Fullness of Joy

Thou will show me the path of life. In Thy presence is fullness of joy. At Thy right hand there are pleasures forevermore.

Psalm 16:11

God's readiness to hear our prayer...

"Before they call I will answer; while they are yet speaking I will hear."
~ Isaiah 65:24

O God, how sweet and amazing it is to me that You promise to answer my cry BEFORE I call to You & that You hear my needs, the desires of my heart before I speak!

From this I am reminded of how eager my Father is to hear from me, have fellowship with me, to answer my cries to Him. I am so thankful that Christ is my advocate before the Father, reminding Him that He paid the price for my sin. Another incredible thing to me is that the Holy Spirit cries out with deep groaning on my behalf to the Father, especially when I do not know what to pray! Isn't it amazing how God made provisions for our weakness?!

"The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God - and if children, then heirs- heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ..." ~ Romands 8: 16

" Lkewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words."
~ Romans 8:26

Jesus, I Am Resting, Resting

Jesus, I am resting, resting,

In the joy of what Thou art;

I am finding out the greatness

Of Thy loving heart.

Thou hast bid me gaze upon Thee,

And Thy beauty fills my soul,

For by Thy transforming power,

Thou hast made me whole.

Jesus, I am resting, resting,

In the joy of what Thou art;

I am finding out the greatness

Of Thy loving heart.

O, how great Thy loving kindness,

Vaster, broader than the sea!

O, how marvelous Thy goodness,

Lavished all on me!

Yes, I rest in Thee, Belovèd,

Know what wealth of grace is Thine,

Know Thy certainty of promise,

And have made it mine.

Jesus, I am resting, resting,
In the joy of what Thou art;
I am finding out the greatness
Of Thy loving heart.


Simply trusting Thee, Lord Jesus,

I behold Thee as Thou art,

And Thy love, so pure, so changeless,

Satisfies my heart;

Satisfies its deepest longings,

Meets, supplies its every need,

Compasseth me round with blessings:

Thine is love indeed!

Jesus, I am resting, resting,

In the joy of what Thou art;

I am finding out the greatness

Of Thy loving heart.

Ever lift Thy face upon me

As I work and wait for Thee;

Resting ’neath Thy smile, Lord Jesus,

Earth’s dark shadows flee.

Brightness of my Father’s glory,

Sunshine of my Father’s face,

Keep me ever trusting, resting,

Jesus, I am resting, resting,

In the joy of what Thou art;

I am finding out the greatness

Of Thy loving heart.

Puritan Prayers... Contentment

Heavenly Father, if I should suffer need, and go unclothed, and be in poverty, make my heart prize Thy love, know it, be constrained by it, though I be denied all blessings. It is Thy mercy to afflict and try me with wants, for by these trials I see my sins, and desire severance from them. Let me willingly accept misery, sorrows, temptations, if I can thereby feel sin as the greatest evil, and be delivered from it with gratitude to Thee, acknowledging this as the highest testimony of Thy love.


When thy Son, Jesus, came into my soul instead of sin He became more dear to me than sin had formerly been; His kindly rule replaced sin's tyranny. Teach me to believe that if ever I would have any sin subdued I must not only labour to overcome it, but must invite Christ to abide in the place of it, and He must become to me more than vile lust had been; that His sweetness, power, life may be there. Thus I must seek a grace from Him contrary to sin, but must not claim it apart from Himself.


When I am afraid of evils to come, comfort me by showing me that in myself I am a dying, condemned wretch, but in Christ I am reconciled and live; that in myself I find insufficiency and no rest, but in Christ there is satisfaction and peace; that in myself I am feeble and unable to do good, but in Christ I have ability to do all things. Though now I have His graces in part, I shall shortly have them perfectly in that state where Thou wilt show Thyself fully reconciled, and alone sufficient, efficient, loving me completely, with sin abolished. O Lord, hasten that day.

How Grateful I Am....

"How grateful I am, and how I praise the Lord that you are concerned about me again. I know you have always been concerned for me, but for a while you didn't have the chance to help me. I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little. For I can do everything with the help of Christ who gives me the strength I need. But even so, you have done well to share with me in my present difficulty. As you know, you Philippians were the only ones who gave me financial help when I brought you the Good News and then traveled on from Macedonia. No other church did this. Even when I was in Thessalonica you sent help more than once. I don't say this because I want a gift from you. What I want is for you to receive a well-earned reward because of your kindness. And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus. May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit."

(Phil 4:10-23 NLT, selected verses)

The Prescription for Worry

We can't add a minute to our life by worrying. Simply put, worry is useless. I am prone to worry somewhat about myself but endlessly over [my children]. All our worry in the name of love can accomplish absolutely nothing. But all our praying in the name of Jesus could entreat God to accomplish anything. When will we learn to turn our worry effort into prayer?
Christ's remedy for worry is to be like the ravens and lilies ~ trust God to do His job (Luke 12:2526).

The prescription for worry is trust. Trust comes to those who take God at His Word.

Beth Moore
Excerpted from
Glimmers of Grace: Sparkling Reminders to Encourage You
© 2008 Women of Faith, Inc. All rights reserved.

It would have been enough....

This is an old letter to our friends & family after we moved in 2007 ~ it is a needed reminder of God's faithfulness to us, an necessary kick in the pants to realign my focus to His purposes & that all things may not seems good, but that God in His incredible love & plan work all things together for good for us, because we are called by Him... when will we see the good?... now, a short season, sometime in our lifetime or on the otherside of this life once we are face to face with our Redeemer ~ only God knows His perfect timing. I am called to trust, to have faith, to believe, to rest FULLY in & on my Savior! It is so simple yet so hard. It sounds & is so freeing, but is such a struggle with my sinful self. Why do I continue to battle over these same struggles day after day? Because sin is at war, but I will take heart ~ He has overcome sin & death! He has WON the victory!!

Monday, May 28, 2007

It would have been enough...

Do not be impatient for the Lord to act, travel steadily along the path and

He will give you the land.

~ Psalm 37:34

A friend shared this verse with our family as an encouragement over 2 years ago when we thought that the Lord was directing our family to move to the coast. Many times over the last 2 years have we remembered this verse & been reminded of God's faithfulness to our family. God's faithfulness to our family has not just been one of "God I WANT….." & God says "Okay… your wish is my command" but it has been a continuation of a journey where God continues to teach us of His holiness, sovereignty, power, grace, mercy, love & so many more facets of His character. He continues to mold each of us into His image.

Over the last 5 years, especially, we have been awed at God's deep love for us as He brought us through MANY seasons in the wilderness. Just like the Israelites, it would have been enough if God had just delivered us out of the difficulties ~ but instead He knew for us to become more like Him we needed to walk a road that wasn't quite as easy.

It would have been enough if God had provided work for our businesses but in addition to providing work, He has also provided favor before men & opportunities that far exceed any of our wildest imaginations! He continues to grow our trust in His as we wait on His timing for work ~ but He has always provided our needs.

It would have been enough if God had provided a church home for our family but He also provided a church home at just the right time (it didn't feel like the right time to us… we had been searching for almost 2 years) You see God brought us to Briarwood just about 6 weeks before Mom was diagnosed with leukemia. Briarwood is Mom's church, us being there enabled us to better meet Mom & the girls needs. Isn't it amazing how God works all the details out!

It would have been enough if God had healed Mom instantly by bringing her Home to heaven ~ but instead His best plan for our lives was that we care for one another & learn to live VERY close together (all of my siblings that were at home & Mom with us… in our tiny house!) His best was that Mom would persevere while still on Chemo & complete her last semesters of nursing school, be with her Mom & Dad before their deaths and be at the wedding of Mary Margaret & Chad.

It would have been enough that Mom could be back on her own & be able to work as a nurse ~ but God's beautiful plan would have her become a nurse on the oncology floor ~ where she can minister to others who are going through the fight against cancer. Wow… God is so good.

It would have been enough if God had allowed us to love on my grandmother while she lived in an assisted living facility ~ but because God made us available our family was allowed the privilege of walking the last stretch of Mama's life with her as she lived with our family. She taught us many things ~ she demonstrated deep gratitude & love ~ she allowed us to care for her when she wasn't able to do it herself. We were blessed to be a front row audience as hundreds of people "rose up and called her blessed". We learned about her fervent prayer for those God placed on her heart & how those prayers affected those people. God gave us deep love for Mama & the time we were together continues to impact our lives a year after her death & I know will continue to impact our lives for many more years!

It would have been enough if God had just provided a place for us to care for my grandmother, but in addition to that He brought just the right buyer to buy our home in Trussville ~and then we continued to be reminded of that verse from Psalm 37 ~ Don't be impatient….. it was so hard after Mama died to remain at 1872. The memories of the last 6 weeks of Mama's life were very difficult to keep in check. We just didn't understand why were weren't finding a home & we were beginning to ask God, " Surely you wouldn't call us to sell our house, move our family & care for Mama with reckless abandon, to bring us to a place where we were going to pay double or triple what we paid for our house originally to get a house in much more need of repair. We looked at 1000's of homes, over months & months. Again… God's timing for us was perfect ~ just 6 short weeks ago we just "happen" to come across a neighborhood in Calera. There were a number of things on our list ~ things we needed in our home. And then, there were the things we all dreamed about having…

It would have been enough for God to provide for our exact needs ~ but in our new home He provided far beyond what we could have ever hoped or dreamed for. It is in a new neighborhood just south of Birmingham. We never dreamed we would buy a NEW house! It has just enough room for our family, with room for us to continue to run our business from home. We have almost an acre & a half with an option to purchase the lot beside us in the future. This area is just beginning to explode & our house actually has been finished for almost a year. God's timing was perfect & at just the right time He led us to our new home. We got an incredible deal ~ with many special extras because the builder had been improving the house as it continued to sit unsold. It is almost as though God picked it out "just for us"!

On April 13th we closed on our new house. As of the middle of this week we are officially moved in! We are in awe of God's amazing provision for our family! We are so thankful for how He has worked in our hearts & lives. We beg Him to keep us in the fire so that daily we will be refined to be a vessel able to be used by Him.

This season seems to be one that we are feeling lavished with love…. There are still many facets of our lives that are tender & painful ~ we know that your lives are the same way. We ask that you rejoice with us & thank God for His tender precious mercies & we will continue to be before the throne on your behalf. We thank God for you & how He has used you in our lives!

We hope you will come see us at our new home! You are ALWAYS welcome & we would love for you to come by when you pass this way!