Date night!

*Our Date Night*
Well for our date Nathan took me to the America Restaurant at Union Station. He made a reservation for a table in the balcony which overlooked the other restaurants and people.  It was absolutely beautiful! The tables were candlelit.  The servers treated us like VIP. The Menu was HUGE and had all my favorites on it. I got a fabulous martini and the food was so good we ate too much to fit in dessert!  After we ate we walked down towards the National Mall but before we made it there we got tired of walking (I wore my boots and was getting blisters) and we walked back to the Metro.  When we got home Nathan and I walked to the door of our house and he kissed me at the door...then asked me if I was going to invite him upstairs! LOL  All in all it was a perfect night! Our kids did beautifully and our friend who babysat offered to do it every week!

Here are some photos from our evening:

Disciple-Making International

Disciple-Making International

If you are a Christian who is passionate about the Gospel of Jesus Christ, or even if your not passionate, maybe especially if your not, click the link above and WATCH THIS VIDEO and ask God to work in your heart and show you His Will for your life specifically in spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Great News!!!!!!

I just want to say how thankful I am for how God has been working in my life just in the past week.  I went to church alone this past Sunday, my birthday, and I heard a message that has seemed to wake me up.  It was a message on the Great Commission out of Matthew 28.  What I learned from this message was that if you really treasure or prize what Jesus Christ has done for you, namely died on the cross for the payment of your sins, then you will be excited about it and want to share it at every possible time.  


Now, something else he addressed was the very reality that because of the kind of treatment Christians receive in response to their faith is one of hatred and often violence, this can kind of put a damper on your excitement to share.  It can even cause you to fear sharing, to lose confidence in your calling as a Christian to share it with anyone.  I know that I have been living in this fear. 


But there is some awesome news that, after it was pointed out to me, I once again had faith and hope to answer the call!  This news is that Jesus, when he ascended into Heaven, sent back what He described as The Comforter, His Holy Spirit.  And that His Comforter would be inside His people and would empower and embolden us to share the Gospel even in the face of certain death!  Now I may never be facing death when sharing the Gospel (or I might) but I most certainly will face my own fears. Fears of being laughed at or treated badly because of what I'm sharing. Or even facing the fear of inadequacy to share this Good News effectively.  But Jesus has sent His Holy Spirit, His comforter to ME so that I can say "I am afraid in my flesh, but I am emboldened and empowered and JOYFUL in my soul and because I have faith and hope, I WILL share this Good News and whatever will be will be!".  


John 14:25-27
These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you. 
26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.
27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.  Not as the world gives do I give to you.  Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.




Luke 12:11-12

11 And when they bring you before the synagogues and the rulers and the authorities, do not be anxious about how you should defend yourself or what you should say,

 12 for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say.”

Now, it's important to understand why a person even needs to know this good news.


God made man—male and female—in his own image, as the crown of creation, that man might have fellowship with him. Tempted by Satan, man rebelled against God. Being estranged from his Maker, yet responsible to him, he became subject to divine wrath, inwardly depraved and, apart from a special work of grace, utterly incapable of returning to God. This depravity is radical and pervasive. It extends to his mind, will, and affections. Unregenerate man lives under the dominion of sin and Satan. He is at enmity with God, hostile toward God, and hateful of God. Fallen, sinful people, whatever their character or attainments, are lost and without hope apart from salvation in Christ.* 




So, let me share with you this Good News!


 God sent His only Son, to live as a man on this earth, to live a perfect and sinless life, pure and holy! His name is Jesus Christ! And after Jesus lived this perfect and sinless life, He died a sinner's death, to take the punishment of the sin of all who would believe on His Name, to give us His holiness and righteousness so that we could be granted forgiveness from a perfectly Holy God.  And on the third day after His death, Jesus Christ rose from the grave and sealed the deal of salvation! He ascended into Heaven to be seated at the right hand of God the Father to reign as KING, and sent down His Holy Spirit to live inside of His people.  And when He returns to this earth He will take His people back to Heaven with Him, to be seated at the right hand of God the Father for all eternity!


Romans 3:23-26
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. 26 It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.


Do you realize that you are a desperate sinner, in need of a Savior?  Do you believe that Jesus Christ died also for YOUR sin? Do you possess the Holy Spirit inside of you as a child of God?  Are YOU excited, ready and willing to share this wonderful news with anyone you can?


*Explanation taken from Sovereign Grace Ministries website http://www.sovereigngraceministries.org/about-us/what-we-believe.aspx

A new year and a look back at the last...

Yesterday was a great day! It was my birthday, I turned 24. It was a great day because I got to spend it with my family. Last year I was with my sister and her family, but I was not with my husband. So this year I looked forward to my birthday particularly because I was going to spend it with Nathan. Its been a crazy but absolutely wonderful year! Probably my favorite year out of our entire (almost) 5 years of marriage. Not just because of what I've done and where I've been. But mostly because I have gotten to see the Power of God in a much bigger way than I have in my entire life. God has done SO much in my life and in my family.


 A year ago I was separated from my husband, and my children from their father. I was very unsure of what my future was going to look like and I was more than a little convinced that my future did not include Nathan as my husband. I had lost all hope for my marriage. But through a series of events over a period of about 3 months, God gave me a hope and a faith in HIM! He gave me the faith to trust Him that He had my marriage and myself in His hands and he was NOT going to let me or it go! He gave me the faith that He was going to work so powerfully in my life, in my husbands life and in our marriage that I had no choice but to put my fears aside and take that leap of faith!  Faith not in myself, not in my husband, but in the working power of Jesus Christ!


And boy did He ever show out! Today I am very happily married to Nathan, we are living together and we are once again a family. Though we struggle just as every other Christian does, the Holy Spirit keeps tugging us along after Him and I am so incredibly thankful for the power of God in my life!  


So as I begin this new year of my life, I am thankful, joyful and hopeful in what the Lord has in store!


Please excuse any grammar/ spelling errors, blame my mother, I was homskooled :)  No really don't blame my mother LOL!

Ephesians 6:13-18

¹³Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. ¹⁴Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, ¹⁵and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. ¹⁶In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; ¹⁷and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, ¹⁸praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints,


I am clinging to these verses today.  The last couple days have had some pretty rough moments.  And its not because of these moments that cause me to cling to these verses so tightly, but its my reaction to them.  I need to apply these verses to my life because of MY sin, my anger, my carelessness.  I have nothing to fight against my sin without God, the death and resurrection of Christ, and the constant presence of the Holy Spirit in my life.  And Praise the LORD I do have this!  Even though I have in the past felt like I had nothing, I didn't and I don't!  And what a comfort that is! Please pray for me as I fight against my own sin, and the evil that preys on my soul.

Jeremiah 17:7-8

   

 ⁷ "Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD,
    whose trust is the LORD.
⁸ He is like a tree planted by water,
   that sends out its roots by the stream,
and does not fear when heat comes,
   for its leaves remain green,
and is not anxious in the year of drought,
   for it does not cease to bear fruit."

This passage has ministered to my soul today.  It has convicted me, encouraged me, it has refreshed me.  It has reminded me to trust the LORD at every moment, in every circumstance of my life, and in doing so, I can remain steadfast.

It doesn't mean that storms and trials will not come my way, actually it guarantees they will.  But when these storms hit and trials strike, I can trust in the LORD and in doing so, He will give me the grace to endure, and not only endure but continue to live for Christ. To continue to glorify His Name, to bring others to the knowledge of why and how they can also trust in Him.

Blessed be the Name of the LORD!!

Ecclesiastes 5:2

² Be not rash with your mouth, nor let your heart be hasty to utter a word before God, for God is in heaven and you are on earth. Therefore let your words be few.

This verse has convicted me today of my ways of speaking in anger.  Its been a struggle thats intensified over the last few months.  I got to the place where I felt like God had abandoned me, that He hated me.  It seemed as though every time I tried to pray within an hour of that prayer, something would happen that would send me over the edge, and I began to curse God. I felt like He would send me tests but then leave me unequipped to pass the test.

But through a lot of different things, God has saved me from my drowning sin, from the lies that overwhelmed my thoughts and has shone truth into my life.  He has done this mostly through different people in my church. Through seeing them go through way worse circumstances then I was going through, and still they were steadfast in the Lord, and even praised Him for his goodness in their lives.

God has been so gracious to place these people in our life to encourage us and to teach us and to counsel us.  I am so thankful for the church He's brought us to.

This verse also really puts things in perspective for me.  Reminds me that I am a mere human, and that when I pray, I am praying to the God of the universe.  You don't just approach Him lightly.  You approach Him with fear, and with a respect higher than anyone else.  He is our creator, The Righteous and Holy One.  So while you approach Him in this way, because of the Cross, we can, inspite of our unworthiness, our filthy stinky-ness, we can bodly approach this Holy, Righteous Creator because He is full of Grace, mercy and hope!

Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Hebrews 4:16