Acts 4:12

"Nor is there salvation in any other name, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved." Some times people say that Christians are narrow minded, and to that I say, your right!!! Jesus is the only way to the Father. There are not many roads that lead to heaven, there is only one narrow road.

Jesus says in John 14:6, "I am the Way, the Truth and the Life, no one comes to the Father except through Me." Jesus is the Way: a travellers way, journey. Jesus is the Truth: this is truth in any matter under consideration. Jesus is the Life: the state of one who is possessed of vitality, the absolute fullness of life.

John 10:9 says, "I am the door, if any one enters by Me, they will be saved and will come in and out and find pasture." The Lord is the entrance to salvation and heaven. When we enter through that door we will be in the Lords pasture. Wow, that is where I want to be! Imagine what His pasture looks like, my needs will always be met no matter what they are.

In the bible we are compared to sheep. I can see myself in His pasture, happy, healthy and satisfied. But then I look over and see a patch of green grass off in the distance. It looks very inviting, deep down inside I hear voice telling me that I shouldn't leave the pasture. But something is drawing me, maybe there is something better over there that I am missing. So in all of my wisdom I decide that I'll just take a little jog over there, what could it hurt. As I start out, before I can leave the boundaries of the pasture, I feel a poke in my side. "OUCH" I yell. In my mind I am thinking who is poking me and why won't they stop!!! As I look up I am astounded to see my Shepherd, with His staff pointed right at me. "Why are You poking me," I ask. He tells me it's to protect me and keep me on the right path. In my mind I think, "how is jabbing my ribs going to help." The Shepherd answers my thoughts and says, "How else was I going to stop you from making the wrong decision and leaving the safety and protection of the pasture?" I say to Him, "well you could have just told me!" "Ah" He says, "but I did, in a still small voice." Oh how often I think that I know best. Why do I insist that my way is the best way and that there are greener pastures some where else? I am very thankful for the jab of the Lord keeping me in line and in His pasture of protection and safety.

Memorization

A couple of weeks ago I asked RJ to help me with scripture memorization. I am horrible at memorizing things so I thought it would be a good idea to ask for help. He can memorize quick, but sometimes has trouble remembering things. I can remember everything, but I have trouble memorizing. So we should be a good balance! :-)

So my first verse was Galatians 4:4, "But when the fullness of time was complete, God sent His Son, born of a woman, under the law." I love this verse because it points out that God sent His Son just at the right time. There were things that needed to be in place before He came to this earth to sacrifice His life for us. This encourages me to know that the Lord always has a plan, He is never late and never early. In my life certain things need to be in place before I can get married, I don't know what some of those things are but He knows. Then at that perfect time when everything falls into place, we will be able to move forward. Some times I'm tempted to ask why, but then I remember that the Lord has a plan!

My second verse was John 1:1-3, 14, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him and without Him nothing was made that was made. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld His glory, like the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth." Wow, this verse is full of great stuff. It wasn't as hard to memorize as I though, because I already knew the first part. God the Father sent Jesus (just at the right time) to this earth, to live among us, His creation. He, at that time was fully God and fully man. This verse says that He became flesh (that is man) and He had the Glory of the Father (that is God). Isn't that just amazing to think about, that Jesus Who created the world would come to His fallen earth to buy us back and sacrifice Himself for ME!!!! Wow, how could I not sacrifice my life on this earth for Him and live my life the way the He wants me to. My trials on this earth, though they might be difficult, are pale in comparison the Glory of the Lord. He has shown me so many new truths for my life and situations.

I'm glad that I am memorizing these verses because the Lord is teaching me so much through them. I can't wait for my next verse!!

It's about time!

Well I figured since it's been 3 months since my last blog maybe it's time to update. But there really isn't much to update, everything is pretty much the same! I had my 1 year check up from my surgery and everything is good! So I'm really happy about that!

I guess one thing I have been learning lately is that Gods ways are not our ways. DUH! His plans are always perfect, even though I don't understand it! I really look forward to the day that I will be able to look back on these trials, rather than be right in the middle of them. I know all of the reasons why we go through trials, the Lord has told us many reasons. But it doesn't really make going through trials any easier. Right now the Lord is my strength, He is the only One Who can really bring us through these tough times! I hope that when I am done with these trials He will say to me "well done my good and faithful servant." Although right now I just want out, I pray for strength to endure until the end!

So enough about trials, we just went to a friends mountain cabin for the weekend! It was so nice, we went on a really long bike ride (I almost died), watched movies and just hung out! I hope we can go back in the winter time when there is snow!

I am still making my felt flowers, I'm really excited for some of my new designs! I will have some pictures to post soon!

So I guess your all updated now. Please remember to keep my family in prayer, we could really use it!!

Eeeewwww

Well, we didn't even last 24 hours on our raw fruit and vegetable diet!

We felt nauseous, dizzy and sick all day!!! Finally at 7:00pm last night I said to RJ, "Can I please eat some real food now?" Ohhh, the first bite was glorious! I instantly felt better!

I have learned that it is very important to incorporate raw food into our diets because they have a lot of nutrients that we can't get out of the cooked food that we eat! But all that raw, cold food was just not appetizing!

I am going to try and make some smaller changes in the way I eat to improve my health, less sugar, less starches (but I still loooove spaghetti!) and less soda.

So I guess it was a good effort, but poor execution!

Our Yosemite trip was awesome! We went on a big hike, lots of bike rides, floated down the river, had campfires, saw wildlife and got no sleep! hahaha! It really was a great trip and I can't wait to go back next year!

Look at my facebook to see some pix!

Up-dates

Well, I haven't written anything new in a while! So I figured it was about time to give an update.

Remember in my last post about the "detour" sign for the wedding. Well I finally know why that was there. RJ lost his job last month, so i guess the Lord was just preparing me for that! So for now things are on hold....which is ok I know that Lord will bring it together in His timing! We are still gathering ideas so that when the time is right we are ready to go!

I have started making custom felt flowers and cuff bracelets. So far I have fulfilled 4 orders! It's pretty cool, I love being creative! And it's really neat that people love my stuff! The Lord has definitely blessed me. I hope to be able to make a little business out of it!

Next week we are going to Yosemite, that will be awesome! I love going there, its so beautiful and a refreshing time! We weren't able to go there last year (but why live in the past). Thats about as close to camping as I like to get. Four brick walls and a patio with electricity. We ride our bikes every where and I'm gonna try to do a little hiking, even though I'm not that fond of it! But floating down the river is my favorite part! Hopefully the mosquito's will leave us alone. They like to eat me because I am so sweet! Heehee!

Then when we get back from Vacation, RJ and I will be going on an all raw vegetable and fruit diet for 14 days. Then after that we will add in meat again. It's a liver enhancing diet to strengthen our livers and detox our bodies. We went to a Christian Dr. last weekend and he is going to help us get our bodies healthy and into shape. Hopefully it will be a life long change for the better. We both have been under so much stress lately that it has taken it's tole on our bodies. But with the Lords help we will begin to distress! So I will give updates about how it's going. Just the thought of eating all raw veggies and fruits for 2 weeks does not sound appetizing, but I know the outcome will be well worth it! We will be trying some very interesting meals!

If you have some recepes that are yummy, let me know!!

Well that's the update so far!

The Wedding Bell Blues

The Lord knows what He's doing all of the time, but sometimes I wonder He ever says "oops, I forgot about you!" I know He doesn't ever say that really, but that's how I feel. When you first get engaged your so excited and every ones so happy for you. Then the next question they ask is "Sooo whens the big day?" Then reality sets in and you remember that you've got a wedding to plan! So you get a book to keep all of your ideas and paperwork in, people offer to help you in the planning process. There's 1000 details to go over and decisions to make. For most people this is a wonderful and fun time. But so far for me it's been nothing but one big trial! Every corner I come to has a huge road block in it! So far I have my photographer, dress and a lot of ideas. Right now on the road of my wedding planning there's a huge sign that says "Take detour, bridge is out!"

I think the Lord is trying to teach me to not make my own plans, but to trust in His plans and know that what He does is best! I just think that I put to much hope in being married and planning my wedding that the Lord has to take it from me for now, but to give it back to me later. I feel like I have the wedding bell blues, but the Lord will turn my mourning into dancing! Some day when this is all over I hope I can look back and see how much I have grown in the Lord and see how this time was beneficial to my spiritual growth!

My family could really use your prayers right now! We are going through some really big trials with our house and money situation. We just need the Lords peace and direction! Thank you!

Crafty

I love being crafty and creative! This Saturday I am having a tea at my house for the high school girls is my group and I know it's gonna be so much fun! And I made them some little surprises to take home!

I'm hoping this year to make some really cool things! I have a lot of ideas, but I'm just not sure how to make them become a reality. I want to go to the craft store so bad to get some things to start, but right now is just not a good time!

I just entered a contest to win a starter pack of felt flowers for a bouquet that you sew together yourself! It would be so cool to win, then I can get my creative juices flowing!

Well, hopefully soon I will be able to complete some sort of project!