You Never Let Go

For those of you who weren't at River Stone tonight, I wanted to share with you another sweet story about my son. This week, Jason took Jacob to the store with him for a while to give me some well deserved alone time. On their way back home Jacob started singing one of the songs we sing at River Stone. He knew the whole song. I really don't know how, except hearing us rehearse on Sunday afternoons---crazy kid!!! The words of this song have been such a blessing to us over the course of the last few weeks. Satan has been attacking us more lately than ever before, but I consider it pure joy because I know that we have something worthy of attacking. But, the struggle is still hard. God chose to use once again, our beautiful boy, to bless us--so I hope the words of this song bless you as well (just imagine a precious 3 year old boy singing it).

You Never Let Go (Matt Redman)

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death
Your perfect love is casting out fear
And even when I'm caught in the middle of the storms of this life
I won't turn back, I know you are near

And I will fear no evil, for my God is with me
And if my God is with me,
Whom then shall I fear, whom then shall I fear?

O no, You never let go, through the calm and through the storm
O no, You never let go in every high and every low
O no, You never let go,
Lord, You never let go of me

And I can see a light that is coming for the heart that holds on
A glorious light beyond all compare
And there will be an end to these troubles, but until that day comes
We’ll live to know You here on the earth

Yes, I can see a light that is coming for the heart that holds on,
And there will be an end to these troubles, but until that day comes
Still I will praise You, still I will praise You

Because of Jesus Christ

Last night at church, Jacob's teacher came up to Jason and told him that he had asked Jacob's class, "How do you know that God exists?" (I know pretty deep for 3 yr. olds). He told Jason that Jacob's response was, "Because of Jesus Christ." Tears of joy and tears of pride welled up in me as I heard my husband tell me that story. Wow! My little boy may be little but he sure knows who Jesus is. Don't you wish you still knew Jesus the way you did when you were a kid. So innocent. So sweet. So child-like. Jesus still wants us to know him that way. My son reminded me of that last night. What an awesome answer. . .BECAUSE OF JESUS CHRIST!!!!!

New Adventure

I woke up early this morning and I couldn't go back to sleep so I spent some time with the Lord. I was reading my devotional and it was about Jesus being the "Famous One". In short, how we as Christ-followers tend to worship celebrities more than we worship Jesus Christ. I was immediately convicted. Those of you who know me know that I love movies and I love to learn interesting facts and trivia about movies, actors, actresses, TV shows, etc. My favorite website is imdb.com (Internet Movie Database) for crying out loud. I of all people needed to hear that this morning. Until now I didn't think that I worshipped celebrities that much and I don't BUT I do spend more time on that website than I probably do in my Bible to be real honest. So, as I was praying and reading, Jesus put a thought/challenge into my heart. What if I knew as much about the Bible as I do some of the celebrities I like? I know a lot about the Bible, but there is so much more I could learn, we all could! So because of this, I embarked on a new adventure today. . .

I have always wanted to read through the Bible and I have mostly, but I am a huge history buff so I wanted to read through it in order, chronologically. So this morning I started. I read some of Genesis then it goes straight to Job and back to Genesis. Cool huh! The things I read and the questions and thoughts that this reading provoked in me made me feel very good about my decision. I am going to challenge myself to be as knowledgeable about the Bible as I can. I realized over the past year or so that the way I was taught some things about the Bible weren't exactly accurate. I was challenged to look at it through a spiritual yet historical standpoint. As I read through the chapters today I discovered a whole other realm about the Bible I was missing and it felt incredible to sit and think and ponder why God did what he did, and his greatness and his love for me. The feeling is like nothing I have ever felt. As I was going through I would write down thoughts, questions, and cool things God was telling me. After I read as much as I could I went back through my questions and I found a great website to help me try and answer some of those questions.

To sum up: If any of you want to embark on this journey with me I would love knowing that there were others learning and studying along side of me. If you would like to do this with me leave me a comment so I can be praying for you too, if not, please pray for me as I begin this New Adventure in my life. Thanks!!!

Websites:
www.christianbeliefs.org/brs/biblereadingsch-01.html
www.christiananswers.net

Special Valentine

Since it's Valentine's Day in a week or so I thought I would post this. A friend of mine sent this to me and I cried. I have never seen this before. I began thinking about how we usually celebrate Valentine's Day with our spouse or significant other, but do we ever stop to think about how much God loves us. This Valentine's Day, let's not only celebrate the love we have for our spouses or boyfriends/girlfriends, but let's thank God for his love for us! I think this is an awesome picture of how God should truly be our first love. Read it again and let the words of this Special Valentine penetrate your heart.