Words of Life ~

"Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good. Then they can train the younger women to love their husbands and children, to be self controlled & pure, to be busy at home, to be kind & to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the Word of God." Titus 2:3


"Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your strength and with all your mind and love your neighbor as yourself." Luke 10:27


"There is no commandment greater than these." Mark 12:31


These verses speak to me on almost a daily basis…..


I love you so much! I desire for you to have more fun, more joy, and more happy times than I ever even imagined having as a kid. I want to be wisdom for you, shelter for your hurting heart or tired bodies, strength to hold you up when you wear yourself out, & mostly I want to show you Jesus so that you can have the real wisdom, shelter & strength that can only be found in Him… and at the end of your childhood I want to be confident that I have instilled into you LIFE so that you can lead lives that will be honoring to our Savior.


There will be things that Daddy & I do that you will not understand. Our heart cry is that even if you don’t understand or don’t agree that you will rest in the protection of our leadership as your parents.


I am your mom & I love you but I also want to be your friend; someone that you feel comfortable coming to to share your joys, pains, fears & dreams… I want to be real to you.

Most of all, I pray that God will speak to you through His Word & that as you apply it to your heart God will use it to mold you into a beautiful vessel inside & out that brings glory & honor to His name!

I never imagined I could love you so ~ and I didn't realize that the years would fly by as they have ~ I am so grateful that God blessed us with you both & that we have the honor of being your parents!

~ Momi

Above all ~

"Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins."

1 Peter 4:8

O God, help me do this personally, help me demonstrate it genuinely, help this be how our immediate family lives and allow this love to penetrate every heart of our extended family.

Allow us to be difference makers ~ it seems like an impossible task ~

BUT YOU ARE MY GOD & I TRUST IN YOU ALONE!

After I read this in 1 Peter this morning, the first thing to play on the IPod was "I Choose Grace" by Twila Paris ~ coincidence? I don't think so. This is my prayer today. The enemy will not win ~ I choose grace!

I Choose Grace ~ Twila Paris

All alone in my own self will

Old familiar story

So determined to try until I fail

You’ve been waiting as I learn again

Straining to the pressure

And you offer me a better way

Hear me pray

Hear me say

I choose grace,

I choose mercy

I choose love and all it means

I choose grace, cause I need the power

And I need to walk in humility
Just how often have I let You down

And all the hope around me

Break a gentle heart along with mine

You keep holding out Your arms again

Just the way you found me

And you carry me across another line

Hear me cry

No more pride

I choose grace,
I choose mercy
I choose love and all it means
I choose grace, cause I need the power

And I need to walk in humility

I am growing weary of this foolish independence

I reach out for grace and I will reach out to extend it

I will reach out

I will reach out

I will reach out

I choose grace,
I choose mercy
I choose love and all it means
I choose grace, cause I need the power

And I need to walk in humility

Teach me to walk in humility

Fear...

7-3-08

I just got this today, WOW! I have been thinking this last week about what is my greatest fear & why I struggle so with it! It is a deep fear of loss ~ I just got it…. I AM BEING SELFISH & I AM NOT BEING JUST GRATEFUL for what the Lord has blessed me with! Instead of having the attitude of thanksgiving for the blessings, I take such ownership of them that I forget they are a gift, a blessings from the Most High… from my Father… my Good God!

O God, will you protect my heart, guard me from listening to the lies of Satan. Cause me to remember to count my blessings but not to hold onto them selfishly. I don’t want to be enslaved to the fear of loosing: Randy, girls, other people I love, friends, dreams, home, business, security, reputation, youth, beauty, health! To do that is to deny Christ, to deny You as my Savior! ~ Bexter

Isaiah 41:10 Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand!

Author: Elisabeth Elliot
Source: A Lamp For My Feet
The Fear of Loss

In C.S. Lewis' Screwtape Letters we see with startling clarity the cleverness of the enemy in deceiving human beings. Selfishness has a thousand forms, most of which we are slow to recognize for what they are. I was thinking about the fear of loss and what a stranglehold it can have on me. As I listed some of the things I dreaded to lose, it occurred to me that this fear is a deadly form of selfishness. Selfishness does terrible things to us, but it does not stop there. It does terrible things to others. "Saving our own skin" usually results in skinning somebody else. Think, for example, of the fear of losing: reputation, opportunity for advancement, credit, recognition, position, beauty, youth, health, money, the love of friends or children, compliments, popularity, security, privacy, rights, people you love, job, home, dreams, power. As I considered each of these separately, I began to think what sort of sin each kind of loss tempts me to commit. Then I thought about what kind of faith is required to enable me to commit those fears to God. Has He, in fact, made provision for these things? The list is not a list of sins--make no mistake about that. It is a list of blessings, of gifts from God. But to grasp them selfishly and greedily, to hang onto them fiercely and allow myself to be enslaved by the fear of losing them, is to deny Christ. Do not fear, He says to us. I am with you.