Trust Me

I generally pride myself (mistake #1) in being a rather self-composed woman…if such a thing exists.  I usually don’t get upset when “bad things” happen and I try to keep the “bad” or “stupid” things to a minimum.  I always try to completely think through every decision and weigh every option for each and every possible benefit or consequence.  I try to be as careful as possible in everything I do so that I don’t screw up.  I hate screwing up.  To me, screwing up means failure.  Sometimes when a small stupid thing creeps in to my life, I can handle it with grace and composure.  Like I said, I pride myself in being self composed.

I’m sure you’ve heard the Proverbs 16:18 Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall. Over the last 2 months, I fell…quite a few times.  I don’t mean literal falls rather intense spiritual and emotions falls.  It all began with my mother’s health.  The woman who is always so strong for everyone else and who takes care of everyone else now requires our help.  I began to worry about the “What ifs.”  God blessed her and began healing her body. 

Trust Me…

Jerrad and I have such a wonderful relationship with each other.  About 3 1/2 weeks ago, we traded out vehicles so that he could haul my lawnmower to his house.  The last thing he said before he left was “Don’t let anything happen to my truck.”  A funny thought crossed my mind…wouldn’t it be funny if he wrecked my vehicle.  It sure wasn’t funny when he called at 6:41am telling me he had just had a wreck in my vehicle.  After the initial shock of a relatively minor accident passed, I began to worry again.  The self-proclaimed, self-composed women isn’t so much anymore.  I’m in near-hysterics at 7:59am on a school day.  My insurance is going to go up…how will we pay for this…what will i drive…

Trust Me…

So I get a rental vehicle.  It’s actually a quite nice dodge truck.  I opt not to purchase the $12.99+ tax per day supplemental insurance.  Afterall, I’ve never had an at fault accident and the only accident I’ve ever had was almost 10 years ago.  On Sunday, I hit a mailbox.  Since there was as car coming in the opposite direction and in my lane, the mailbox lid was open, and on a narrow two-lane road, the trooper was nice enough to write it as the other person’s fault.  I’m hysterical once again.  I’m so upset by everything, I end up taking Monday off to “recover.”  I get a phone call from my insurance company informing me that I have met my $500 limit for the rental vehicle.  Then I get another call from the rental company telling me that not only has my $500 max ended, it ended 3 days earlier.  So now I owe a $250 deductible for the first accident, a $200 deductible for the 2nd accident, and a $107 charge for the 3 days insurance didn’t cover the rental.  And somehow I’m supposed to pay all of this at once, in addition to my car insurance ($350/6mos), my car taxes, pay for the 3 rounds of bloodwork taken last week, and help pay for a wedding.

I broke down.  Monday I fussed at God.  Althought his voice wasn’t techinically audible, I heard every word.  The conversation went something like this:  “What do you want from me?” I asked (yelled).  Trust Me.  Seriously, God, what do you want from me?  Trust Me.  But God, I do trust you!  Do you really?  Yes, I do!  Trust Me completely.  Yes, I trust you completely…ok maybe not completely.  But I’m trying to trust you.  You’re not trying hard enough.  Ok God, teach me to trust you.  Help me to trust you with the little things and with the big things.  And then our conversation was over.

That was it!  That’s what HE wants from me.  Every day in every part of my life he wants me to Trust Him!  Since Monday, when I feel anxious or begin to worry, I heard his voice again…Trust Me.

Trust Me….

Prayer of Wisdom

Yesterday Jerrad and I visited his grandmother at the nursing home.  She’s been there for a couple of years not but enjoys begin there.  We don’t get the opportunity to visit her often but when we do, there are a few standards.  First, Jerrad must play the guitar for her.  She keeps on old guitar by her bed for her guests to play.  She’s the one who taught him how to play.  Second, I must sing while Jerrad plays.  Third, she has to brag to everyone about her “grandson who makes music.”  Last night she pulled one on us.  Before we left she grabbed Jerrad’s hand and started to pray.  I can’t remember exactly what she said but it went something like this…

Dear Lord, thank you for Jerrad and his girlfriend.  Thank you for our family and thank your for the fellowship we had today.  And Lord I love you.  And Lord I love them.  And Lord please help them to love You like I do.  Amen.

Needless to say, we were brought to tears.  What a beautifully simple prayer!  Sometimes I think we all need to pray a little more like that.  “Lord help me to love You better.”  Doesn’t that sum up our Christian life!  Let’s just love Him better.

About 2 weeks ago, I wrote about how I want the Lord to be as real to me as He is to my Papa.  I want to combine the prayers or Papa and Jerrad’s grandma.

Dear Lord, please help me to see you and feel you as real as my Papa does and Lord, please help me to Love you better.

A Trip to the Airport

Waiting for "Pop's Plane" to take off.

Waiting for "Pop's Plane" to take off.

Today my dad left for a business trip to Mexico City, Mexico.  I accompanied my mom and my 4 year old nephew to drop Dad off at the airport.  Of course Will insisted on waiting to see “Pop’s plane” take off.  If you’ve never taken a young child to the airport, you’ve got to do it.  He was mesmerized by the planes and ground equipment. 

On another note, please pray for my dad while he’s gone.  Mexico City is known for crimes against tourists.  The last time he was there, a coworker’s purse was stolen from the hotel restaurant while they were eating.  He’s not even allowed to leave the hotel or the plant without an escort.  The plant also has no air conditioning.  Please pray for his safety in Mexico and the return flights.

The Spirt of the Lord

I usually sing with the music minister at my church whenever we do Praise and Worship music during a service.  I’ll have to admit that sometimes my worship is somewhat fake.  I believe the words I’m singing, but sometimes I’m hindered by other things going on in my mind at the time.  But tonight…Oh tonight…things were much different.  We were singing one of my all time favorite songs, “Shout to the Lord” by Darlene Zschech.   I could feel God’s presence when I started to sing.  But as I got to the second verse, I began to shake and cry.  I almost couldn’t finish the words.  I closed my eyes, and raised my hands (something unusual in a Baptist church) and let the power of the Holy Spirit take over in my life.  I don’t remember the song.  I just remember God’s presence and power in me at that time.  It has been years since I felt that same overwhelming presence.  It was so awesome…so humbling…so moving. 

Father, I pray for your presence in my life daily.  I pray that I can feel you move in me like that more often.  And I pray that you awaken a revival in this church where people feel you and truly worship you.  You are so amazing Lord, and I thank you for all that you do in my life.

A Must Read

I stumbled across this blog site today as I was searching for some new music.  As I was flipping through the internet pages of Selah’s website (my favorite group), I found this link: Prayer for Todd and Angie Smith.  Todd is the guy from Selah with the strong deeper voice (very similar to my brother’s voice).  Anyway, I clicked on the link, then another that led me to a blog…an uplifting and heartwrenching blog about a family who found out that their unborn child would not survive.  The link below is a link to the first post made by Angie.  I read through most of these blogs and found myself in tears yet somehow uplifted at the unbelievable faith of this Godly woman and her husbad. 

I know that sometimes in my life I tend to feel defeated and exhausted.  But there’s nothing I’ve ever been through that can come close to this situation. I can only hope and pray that if I was ever to be faced with a situation such as this, that I would have the same faith and hope that this family has.

Read it.  Make sure to have tissues on hand.

The Beginning of the Story

The Church of Oprah Exposed

I’ve always assumed that Oprah was a believer in Jesus Christ. Watch this video. Evidently she isn’t what I have always believed her to be.  It should be disturbing to any of us who are Christians that we idolize people with beliefs such as these. Just watch the video. You’ll be as shocked as I was.

And I encourage you to be careful of what you watch on TV.  Sometimes we don’t realize how are minds are being brainwashed to believe as these people do. 

from youtube.com posted with vodpod

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to all of you!  I pray that you all are filled with blessings and joy during this season and that you remember the real reason for the season…the birth of our Lord, Jesus Christ.

It is finished!

In what is being hailed as record time, I have finished my Christmas shopping.  I have NEVER finished my Christmas shopping before Christmas Eve.  It never fails that I have one last gift to buy at the very last minute.  Daddy and I have a Christmas Eve tradition of finishing up our shopping.  Last year I did ALL my shopping on Christmas Eve but that was mainly because that was because we had lost my uncle to a battle with cancer.  All of us finished our shopping on Christmas Eve.  Thankfully, I finished last night.  It’s a great feeling to be finished ahead of time!

Refreshing Evening

While my aunt and uncle were moving into their new home, my mom decided to keep their 2 girls plus my youngest nephew at the house.  They decided to make homeade pizzas and bake cookies.  It was the biggest mess I have seen in quite a long time (can you imagine two 3 year olds with flour, dough, and pizza sauce?).  It was so fun watching those kids play with their food.  It was really refreshing.

Then, I went with our Ladies’ circle to a Progressive Dinner.  We went to Suzanne’s for yummy appetizers.  She made this yummy cream cheese and basil pesto spread, bruschetta (sp?), salsa, cheese dip and chips.  After we stuffed ourselves there, Lethea delighted our tummies with lasagna.  Kelley, Kim, Stacey, and me reminisced about the “good ol’ days) and I even won a pumpkin in a candy corn counting contest (there were 710 and I guessed 732).  Our final stop was coffee and dessert with Donna.  There we began sharing what we were thankful for.  It turned into quite an emotionally charged yet spirit-filled “program.”  Overall there were 19 ladies enjoying a great time of food, fellowship, and worship. 

It was a wonderful evening with a great time of refreshment and relaxation.  I definitely need more evenings like this!

Praises

I woke up early this morning, got to school early this morning and now I’m sitting alone in my classroom with about 10 minutes before the kids come in. Sitting in the silence, I’m overwhelmed. Out of the sadness of the week comes a flooding of blessings to my heart. I almost feel silly sitting in here with tears in my eyes, but I can’t help it. I’m so thankful for everything the Lord has given me. My family–oh how important they are to me. Jerrad–I’ve been praying for him since college and here he is…exactly what I’ve always wanted. Friends. Job. Health. Intelligence. The Dry Littleton wit (yes I’m thankful for that!). A job I love. Kids I love. A healthy baby niece. Two precious nephews. The list goes on.

I read the Prayer of Jabez a few years back and prayed the same prayer. I truly believe God has honored my prayer.

“Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my territory! Let your hand be with me, and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain.” And God granted his request.” 1 Chronicles 4:10

Dear gracious Father. Thank you so much for the blessings you have given me. In times of grief and sadness it’s wonderful to be able to look to you and to the mighty things that you have done in my life…all the blessings that you bestow upon me every day. Father I pray that you continue to bless me and enlarge my territory. Keep me Lord, and keep me from harm and free from pain. Father I also pray the same blessings upon my friends and family. Thank you again Father for being the awesome God that you are.

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