church and this is something I have been trying to introduce. I believe as we teach them to worship when they transition to the regular service they would feel at ease and want to participate.

My children see me worshipping (tears and all) all the time, it is a normal experience for them. When I talk about worship I want them to feel it from my heart. Teach them and when they are old they will not depart.

Is fun to see them play church. We have a worship leader and a pastor and and usher, I want to capture that and instill in them a love to worship "so when they are old they will not depart".

I recently had a conversation with my daughter about worship, I told her that I wanted her to stand when during worship at church. I explained that when we worship we enter into the presence of the Most High. I reminded her of shows that she has watched that depicted a king in the room, all the subjects of the kingdom stood or bowed in the presence. So I wanted her to act as though the King had entered the room. You know how things usually take a while to sink in, but I will keep talking about it not yelling or being angry because she did not stand, just speaking from my heart so that she understands the importance of worship in my life and hers.

Psalm 29:2
Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name; worship the LORD in the splendor of his holiness.

Psalm 74:8
They said in their hearts, "We will crush them completely!" They burned every place where God was worshiped in the land.

Psalm 86:9
All the nations you have made will come and worship before you, O Lord; they will bring glory to your name.

Psalm 95:6
Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the LORD our Maker;

Psalm 97:7
All who worship images are put to shame, those who boast in idols— worship him, all you gods!

Psalm 99:5
Exalt the LORD our God and worship at his footstool; he is holy.

Psalm 99:9
Exalt the LORD our God and worship at his holy mountain, for the LORD our God is holy.

Psalm 100:2
Worship the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful songs.
Psalm

Developing your child's character - Season One

While on this earth God has given me the awesome responsibility of being a mom. Sometimes when I think about this, I grow anxious. There is so much in my humanness that I could mess up, that would be three little lives. Our children want to be just like us, girls like their moms and boys like their dads. Have you ever heard yourself through your children, it can be a very eye opening, sobering even embarrassing time. The examples we set in word and deed are part of the development of our children's character.

The last two and a half years have been a blessing for me, I have been a stay at home mom. I got to walk them to school and pick them up; as opposed to getting home with enough time for homework, dinner and a bath. I had time to listen (really listen) as they talked about their day and sought out opportunities to put in my "God cents". Every time we walked home I thought about the Deuteronomy 6

Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. [a] 5 Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. 6 These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. 7 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 8 Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. 9 Write them on the door frames of your houses and on your gates.

My oldest daughter is me in every sense of the word, the good and the bad. When I see the negative aspects in her that I hate in my own life, it really bothers me. There is one area where I have been intentional on making an impact. Sometimes you talk and you are not sure what is getting through and what is going over. When my oldest was younger I started to grow concerned about her self-esteem, something I struggled with during my childhood and a bit still in my adult life. I was determined to drench her with affirmations about her skills and abilities, her looks, just on being who she was. She is now 12, however at the age of nine I knew that she was entering the "tween zone" where a positive self image is important in protecting her from body image issues/disorders, friendship issues and so much more that I did not have to deal with at her age.

When she came home complaining that some girls were talking about her, or her clothes or anything she did. I would counteract this by telling her that there something that must be special about her, if people are taking the time to talk about what she was wearing or doing. I will not be writing a child psychology book or anything but this really did work. Now those same stares and comments have minimal impact on her. If nothing else, I want to instill in her one thing being herself at all times, whether she is at church or school or out with friends. It will make her life easier, because she doesn't have to remember which person she was on which day.

The other day I had a "mommy moment. A "mommy moment" is when you hear your child repeats or acts out something that you have been trying to instill in them. She told me of a girl in her class that is very smart, and some of the kids are jealous of her and tease her. She was offered the opportunity to skip a grade, my daughter approached her and asked her what she wanted to do. The girl sadly responded that no one liked her because she was smart and since she did not have any friends she might as well move up. To which my daughter said, this is the mommy moment, never be ashamed of who you are, if you are smart, you are smart and you should not make any excuses about that. I was so proud of my daughter, I could burst. You are never quite sure if they are really getting what you say , but I think if you persevere in developing character it will pay off

Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers I Timothy 4:16

Recommended Reading - Understanding your child's temperament by Beverly LaHaye.