Indescribable

Love this!  Our 6th grade girls Bible Study group listened to parts of Louie Giglio's Indescribable video series last month.  Looking into space just gives you a tiny glimpse of how BIG our God really is.  This is just a small clip.  Read his book or watch the entire message if you want to look at the night's sky from a different perspective.  http://youtu.be/7zWKm-LZWm4 

Memory Verse App

Here's an great Bible memory app if one of your New Year's Resolutions is memorizing more scripture.  It's called Fighter Verses by Children Desiring God.  You can use the verses they have listed or add your own.  It has a verse a week for five years.   There are puzzles and memory games to help you memorize each verse.  You can record the verses, set them as your locked screen, and look up the background information in the concordance.  Lots of good stuff!  There are even recommended verses for children on the app with pictures to aid in the memory process. I've only been using it a few days, but I already love it.  It's well worth the $2.99 in my opinion.  Check it out!

He's Greater!

He's Greater!  That's the simple truth. I was in the car today just driving along and burst out in tears.  Instantly- no warning at all!  Mercy Me's song Greater was playing.  I've heard the song probably a million times before, sung along to it, and enjoyed it throughly.  But today it took on a greater meaning.  The singer of this song was being interviewed and he was talking about his little boy.  His young son had a stuttering problem.  Kids began making fun of him at school.  He was miserable and so discouraged.   Dad explained,  "The enemy is just trying to discourage you, Son."  He went on to explain, "This only means God must have really big plans for you."  From that point on the boy would often loudly sing out this phrase from his daddy's song, "I'm holy, righteous, and redeemed," whenever he needed this reminder.  You see, everyone needs daily encouragement like this.  I stuttered as a kid, too.  I remember the pain of the laughter and the anxiety of opening up my mouth to even say "here" when the teacher called roll in class.  I thought I was never going to be good at anything because I couldn't even talk correctly.  I was certain I was doomed to a life of silence and boredom.  Then, at a summer preteen camp, my outlook improved.  We listened to several guest pastors speak that week to a large crowd of third through fifth graders.  Strangely enough, three of those pastors told the crowd they were stutterers.  There they stood on the stage in front of  a thousand kids, and they were speaking clearly - and straight to my heart.  From that moment on, I was encouraged.  I knew if God could use these guys, He could use me, too.  I'm a teacher now and I speak to kids all day long.  I teach math, reading, writing, history, science, but what I hope I teach more than anything is that anyone can overcome obstacles with God's help, love, and guidance.  If you have an overcoming story, don't hide it, share it.  God uses His people to spread the word that "He's Greater!"

Here's Mercy Me's song Greater:

http://youtu.be/GXI0B4iMLuU

Love this Prayer App

I'm a fan of paper.  I love a new spiral notebook, a pad of paper, or a brand-spanking new journal.  I like turning actual pages of books, writing notes in my Bible, and sticking bookmarks and sticky notes on pages to treasure.  Sure, when I drop my Bible or journal on the floor, papers scatter like dust in the wind, but that's the way I like it.  So I'm completely shocked that I actually tried a prayer journal app the other day for my iPhone.  Normally I would write my prayers down each day in my journal.  It was effective, but sometimes I forgot to pray for a friend I promised to lift up that day, or I got distracted while praying and felt I just left God "on hold" while I stopped and completed some unnecessary, but at the time I thought it was necessary, task.  The app I tried out is called Echo Prayer.  You can type in your prayers and even add a description for each one.  Then you simply flip through them as you pray.  This is such a blessing since my memory is not quite what it used to be.  Now if my mind starts wandering, and let's face it- it's going to happen, I just look at my phone and I'm back on track.  Check it out!  I hope you find it as useful as I do.  

Lessons from the Kitchen Pantry

I was rummaging through my refrigerator and pantry the other day trying to piece together a meal.  Yes, I should had thought this out ahead of time.  Yes, I should have put something in the crockpot that morning or jotted my meal ideas down in my meal planner with my handy coupon organizer and my "make your life perfect" journal- but it's me.  Let's move on!  I had spaghetti noodles and frozen meatballs, but no sauce.  I had taco seasoning, chips, shredded lettuce, tomatoes, but no taco meat and we just finished off the colby jack cheese at lunchtime.  There were plenty of random items that didn't seem to go with anything: oyster crackers, half a cucumber, a can of sliced black olives, a jar of cherries, something unidentifiable wrapped in foil, and about 8 half empty bottles of salad dressings (Who needs 8 salad dressings, especially when 4 of them are identical????).  I had nothing to work with here!  My kids were patiently (well, their interpretation of patiently) waiting for Mom to whip up some dinner and I had absolutely nothing.  Well, a quick call for pizza saved the day, but it made me think (after I slowed down and the paper plates were thrown away- because I forgot to run the dishwasher that morning).  The half empty pantry full of unless ingredients looks pretty familiar.  This is how I look to my family most days.  I've used up all my caring and encouraging words in the classroom where I teach.  I gave away my last ounce of patience when I finished off the afternoon errands and made it through the horrendous traffic.  My calm and nurturing spirit ran completely dry because it was one of those "everything that can go wrong went wrong" kind of days.  Now I'm home with my precious kids and my loving husband and they are looking at all my leftovers.  I'm not proud of it, but it happens- almost DAILY!  Where does a girl get help with this type of "nothing left in the pantry" problem--- God of course!  He is our light, our refueler, our come-to-the-rescue Deliverer.  He promises to be EVERYTHING we need.  Psalms 73:26 is a great reminder, "My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever."  It's comforting to know God is in control instead of me.  I've learned the hard way, that if I want to have the emotional and spiritual pantry stocked at the end of the day, I need to meet with God in the morning before the busy day begins.  I need to be reminded throughout the day of His gracious love and encouragement through scripture memory, praise songs, and Bible verses plastered anywhere I can stick them.  Then, at the end of the day, I need more time to just pour out my heart, express my gratitude for His many blessings (that sometimes I didn't even notice until the end of the day), and ask for wisdom and guidance for the next day (because only God knows what tomorrow will look like).  I find, when I do these things... I've got more than enough to offer anyone who shows up at my dinner table!  Oh and, Timothy-my love, if you are reading this, there's still nothing to make a meal with at home, but we can go grocery shopping together after you take me out to eat tonight.

New Year- New Start!

I love the idea of a new year, a blank calendar, and a fresh start.  It's easy this time of year to think of all the "I wish I" statements.  "I wish I" had spent more time exercising.  "I wish I" cooked healthier meals for my family.  "I wish I" actually cooked meals for my family instead of eating quick on-the-go meals from fast food restaurants EVERY night of the week.  "I wish I" spent more time with my precious family and less time folding huge piles of laundry, working and stressing and stressing some more, checking Facebook--- constantly, scrolling through Pinterest and wondering why I can't be as creative and resourceful as THOSE people.   Anybody else with me here?  Well, that's why I love Philippians 3:13-14. I can put my flaws and failures behind me and press on to the path God has for me (and it's okay if my path looks differently than my friends or those unattainable people on Pinterest).  Our Heavenly Father loves us, forgives us, and gives us a brand new hope and a future.  He doesn't just give us a fresh start once a year on January 1, but every day of our lives.  For that I am truly thankful!!  Press on my sweet friends!