Fun and Faithful Tales

Saturday, September 4, 2010

GoG 218: The Day out on the Boat ... and a little Eclipse too!

Oh, what a good day!

A day out on the boat with Emily, Kathy, Josh, and Helen ...
And Eclipse with Emily and Mags :)

Oh, the grace in a day with friends :)

GoG 217: The Song!!!

Haha! The day camp on the Eastside was awesome! I was there for 3 days ... and we sang at the beginning of the day.

We "screamed" ... we even "danced" ... it was in the song to do so!
Soooo awesome!

GoG 216: The Compliment from Miss Laura

216 ....

Ms. Laura from the Eastside day camp was bragging on me. Saying I was a great volunteer ... and it made my day!!!

GoG 215: The Eastside Kids

Wow! I couldn't be more behind!!!!
So ... short and sweet, shall we?

GoG 215

A day with the kids on the Eastside!!!! :)

Thursday, August 26, 2010

Walking in the Spirit is not an easy task ....

Lord,
Why is it so hard to walk in the Spirit? I fall into the same sins over and over again. I feel remorse and ask for forgiveness over and over again. But why? Why, Lord? Why can't I get this right? I want to honor you. I want to be the best me I can be. I want to truly and completely walk in the FREEDOM you've given me. You set me FREE so that I could be FREE! So why am I not FREE? How can I get out of these sin habits? How can I throw off my selfish desires and want ... no, be desperate for what you desire for me?
Oh, Lord! I fail you oh, so often! How do I stop? And how do I start living all for you?
In SoZo last week, we talked about what it means to walk in the Spirit. We talked about reading your word and applying it to our lives - living it out each day. We talked about loving and encouraging your people - pointing them to you. We talked about seeking out the calling you've placed on our lives and then living it. These are ways that we can walk in the Spirit - part of what it means to walk in you. But Lord, it's gotta be more than that!
What? What, Lord, does it mean to really WALK IN THE SPIRIT?
Please teach me. Please continue to teach me each day to walk in you ... and to walk in you with all my heart! Help me flee from temptation that so often leads me into sin ... and sins that I've struggled with for such a long time. Help me get out of the sin once I've gotten myself into it. Don't let me keep wallowing, swimming, even basking in it, Lord! Oh, Jesus! Change me from the inside out! Whatever it takes, Lord, to make me more like you - do it!
Help me grow to my full potential ... to know you better and to love you more with each day, each moment ... and to honor you with every aspect of my life. And also, to gain and maintain an eternal perspective in all things. Oh, Lord ... keep convicting me. Keep encouraging me. Keep making me into the woman of God you desire me to be. I will never stop striving after you ... no matter how much opposition I face - within myself, within this world, withing my walk with you ... I will never give up serving and seeking and loving you. Teach me what it means to truly love you with all that is in me! Please forgive me, and make me stronger. Be glorified in me, Lord. I love you.

Saturday, August 21, 2010

GoG 214: The Productive Day ... again!

Another productive day ....

Filled out substitute teacher applications
Went to the license branch to buy my license plate for my new car
Deposited some money

It always feels good to be productive!

GoG 213: The Forever Friends

A few weeks ago, Mags facebooked me and Hannah about getting together for dinner or some hang out time. We ended up getting some dinner and watching Wildfire. And the grace in that is that Maggie is the one who initiated it. I know that you don't usually LOSE a friendship when your friends get married and start having kids ... I'm sure thankful that I haven't lost my friendship with Mags ... but it has changed. It has to ... there is no getting around it, I've learned. So it was great to have Mags initiate the night ... when she's busy with work, Oliver, and hanging out with Jared when he's home from longs weeks/weekends away from home.

Friends forever ... I really appreciate that!

GoG 212: The Yummy Cookies

Haha! So the first Sunday of the month, I made cookies for my SoZo kids. I took them out of the oven a bit earlier than usual ... and they were gooey and yummy. I was also hanging out with Jason and Melissa and the gang that day. So I split the cookies between the dinner at the Adamson's and youth group. And everyone who ate them went on and on about how good they were.

I made yummy chocolate chip cookies ... and that's just fun. :)

GoG 211: The Continuing Definition of Colossians 3:2

Ahh ... the continuing definition of Colossians 3:2 ... good stuff!

God has been pressing the idea of ETERNAL PERSPECTIVE on my heart and mind for months now. I've decided it is my new life-long goal ... to grasp an eternal perspective. Well, during some prep for Sunday's Sunday School lesson for the youth, I was thinking about the EP .... and God brought to mind the concept of Jesus holding all things together.

And so Colossians 3:2 - Set your mind on things above, not on earthly things ... and Colossians 1:16-17 - For by Him, all things were created, in heaven and on earthy, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities, all things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him, all things hold together .... are connected to each other.

Because ... Setting our minds on things above means to not only realize but trust that God is in control of all things. And in trusting that He is in control of all things is to understand that He holds everything together, makes everything work, and is worthy to be trusted.

I was thankful, on that day, to find a further understanding of what it means to really set our minds on the things above. Thank you, Jesus.