chocolate protector
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"No takey my choco, Mama."
(Happy Wednesday, friends!)
(Happy Wednesday, friends!)
letting praise rule me
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To praise someone is to recognize, acknowledge, and express gratitude for what they have done.
And while I love to praise God on my own, and to worship Him with others around me...
I realized this weekend that it is not always on my lips.
His praise is not what always comes out.
His purposes do not always get acknowledged when I am living in doubt.
His extravagant love for me does not always rule my emotions.
We heard an amazing prophetic couple speak recently, who shared some incredible encouragements from the Lord.
One of the things I took away from it the most was this:
I cannot let how I feel when I wake up in the morning rule my day.
(and oh it does, let me tell you.
When your 2 and 4 year old wake you up screaming and needing your every ounce of attention...
it's easy to let feelings take over.)
But I so desire for WORSHIP and PRAISE and TRUTH to be what rules my day, my heart.
From the minute I wake up.
And I'm not talking about going around in a sing-songy voice and praising Jesus for the peanut butter that my 4-year-old just smeared all over my 2-year-old's hair while I was still sleeping.
(thank you Jesus for your grace to laugh on that particular day)
But I am talking about seeing Him in it all.
Not just the peanut butter situations.
The hard stuff and the good stuff.
Sickness, cancer, uncertainty, money problems, anger.
Good news, salvation, healing, restoration.
When we can see Him, see His sovereignty and His purposes of love,
it's a lot easier to worship.
And worship is a lot easier than anger, or whatever else the "feeling" is that is ruling you.
- - - - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - - - -
so today, I want to praise God right here in front of you.
I want to worship His heart by proclaiming things He has done in my life.
Because He does show up.
Because He loves us.
And so I want to worship Him "publicly" in this way...
I am praising God for my health and my life. He has healed me from disease and issues that should not have been so easy to be healed. He has made me whole again!
I am praising Him for my precious husband who leads and guides me and ALWAYS speaks the Truth to me. He pulls me out of my cloud when I am in the midst of doubt and fear and shame. I praise Him for giving me Parker.
I praise God for my babies. For my sweet girls who love on me, make me laugh, refine and challenge my soul, keep me grounded, and keep me motivated. They are the biggest blessings in my life.
I praise Him for the other three babies we have in Heaven. What a big family we have there now...what an amazing Homecoming it will be for us someday!
I praise Him for the loss and the heartache we have been through. It has made us strong. HE has made us strong.
I praise Him for all of our family. For our moms here who love us so well, and for our Dads in Heaven who left a legacy for us.
I praise God for incredible friends scattered all throughout the country, who I met through this crazy world of social media. They are my friendship rocks and make me cry and laugh pretty much every day.
I praise Him for teaching us about His power. For not letting us stay in the rut of religion, but showing us the powerful ways He still moves. It has forever changed us and I praise Him for allowing us to see it.
I praise Him for Provision. HE is our provider. Even when we had nothing, we had much.
I praise Him for the freedom we get to worship Him. I take it for granted. Whew! We are SO blessed here, yall.
- - - - - - - - - -
GOD I PRAISE YOU FOR WHO YOU ARE IN MY LIFE TODAY!!
I want everyone to know just how amazing you are. How loving and how good.
YOU have rescued and redeemed and forgiven and healed.
Thank you so much for letting me bless you.
Let it rule me, and let Your praise ever be on my lips, God.
And while I love to praise God on my own, and to worship Him with others around me...
I realized this weekend that it is not always on my lips.
His praise is not what always comes out.
His purposes do not always get acknowledged when I am living in doubt.
His extravagant love for me does not always rule my emotions.
We heard an amazing prophetic couple speak recently, who shared some incredible encouragements from the Lord.
One of the things I took away from it the most was this:
I cannot let how I feel when I wake up in the morning rule my day.
(and oh it does, let me tell you.
When your 2 and 4 year old wake you up screaming and needing your every ounce of attention...
it's easy to let feelings take over.)
But I so desire for WORSHIP and PRAISE and TRUTH to be what rules my day, my heart.
From the minute I wake up.
And I'm not talking about going around in a sing-songy voice and praising Jesus for the peanut butter that my 4-year-old just smeared all over my 2-year-old's hair while I was still sleeping.
(thank you Jesus for your grace to laugh on that particular day)
But I am talking about seeing Him in it all.
Not just the peanut butter situations.
The hard stuff and the good stuff.
Sickness, cancer, uncertainty, money problems, anger.
Good news, salvation, healing, restoration.
When we can see Him, see His sovereignty and His purposes of love,
it's a lot easier to worship.
And worship is a lot easier than anger, or whatever else the "feeling" is that is ruling you.
- - - - - - - - - -
Worship has been a huge part of my life ever since I was touched by the Holy Spirit in 10th grade.
It's what fuels me. It's what SHOULD fuel me, especially on harder days.
There are so many ways to worship our Jesus, and everyone is drawn differently...
some worship through song, some through art, some through service, some through time and money.
It is ALL worship when we are doing it for His glory and His purposes, and not our own.
But you know the amazing thing?
When we worship to bless HIM....WE get blessed ourselves.
Like I said, everyone worships God differently, even within singing.
Some like louder songs, some prefer traditional quiet hymns.
Some sit in silence and reverence, and some raise their hands and pray out loud.
And some do it all, in different seasons and on different days.
All to bring glory to God.
To praise Him and acknowledge what He has done in our lives.
To recognize His value.
- - - - - - - - - -
so today, I want to praise God right here in front of you.
I want to worship His heart by proclaiming things He has done in my life.
Because He does show up.
Because He loves us.
And so I want to worship Him "publicly" in this way...
I am praising God for my health and my life. He has healed me from disease and issues that should not have been so easy to be healed. He has made me whole again!
I am praising Him for my precious husband who leads and guides me and ALWAYS speaks the Truth to me. He pulls me out of my cloud when I am in the midst of doubt and fear and shame. I praise Him for giving me Parker.
I praise God for my babies. For my sweet girls who love on me, make me laugh, refine and challenge my soul, keep me grounded, and keep me motivated. They are the biggest blessings in my life.
I praise Him for the other three babies we have in Heaven. What a big family we have there now...what an amazing Homecoming it will be for us someday!
I praise Him for the loss and the heartache we have been through. It has made us strong. HE has made us strong.
I praise Him for all of our family. For our moms here who love us so well, and for our Dads in Heaven who left a legacy for us.
I praise God for incredible friends scattered all throughout the country, who I met through this crazy world of social media. They are my friendship rocks and make me cry and laugh pretty much every day.
I praise Him for teaching us about His power. For not letting us stay in the rut of religion, but showing us the powerful ways He still moves. It has forever changed us and I praise Him for allowing us to see it.
I praise Him for Provision. HE is our provider. Even when we had nothing, we had much.
I praise Him for the freedom we get to worship Him. I take it for granted. Whew! We are SO blessed here, yall.
- - - - - - - - - -
GOD I PRAISE YOU FOR WHO YOU ARE IN MY LIFE TODAY!!
I want everyone to know just how amazing you are. How loving and how good.
YOU have rescued and redeemed and forgiven and healed.
Thank you so much for letting me bless you.
Let it rule me, and let Your praise ever be on my lips, God.
running motivation....SO needed!!
/
I posted this a long time ago, but here it is again...
because I need it right now!!
WHEW! I am ready to go run after just sitting here watching it again.
So, if you need a little motivation for whatever athletic goals you have before you, you need to see this.
I have been training for a half marathon, but have let life get in the way a little more than I should have the last several weeks.
SO, I can use all the motivation I can get right now, and this video is TOTALLY what I need!!
Have a good Saturday, yall!
because I need it right now!!
WHEW! I am ready to go run after just sitting here watching it again.
So, if you need a little motivation for whatever athletic goals you have before you, you need to see this.
I have been training for a half marathon, but have let life get in the way a little more than I should have the last several weeks.
SO, I can use all the motivation I can get right now, and this video is TOTALLY what I need!!
Have a good Saturday, yall!
zoo!
/
We had a GORGEOUS first day of Spring here in Oklahoma, so we decided to enjoy it at the Zoo with some friends...
Hope yall have all had a good week!!
Hope yall have all had a good week!!
my bullet points (on my heart now):
/
I have so much swirling around in my head to write about so I just thought Id "bullet point" it out.
Not just to share with you, but also to help me gather my own thoughts.
Sometimes blogging and writing, at least for me, can feel overwhelming when you have so much you want to say. Sometimes it just seems easier to just not do it. (as evidenced by my absence here lately!)
But no more!
so.
(in total random order) :)
1. HOUSE:
My home/house is in better order than it has been in a long time, which is a huge answer to prayer. It has come that way through a ton of hard work and hours and sweat devoted to weeding through things, organizing in new ways, and really taking the time to go through each and every item we have (or HAD in lots of cases). My hubby is really amazing at creating what he calls "systems" and so I am trying my best to implement some new systems around here to maintain organization...
all so that the end goal of FREEDOM from clutter, excess, and unnecessary stress can reside in our home!
2. SPRING:
SO so glad it is finally feeling like Spring here. Oklahoma winter was pretty rough this year.
This week is Spring break for us, and we are thankful the weather is beautiful for lots of outdoor fun!
Also, I am not gonna lie...nicer weather so the kids can play outside while I cook or clean is kindof amazing (canigetanamen).
The girls have been pretty happy about the Sunshine too!
3. TINY DIVA:
thiiiiiiis little St, Patrick's Day diva makes me smile, and she will make you smile too.
Such a ham and such a spunkly little soul all wrapped up into a beautiful petite little thing!!
4. ROCKING CHAIRS:
Parker and I have always secretly wanted some of those awesome rocking chairs from Cracker Barrel. You know the ones. You know you love to rock on those while you wait and fantasize about the hashbrown casserole you are about to devour.
No but really...we finally got some for our front porch and love them!! They came just in time for Spring weather and I have so enjoyed sitting on them with my big girl lately while the little one naps...
5. SPIRITUAL PARENTS:
ours came to visit last weekend. They are the ones who, in addition to our own parents, have poured so much life and love into us, even before we were a couple. They have been counselors, advisors, prayer warriors, etc for us over the last 15 years and it was so awesome to host them at our house and spend some real quality time together! (we love you Joe and Kim!)
6. CAMEO:
the Silhouette Cameo, that is.
New dreams, new ideas, and new goals lie before me, y'all.
This little guy is gonna being some of those to life. Can't wait to let y'all in on that soon!!
7. SURPRISED BY THE SPIRIT:
I just recommended this book to a friend, and then got to reading through it again.
It was so helpful to both Parker and I when the Lord starting showing up in our lives in ways we had not been taught He could. Like in miracles and signs.
We had both grown up in a very cessation-saturated culture (cessation is the belief that the gifts of the Holy Spirit like healing or prophecy are no longer active and real), and in fact grew up mainly being taught by pastors coming out of DTS (a Seminary in Dallas), where the author of this book comes from. Anyways, if you have ever been curious or had questions about stuff like this, I would suggest this book.
8. HOPE SPOKEN:
9 days. NINE. can i please tell you how pumped I am?! Not only do I get to be reunited with all my bff's from all over the county, but I get to meet so many friends I have always wanted to meet "in real life", and some new friends too. I am so so excited to worship with all these women. It's gonna be the best weekend!
- - - - - - - - - -
There's my heart bullet points for ya!
Hope you are having a good week, friends!
Not just to share with you, but also to help me gather my own thoughts.
Sometimes blogging and writing, at least for me, can feel overwhelming when you have so much you want to say. Sometimes it just seems easier to just not do it. (as evidenced by my absence here lately!)
But no more!
so.
(in total random order) :)
1. HOUSE:
My home/house is in better order than it has been in a long time, which is a huge answer to prayer. It has come that way through a ton of hard work and hours and sweat devoted to weeding through things, organizing in new ways, and really taking the time to go through each and every item we have (or HAD in lots of cases). My hubby is really amazing at creating what he calls "systems" and so I am trying my best to implement some new systems around here to maintain organization...
all so that the end goal of FREEDOM from clutter, excess, and unnecessary stress can reside in our home!
2. SPRING:
SO so glad it is finally feeling like Spring here. Oklahoma winter was pretty rough this year.
This week is Spring break for us, and we are thankful the weather is beautiful for lots of outdoor fun!
Also, I am not gonna lie...nicer weather so the kids can play outside while I cook or clean is kindof amazing (canigetanamen).
The girls have been pretty happy about the Sunshine too!
3. TINY DIVA:
thiiiiiiis little St, Patrick's Day diva makes me smile, and she will make you smile too.
Such a ham and such a spunkly little soul all wrapped up into a beautiful petite little thing!!
4. ROCKING CHAIRS:
Parker and I have always secretly wanted some of those awesome rocking chairs from Cracker Barrel. You know the ones. You know you love to rock on those while you wait and fantasize about the hashbrown casserole you are about to devour.
No but really...we finally got some for our front porch and love them!! They came just in time for Spring weather and I have so enjoyed sitting on them with my big girl lately while the little one naps...
5. SPIRITUAL PARENTS:
ours came to visit last weekend. They are the ones who, in addition to our own parents, have poured so much life and love into us, even before we were a couple. They have been counselors, advisors, prayer warriors, etc for us over the last 15 years and it was so awesome to host them at our house and spend some real quality time together! (we love you Joe and Kim!)
6. CAMEO:
the Silhouette Cameo, that is.
New dreams, new ideas, and new goals lie before me, y'all.
This little guy is gonna being some of those to life. Can't wait to let y'all in on that soon!!
7. SURPRISED BY THE SPIRIT:
I just recommended this book to a friend, and then got to reading through it again.
It was so helpful to both Parker and I when the Lord starting showing up in our lives in ways we had not been taught He could. Like in miracles and signs.
We had both grown up in a very cessation-saturated culture (cessation is the belief that the gifts of the Holy Spirit like healing or prophecy are no longer active and real), and in fact grew up mainly being taught by pastors coming out of DTS (a Seminary in Dallas), where the author of this book comes from. Anyways, if you have ever been curious or had questions about stuff like this, I would suggest this book.
8. HOPE SPOKEN:
9 days. NINE. can i please tell you how pumped I am?! Not only do I get to be reunited with all my bff's from all over the county, but I get to meet so many friends I have always wanted to meet "in real life", and some new friends too. I am so so excited to worship with all these women. It's gonna be the best weekend!
- - - - - - - - - -
There's my heart bullet points for ya!
Hope you are having a good week, friends!
