This Boy

Worry is like a rocking chair; it will give you something to do but it won't get you anywhere. 

George Muller -The beginning of anxiety is the end of faith.  The beginning of true faith is the end of anxiety. 

All our fret and worry are caused by calculating without God.  

Anxiety distracts and divides the soul, that which divides us from duty to weary calculations of how to meet conditions that may never arrive. It's the habit of crossing bridges before we reach them. 

Owen's Pirate Party

Scavenger Hunt

Walk the Plank

Pinata

An Unstirred Christ from His Mercy is New

I'm In the world you will [not might, may or could] have tribulation.” John 16:33

Christ followers contract malaria, bury children, and battle addictions, and as a result, face fears. It’s not the absence of storms that sets us apart. It’s whom we discover in the storm: an unstirred Christ.” 

from the book Fearless by Mac Lucado

I don’t know about you, but I need an unstirred Christ in my life. I need His constant love and grace. I need the Rock of my salvation. I need His steady.

My inconsistency is desperate for the consistency of Christ.

My roller coaster of emotions longs for the steady faith of Jesus.

I think there is a good reason that the Bible mentions the ROCK of our salvation. As frail, sin-natured humans, what we really need most of all is our God, our Rock.

In the midst of our trials, God is faithful.

In the middle of relationships falling apart, God’s love is constant.

In the face of terrible sickness, The Great Physician knows best.

In the storm, He is sleeping. He is unafraid. He sees the big picture. He knows what is best for us. He has NO NEED to fear. None. No doubt, no questioning His Loving Father, no wondering what tomorrow might bring.

No fear. 

Sometimes I need the reminder that in this world we WILL face tribulation. We were never promised care-free lives with no troubles. In fact, I believe God uses the suffering to make us more like Jesus. We need the hard times to show us how desperate we are for Jesus.

May I learn from Jesus and live my life in bold faith with no fear for the future.

- See more at: http://mercyisnew.com/2016/02/19/an-unstirred-christ/#.dpuf

This is Soooo Hard for Me

From 15 Days in the Word With John Piper

Let Jesus Argue with Your Soul About Being Anxious

"We should be slow to treat Jesus as if he doesn’t know what he is doing. He is not naïve in the way he deals with our anxiety. In Matthew 6:25-34 he tells us three times not to be anxious (vv. 25, 31, 34) and gives us eight reasons not to be anxious.

Evidently he thinks this will help. So don’t call it simplistic. Call it grace. Believe him. Take every reason and preach it to your soul as true. Say,

“Soul, this is true. Jesus Christ says so. Trust him. He died for you. He loves you. He created you. He knows you. No one — no counselor, no pastor, no friend — knows as much about you as he does. Listen to him. Let these reasons sink in. Bank on them. Now, let’s get up and do what we need to do. Be gone anxiety.”

Here’s a summary of what he said:

1. Life is more than food and the body more than clothing (Matthew 6:25).

2. God feeds the birds and you are more valuable than they are (Matthew 6:26).

3. It's pointless. It adds not one hour to your life (Matthew 6:27).

4. If God clothes ephemeral grass, he will clothe eternal you (Matthew 6:28-30).

5. Unbelievers are anxious about stuff. And you are not an unbeliever (Matthew 6:32a).

6. Your father knows that you need all these things you're anxious about (Matthew 6:32b).

7. When you seek first God's kingdom and righteousness, what you need is added to you (Matthew 6:33).

8. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. Tomorrow's trouble stays there (Matthew 6:34)."

Hope - I stopped taking my anxiety meds about three weeks ago. They made me so sleepy I could barely function. All I wanted to do was sit in bed and watch tv. You all know that is not me.  I started taking the meds right after our car accident in early September. Initially I couldn't sleep, eat, or make myself get behind the wheel of the car. The meds helped, but I still struggled. I've always struggled with worrying. I worry about what my kids eat, what they wear, and mostly will they get sick. It is all about control. I am a control freak. I was also told that I have Obsessive Compulsive Personality Disorder, seriously. It is a bit different than OCD. 

This devotional was what I needed to hear, since I still can't wrap my mind around the fact that there is very little I can control and worrying about it certainly doesn't change anything. It's not that I don't have faith in God's goodness and perfect plan, but... I don't know. I'll keep praying about it. 

From 15 Days in the Word With John Piper

"And on his way to Calvary Jesus himself had legions at his disposal. "No one takes my life from me; I lay it down of my own accord" — of his own good pleasure, for the joy that is set before him. At the one point in the history of the universe where Jesus looked trapped, he was totally in charge doing precisely what he pleased — dying to justify the ungodly like you and me.

So let us stand in awe and wonder. And let us tremble that not only our praises of God's sovereignty but also our salvation through the death of Christ for us, hang on this: "Our God is in heaven; he does whatever he pleases.""

Psalm 135 1-6

“Praise the Lord! Praise the name of the Lord, give praise, O servants of the Lord, who stand in the house of the Lord, in the courts of the house of our God! Praise the Lord, for the Lord is good; sing to his name, for it is pleasant! For the Lord has chosen Jacob for himself, Israel as his own possession. For I know that the Lord is great, and that our Lord is above all gods. Whatever the Lord pleases, he does, in heaven and on earth, in the seas and all deeps.”

New Life & Spring

I love to see signs of spring especially on February 1st.  Ignore the weeds, that is a tulip emerging. ;)

How can you deny God's power when you see tiny life emerge from the ground after being in the ground for 8 months? That reminds me of Jesus in the ground  for three days. He is Risen!!!!