Are YOU feeling okay?

The flu has hit our home and of course has hit the little guys ALL at the same time! Oh my! The past 2 nights have been interesting! I will just leave it at that! :) When I have sick children, especially babies, I feel literally sick myself! Emotionally it really wears on me! I lay awake and listen to them coughing and I touch their hot little bodies and watch them sleep in my arms and I ache and long for them to be well!

Last night, as I was holding my 20 month old just laying on me because he felt so miserable! I began to have an image of how God feels when we are "ill".

Not ill in body, but ill in our spirit. When our bodies are sick, we do all that we can to make them feel better if possible! We will do things to get fevers down, take away the headaches, figure out a way to stop the cough or runny nose. Why? Because it is just plain miserable to have our flesh feel so "out of order"! But what do we do with our hearts when we are not living side by side with Jesus? Do we look and search with urgency to find something to "heal" us because we are so miserable? Do we even realize how "ill" we are or are we so used to being sick, that eventually we just get used to living for ourselves without giving a second thought to anyone else around us?

I'm not necesarrily talking about those big whopper, noticeable to all, mistakes! (Although those can count too!) I am talking about the things that subtly steal and pull us away from our first love. For me, it can be sleep, (or lack there of), computer, just plain selfishness and focusing on my needs instead of those around me. There are way to many others to mention!

As I pictured this image of me with MY child, I pictured Christ with us. Just as I love my babies soooo much and ache when they ache, God does the same with us. When His children hurt, He hurts! It says in Psalms 56:8 that "He holds our tears in a bottle". That means He cares about us and He loves us!

The romans had a tradition during funerals or mourning that they would literally collect their tears in a bottle and keep them for rememberence. Just as I desire for my child to feel well, Christ desires for us to be well! Our hearts more than our physical bodies! God desires for our hearts to be right more than our bodies, the body is temporary!
2Corinthians 4:18 says, “While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.” Our bodies are temporary, our souls are eternal!

God provides those of us who are healthy, an immune system to heal us when we are ill. He also provided us a way to heal our hearts! His word and just plain talking to him! (That would be called prayer!) When we turn to Him, we will have ALL we need!

Just as we grab the motrin or tylenol when our bodies are sick, we can look to the world for things to "heal" our sick hearts, but they are only temporary fixes! We can look to the world to satisfy us through material things, TV, computer, over or under eating, focusing on our outward appearance, getting more "stuff", shopping, even looking to our husbands instead of God for our worth,(something else I will get into another time!), and many other things. As we do that, God looks at us lovingly and aches! He knows what we need!

Just as our immune systems knows what to do in our fleshly bodies! ( That's why we get fevers! ) We are fighting an infection of some kind. Our hearts need Him and only Him! Love Him with all your heart and begin to allow Him to heal your heart! Just as we desire so much for our children to be well, God desires us to be "well" and it hurts Him when we are not! He is willing to do whatever it takes! He loves us and wants us as close to Him as we can possibly be while on this earth! Just as it says in James 4:8 Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded. Why do we do this? Because He knows what we need to stay healthy on this earth so we can be with Him forever in eternity!

He is only a simple word away, JESUS! Just call on His name! He will not turn His ear, but will listen and be there to heal you! Read what John 14:13 says, And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. The Bible DOES not lie! It is the infallible word of God! God cannot lie! Trust Him! Believe Him! Follow Him! He loves you, you are His child and He is holding you!

Generations of love!

This is my dear sweet grandma that I wrote about a while back.

The one God is STILL using after 93 years, to teach ME about Him!

The pure joy she shows by just being with us!

Oh, to savor and remember these moments forever!

Truly what life is about! The countless times she gave of herself for us!

Those wrinkled, precious old hands are only proof to me that she too once knew that it was

never supposed to be about her either!
I am so thankful for the beautiful display of God's love she has shown me through the years

and how God is even using her today and she doesn't even know it! Oh how I hope my children will some day rise up and call me blessed the way I do her!

May we pass on a God legacy that will continue for generation after generation!

Ayson Update...

This is the little one that has FILLED our home with more joy...

...more laughter and simplicity,

...yes, less sleep for mom, but that really is beside the point!

More babies, means less thinking of my needs! That is good!

It never was supposed to be about me anyway!


Ayson is 4 months now and it is a cliche sometimes, but I really do not know where time has gone! A year ago, I was 7 weeks pregnant and already waiting and anticipating his arrival! It seemed to take FOREVER for the next 31 weeks to pass, and now...19 weeks AFTER his birth, I am watching him roll over, smile, giggle and notice ALL the activity around him!

And after 10 other blessings before him, he has still found ways to astound me! When he smiles at me, it is as joyous as when 16 years ago, my first child gave me HIS first smiles! The way he squeals in delight when I go to his crib in the morning to get him! It is pure joy for him and me!!

He also astounds me how he literally throws up most of his feedings and I must always carry an extra shirt for me in HIS diaper bag and how he WILL NOT sleep through the night! (He is the first out of 10 to give us those little surprises!) But that is okay! I know that soon that will pass and the ability to delight him by just my presence will fade. So for now,I am going to give him extra kisses, take extra pictures, and treasure a whole lot more, his "babiness"! It just passes by WAY to quick!

I love you my sweet little Ayson!

God's love!

Took me awhile to get this done. I said I would be back soon, but I guess not so soon! I have said I would not let anything come before God and it really is amazing how hard it is to make a conscious effort to put Him first at times when I have other things I want to accomplish! I now feel it is time to begin to disciple my readers on some things He has been doing in my heart.

Last time I posted, I asked for you to think about what it means to love God with all your heart, mind and soul. That is the first question that God stirred up in my heart many weeks ago. I first began to jot down all the answers I had.

Here are some of them:

• put Him first
• be kind to others
• obey Him
• die to myself
• hate evil
• seek His wisdom and use it
• humbleness
• think first (tame the tongue) not an easy thing for me!

After jotting things down from MY thoughts, over the next few days, I began to search His word to see what He had to say. I was very curious to see if I would come up with more or if the ones I had written down, were found in the Bible. Then an unexpected thing happened. He had me LIVE an example what it means when He says in His word that He LOVES ME!

My grandma is in a nursing home an hour away from my parents so I stopped by on my way home to have a quick visit and brighten her day. Little did I know, God would use her to brighten mine!

My four year old was with me and he made his entrance first with me following behind him. I saw her notice him, although she was not sure who he was, she just knew he was a cute little person! She smiled big! Then she looked up and saw MY face! She is in a wheelchair, so she can't come running to me, but if elderly people in wheelchairs could fly, she would have gone miles with the way her arms were flapping when she recognized me, her precious grand-daughter! The smile on her face and how here eyes welled up with tears, just at the sight of me is something I will NEVER forget! She said, "Oh Heather! I have missed you! Thank you for coming!" My grandma does not have much short term memory left so I never know how she is going to be when I visit. She is always excited to see me, but this time was extraordinary! We then held hands, chatted for awhile, gave our parting hugs and my son and I went on our way.

Later in the car, God began to speak to my heart. I had been searching how I can show Him I love Him with all MY heart, but He began to unravel what I need to do for Him to love ME! I began to recollect the time I had just spent with my dear, sweet grandma. Tears began to well my up in MY eyes! He spoke ever so gently and helped me realize, that as it was with my grandma, all I have to do for Him to love me, is to BE there! I did absolutely nothing but walk in a door where my grandma was. Her excitement to see me was so awesome! I felt like the most loved person in the world at that moment! I did not have to bring her a gift, bake her some cookies, or do ANYTHING for her to love me at that moment! All I had to do was BE there! I could have not stopped by to visit. It was my choice to take the time to go, that is all I did! That is exactly how it is with God and us! He just loves us because we are His! We don't have to give Him anything or do anything for Him to love us! He says to us, "Oh my child, I love you! I am so glad you have come to see me!" (Sometimes unfortunately, He must say to me, "I have missed you!" ) For one of the first times in my life, I realized what it was to truly understand a tiny bit, what it truly means to be loved by God!

Proverbs 2:10&11

When wisdom enters your heart, and knowledge is pleasant to your soul, discretion will preserve you; understanding will keep you!

I am so thankful for the REALNESS of God! How he uses our daily lives, to teach us things about Him! After 93 years, he is still using my grandma for His glory! How glorious that is! Today, just BE! That is all you have to do for Him to love you! That is ALL! Thank Him for that! You are His!

Stay tuned for more of seeing what it means to love God!! For now, just continue to BE with Him!

Happy Birthday, Mom!

 

Happy Birthday, Mom :)
You are the best mom in the world. Your love for your husband and children is obvious. Your love for God is real, and contagious. You do your best to raise your children in a godly and selfless way. You teach with your words and with your actions. You are a wonderful example of what a Christian mother and wife should be. Like every other parent in the world, you're not perfect, but the job of raising up a bold(and large, in your case!) army for God only requires for one to be perfect, God.
There are many opportunities during the day when you could choose to be selfish, and nobody would blame you for it, but you consistantly choose to serve, not to be served. You pour everything you have into your family. Joyfully. Selflessly. Lovingly. Beautifully.
As Proverbs 31 describes the virtuous wife and mother, you also strive to be the wise and resourceful woman described in the chapter. Your worth IS far above rubies. Your children ARE rising up and calling you blessed. Your family appreciates you.
This is a birthday post for you, Mom. We want you to know that you are loved, appreciated and needed. Thank you for all that you do!
-Your 11 Arrows(Written by Adria)

Today, think of what this means to you, "love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and mind".

That is where God began with me and continues to work on in my heart. He gave me some answers but I would like you to think about this first and maybe jot down some ideas or scriptures in the next couple of days. Pray and ask God to reveal His answer to you.

This is my scripture I have been praying:

Let the words of my mouth and the mediatation of my heart, Be acceptable in Your sight. Oh Lord, my strength and my Redeemer! Psalm 19:14

You may leave your thougts on my comments or just keep them by your bible. Enjoy meditating on this thought, you WILL be blessed! I will be filling you in on what He has shared with me,

soon...

Back? Stay tuned!

Oh how I have missed this! God has been so good and faithful in the past couple of weeks! I must share some things that He has taught me and do some catching up. However, He has given me some clear direction on when and what I share on my blog. I will soon be posting on some things I have learned.

I am so thankful that He has lead me to blog again and share the things on HIS heart!

Stay tuned...

Good-bye for now!

For weeks now, God has been dealing with my heart on MANY issues! Way too many to cover in a post. In fact, most He is still dealing with me on so to even begin to talk about them would be way to premature!

One of the things, probably the most important is how do I love Him? Do I love Him with all of my heart, mind and soul? And if I say I do, am I showing Him that by my choices I make? Do the choices I make reflect my answer?

Well, I have discovered I have lost the joy of my first love. HIM! I am no longer choosing Him over everything else! I am choosing everything else over Him! My heart cannot take it any longer! I am not down or guilt ridden! In fact, I am excited to see what He is going to do now that He has brought it to my attention.

Everything has been a struggle lately. From parenting, to my time alone with God and EVERYTHING in between. My attitude has just been plain horrible! To my kids, husband and God! I was reading the other day in Proverbs 2:10&11-When wisdom enters your heart, And knowledge is pleasant to your soul, Discretion will preserve you; Understanding will keep you.

I have been given wisdom from Him that has made me aware that all the things I am struggling with is because I am not loving Him with all my heart! From that, I need to go to Him to help me with all my life holds.

One of the things I have been convicted of is how I spend my time. This thing sitting on my lap, (and it is not one of my children) :)is becoming between my relationship with Him and just about every other relationship in my life. Now is it the computer that is the problem? No, it is me and the choices I have been making. I questioned one day, if everytime I got on the computer, I would read a bible verse, how many bible verses a day would I read? Many! So I decided to do that and the more bible verses I started to read, the less I wanted to be on the computer! The more and more convicted I was to take a "blogatical". Not only a "break" from my blog, but from anything that has come between my first love and me! Easy? No! But the rewards will be many and I am already seeing the fruits! Spending more time with my children and making them a priority in my daily life more than I have been has been great! I want to make sure that they know my computer is NOT a relationship and has no value! Only relationship with God and the people He has brought into my life are of value!

I have had great things God has shown me through other people from their blogs and I appreciate that so much! I can also say that I have had things that have made me feel uncontent. The "REAL" post I did a while back has all been part of the process for me! That was because of some issues God was speaking to my heart on. I am who I am, that is all He has created me to be, but because I have going on what I know, and not giving Him my first of everything, I have suffered!

So my readers, I leave you for today until...well, I don't know when! Maybe I will not return to the blog world and maybe I will return every once in awhile. Not sure yet and I am not making a plan. God will let me know His direction and I will follow.

For now I am going to rest in Him and trust in Him and begin to go back to my first love, HIM!

The people who have contacted me on my comments page, I will continue to pray for you! I feel a spriritual bond with you and I thank God for that! And if you would, please continue to pray for me! I will need it as I daily search for Him and His plan for me and my family! Maybe you will hear from me again and maybe we won't ever meet until the day we stand before our Savior. Whatever the case may be, take care and continue to live for Him and Him only!

Deuteronomy 11:11&12
"but the land which you cross over to possess is a land of hills and valleys, which drinks water from the rain of heaven, a land for which the Lord your God cares; the eyes of the Lord your God are always on it, from the beginning of the year to the very end of the year.

If we obey His commandments, He will bring blessings from heaven directly to us! How sweet! For now, I am going to enjoy basking in His blessings and rain from heaven!!