Today's Devotion

Monday Monday.....




"Satisfy us each morning with your unfailing love, so we may sing for joy to the end of our lives. Give us gladness in proportion to our former misery! Replace the evil years with good.~Psalm 90:14,15"



I'm not sure if I'm the only one who is slighly grumpy this Monday morning after such a long and wonderful weekend with family but in my daily Bible reading I found this verse and found encouragement in it so hopefully you will too:) My "misery" this morning was waking up to Aiden asking "why does daddy have to go to work?", it breaks my heart each monday morning when he has to leave and making it worse having our 3.5 year old express his sadness too; which I often don't respond in the most comforting way probably because I'm just as sad about it as he is. But after reading this verse I'm refocusing from the "misery" that Monday has presented to me to the wonderful love and blessings that God has granted me. Yea it really sucks to have Nathen gone through the week but we should be rejoicing, and praising God that he has a great job, and that he's such a wonderful husband and daddy that we WANT him home and enjoy our weekends together. I can imagine that there are families that experience more conflict and disappointment than us and that is probably because we really try to focus on the postives and maximize our family time. Of course we arn't perfect and conflicts arise as Nathen found a expired debit card still intact in my car...same account name and number so anyone could access our money. He was angered and I was embarrased that I hadn't cut it up to ensure our financial safety. This conflict could have ruined our weekend, but instead we each defended ourselves, agreed it wasn't worth ruining our weekend and continued on with our joyful weekend, and I learned a valuable lesson...cut up expired card immediately! In a way we did replace "evil" with good. We could have both caved into our humaness and argued over who was right but I'm so thankful that we decided to focus on the goodness that we had in our weekend instead.

So on this Monday morning whatever your "misery" is please remember the unfailing love God has for you, and try to find the blessings throughout the day, because I think when we refocus on this we can only feel good and loved by our Heavenly Father. Happy Monday!



In God's love,

Sarah:)

Today's Devotion

Being Thankful: Small Miracles

 Just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live inhim, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as youwere taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.-- Colossians 2:6       

Okay this will be short and hopefully sweet. As I laid the boys down for nap today I said a prayer that both of them would take a nap as I need to prepare a meal for someone and just need a break from them. Aiden rarely naps when I'm home so I really believe that my prayer was heard this afternoon and a little miracle performed. And yes I feel built up by 'God right now knowing that he loves me so much that cares enough to make these little miracles occur. And I'm overflowing with a thankful heart!! Ironically I had this verse picked out way before nap time but it is perfect for what I'm feeling right now. So as we enter into our Thanksgiving fellowship with friends and families please remember to be thankful for all that God has blessed you with even the small miracles like arriving to your destination on time, not burning the turkey, or whatever your small miracle may be remember to praise and thank God.


In God's love,
Sarah:)             

Today's Devotion

Being Thankful: My hubby Nathen




Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.-- Colossians 3:15



Sorry for the long break, its been a busy but wonderful weekend. I wanted to share with you why I'm so thankful for Nathen today, as a married couple with 2 small children we rarely have the chance to say how much we appreciate one another but this past Friday presented an opportunity for us to do just that. Some may have already heard this story and well Nathen you already know it, but I just have to tell it again. Okay Friday morning as I was pulling up into the church parking lot for our MOPS meeting in which I was presenting on ways to prevent powerstruggles, Nathen called and said "I have a little gift for you" feeling almost like a child I excitedly said "Can you tell me now what it is or do I have to wait". He then said I can tell you it's not that big of a deal, I replied again pretty excited "tell me". He then shared with me that in the gas station he was at earlier there were decals for cars and he looked through them and saw one that made him instantly think of me, it was a picture of young girl kneeling under a cross with "Real Women Pray" written on it. It meant so much to me that he saw me in that way, a praying and faithful woman. I instantly told him how much it meant to me, and he being a guy probably thought I was a little silly for reacting the way I did but I think he understood and respected why it meant so much to me. After drying my tears of joy I entered into the church for my MOPS presentation and meeting, and shared the story with other moms as a way to illustrate when we live our lives like Jesus wants us to, others around us will recognize and begin living their lives in similar ways. This past weekend both Nathen and I have really seen what a blessed life we have. Yes it is a challenge for all of us having him gone during the week for work, but that is temporary (and we are praying very temporary). I've been really trying to listen to God in every aspect of my life, and I think like this verse says it has brought peace in every aspect of my life. I'm not as short tempered with the boys, and I am I think(I guess Nathen can vouch for that:) a more patient wife to a wonderful husband. Today and every day I'm thankful for my wonderful husband who through a small gift really opened my eyes on how following Christ can affect those around me. I hope through me sharing this with you today you'll realize the affects a Christ lived life can have on you and your relationships.



In God's love,

Sarah:)

Yesterday's Devotion

Being Thankful Part 5:Food and clothing




But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that~1 Timothy 6:8



Okay I was honestly going to write about something else today but this was the boys' scripture from their devotion and made me reflect how I often take simple things for granted. So today I'm thankful for having food and clothing. Its never an issue of not having any food or clothes, rather its what should we eat or what to wear. Some families don't have the luxary of a choice, they eat what they can find if they eat at all!!



So today be thankful for that closet full of clothes even if you think you have nothing to wear (I do that every day) and be thankful for the breakfast you just enjoyed!



Sorry this is so short~mommy duty calls:)



Have a wonderful day, In God's love



Sarah:)

Today's Devotion

Being Thankful: Aiden and Evan




I will sing of the LORD's unfailing love forever! Young and old will hear of your faithfulness. Your unfailing love will last forever. Your faithfulness is as enduring as the heavens.~Psalm 89:1,2



Okay prepare for a few cute stories about the 2 cutiest boys I know because today I'm sharing why I'm thankful for these 2 little active boys! I must preface that my boys are not perfect and if you were in the mall today around 12:30 you would have seen, but today I want to share how my kiddos praise. I thought about doing 2 separate devotions one for each of them but so many of the stories include both of them so decided to combine into one devotion. Recently both of the boys have started singing the B-I-B-L-E song. It's so adorable Aiden will say "Evan sing it" and Evan will sing and dance with him. At bedtime we've in the last few months have been listening to KLOVE instead of bedtime music, mostly for me I thought--but the last couple of nights Evan has been raising his hands as I'm rocking him to sleep. Yes he's only 2 but I think he has an innate sense of what we are listening to is about God and so lifts his hands to worship. Now of course I would be thankful for my little guys if they didnt sing songs about Jesus but I honestly can't think of what could make me feel better as a mom than to see them dancing to christian music and singing sunday school songs. I believe that each child's life is a miracle regardless of the circumstances, and I feel blessed that I had no complications with either pregnancy, and both were born naturally as I wanted, and both are healthy! It breaks my heart when I read about families who have children who have a terminal illness, so today I'm praising and thanking God for granting Aiden and Evan into Nathen and our lives, and pray for all those families who have lost their little ones or have very sick children.



Oh and by the way I was the mommy in the mall, telling my boys to blow out birthday candles as way to calm them and well myself down, reflecting back I wonder if they'd respond better if I said "lets say a prayer to Jesus asking him to get out of here with no tears"~there were tears by both boys but not me so I consider it somewhat of an accomplishment:)



In God's Love,

Sarah:)

Today's Devotion

Being Thankful: Part 4 Church




Don't just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good.~ Romans 12:9, NLT



Today I'm focusing on being thankful for church, but am using the wide defination of church being all believers where we should do just as this verse says not pretend and really love one another. I feel quite blessed to have a church home with 4 walls as well as a church among believers through fellowship to fill the void between Monday and Sunday. Now I will say without the formal structure of attending church service it does make it more difficult I think to walk a Christian life. We started attending our church about 2.5 years ago and since that time God has really worked in both Nathen and I's life; partly because I think we are getting that spiritual recharging each Sunday morning through worship, and message~they also do a wonderful job of encouraging us to continue our worship and fellowship through the week. So I'm so thankful for our church and the wonderful people I've met through our weekly attendance there. Now the informal church we can experience outside the walls of church on Sundays; fellowship with other believers. I thought I'd share a couple of examples of how God has blessed me with fellow christians in my life. First, all of our nannies for the boys have made their christian faith known and have been very open about sharing their faith, and even asking for prayer. It's such a blessing to know that the boys are cared for by strong Christians, and am so thankful that although a short time in our lives usually about a year I've been able to be a part of their lives. Michele was with us for about a year moving back home in May and for being in her early 20's her faith was so important to her she even talked about it in her interview! Karli our current nanny requested a devotional, bible study material so she could get back on track with her walk with God, and we share prayer requests for each other. Although my workplace is not affliated with a church I again feel blessed that I do know other Christians in my building that I can talk to and pray with. Just last week as I was preparing to do a presentation for a classroom one of the teachers shared with me about listening to God, now I barely know this teacher but she felt confident enough to talk about her faith with me, and I was encouraged by our conversation, I always feel like I can't share my faith much working for a school district but our talk made me realize that there are things I can do to show my faith. Now when I'm not working or at church I'm blessed by great friends, and a loving Christian husband (eventhough he claims he's not a good Christian, I've seen him be more Christ like at times than me) some very strong Christians, some may not be Christians at all but the fellowship that I have my friends in Christ is always encouraging, and helps keep me on track and motivated to continue to share the message with my friends who may not know Jesus as their personal savior. I'm not sure where I'd be in my walk with God if I did not have all these support systems/churches in my life. It's just amazing how your life's focus changes when people around you are Christian and you build each other up. So lets all try to love each other so we can experience the blessing of Christian fellowship.



In God's Love,

Sarah

Today's Devotion

Being Thankful Part 3: Parents




"Now I am coming to you for the third time, and I will not be a burden to you. I don't want what you have—I want you. After all, children don't provide for their parents. Rather, parents provide for their children. I will gladly spend myself and all I have for you, even though it seems that the more I love you, the less you love me.~2 Cornithians 12:14,15"



As alluded to in my last devotion I was blessed to have loving, caring, and faithful parents. So today that is what I'm thankful for. My dad although was not a strong spiritual guide during my childhood he did provide for our family, and supported mom and all of us girls going to church every Sunday morning, Sunday night, and Wednesday night. Yep we went to church anytime possible because I think it was that important to my mom to raise us with God as our focus. I remember often times not living up to what other's at church wanted of me, I never completed Missionettes like Cammie and Sheldi did. I was never as active in youth group as Cammie was but never did my mom criticize me (or at least I don't remember it if she did) for these "failures". I have many childhood memories of going to church, children's church, sunday school, and yes even Missionettes. But I think the church can only be responsible for so much, the majority of my spiritual growth was caused by the seeds planted by my mom, and by her and my dad's continued prayers. Those prayers I can imagine were from anything to "help Sarah have a good day today" to "help Sarah find a Christian spouce" and I'm guessing "Help Sarah return to you" (during my rebellious years in my early 20's). I also just remembered an incredible interaction with my dad after my grandfather (his dad)passed away, when he told me the news I remember running and crying out of the house to the tire swing we had; not sure why I decided to run I guess in my 8 year old mind it made sense at the time, but what I really needed was a shoulder to cry on and a big hug in which my dad provided~I can't remember even what he said and who knows knowing my dad who is a man of few words he probably said nothing but provided comfort and support through his actions, looking back this was his dad and he was in pain too, but when his child needed him that took priority.



As the verses say parents provide and love us even if as children we are not loving them too much at the time. As a parent now I can appreciate more what my parents provided for me as a child. I remember when Aiden was about 1 both Nathen and I made a conscious effort to make our faith a priority and began looking for a church, what a blessing that church has been~but maybe we'll get to that tomorrow:) I would have never had the faith I have today if my parents didn't make it a priority by my mom taking us to church and my parents continued prayers, so for that I'm thankful. It's amazing to think of how many other blessings have come my way because of my parents.



In God's Love,

Sarah

Today's Devotion

Being Thankful:Part 2; God

For God so loved the world that he gave his
one and only Son, that whoever belives in him shall not perish but have eternal
life. For God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world, but to
save the world through him~John 3:16,17

I'm so thankful today and everyday for what should be our first priority in our life, God. I was thinking
about this last night the order of things should go I think 1)God 2)Family 3)Church 4) Everything else; but that doesn't always happen. Nope but God loves us regardless if we have our priorities out of order. I'm so thankful that he loved me so much that he gave his Son's life for my sins, and am so thankful for being brought up in a family that gave me the opportunity to turn my life over
to HIM...but that will be for another day:)

So today join me in rejoicing, praising, and thanking God for the love he shows us
everyday!

In God's Love,
sarah:)

Today's Devotion

Thankful:Part 1, Military Families




"Unfailing love and truth have met together. Righteousness and peace have kissed! Truth springs up from the earth, and righteousness smiles down from heaven. Yes, the LORD pours down his blessings. Our land will yield its bountiful harvest.~Psalm 10-12"



Well Thanksgiving is exactly two weeks away so thought I'd write about being Thankful until the Big Day (I love Thanksgiving its one of my most favorite times of the year!) The Lord has blessed me tremendously so I have no doubt I'll be able to fill up 2 weeks pretty easy. Today being veterans day I'm thankful for all that have given their time, energy, and lives to serve our country. I've been more aware and thankful for the service military families provide in the last few years due to Nathen working on the road and knowing several military families who have husbands deployed. I hate having Nathen gone during the week but I know he's safe, can talk to him whenever i want, and know he will be home every Friday night. Most military wives may not even get to talk to their husbands or know where or what they are doing over seas, I can only imagine how anxiety provoking and stressful that could be. I try to thank those families for their service as well, I think so often we forget to thank our military. Our nation has its areas for improvements and flaws, BUT because of the sacrifice that military families of the past, and present have made we do have freedom beyond compare to other nations. As for the verse I chose to use today I just thought it was a beautiful picture of the love, peace, and truth we have in our LORD. And I'm so thankful that I live in a nation that I can share that with others and that is because of our military. I encourage you on this Veterans Day to say thank you to a military family, but don't stop there, when you do meet a military family remember to thank them for the sacrifices they've made to keep our country safe, and free.



In God's Love,

Sarah

Today's Devotion

Peaceful Living

Do all that you can to live in peace
with everyone.~Romans 12:18, NLT

Hey all sorry this is arriving so late in the day, another busy but
great day!!

Wow this verse seems like kind of a tall order doesn't it? It does to me, doing
everything I can to live in peace with loved ones is sometimes pretty hard to do
but with everyone...that almost seems impossible. I do strive to be a person who
is accepting, nonconfrontational, and loving but unfortunately I'm also one who
doesn't like to back down from an argument which seems to conflict with the
whole Peaceful Living idea!:) I read this verse first thing this morning and
have spent much of the day reflecting on it, and came to the resolution that yes
life would be much easier, less stressful and enjoyable if I let go of an
argument and really do all that I can do to live in peace with everyone. Now I
don't think that this means we are a doormat for people to walk all over and to
hurt...notice the first few words "do all that you can do" it doesn't just say
live in peace with everyone. I do think though that in relationships with those
closest to us that it is often hard to really do all that we can do...we often
just want to win!! Earlier this evening while talking to Nathen I could feel
myself almost start one of these winless arguments when I remembered this verse
and decided it was more important to me at that moment to have a peaceful
attitude and you know what by refocusing my "agenda" I could actually hear,
appreciate, and understand Nathen's point of veiw much better. So Peaceful
Living may sound unatainable, and idealistic but it is worth the effort and if
anything else the Bible tells us so....so we should at least
try!

In God's Love,
Sarah

Today's Devotion

ABCs of God's Love

As for man, his days are like grass, he flourishes
like a flower of the field; the wind blows over it and it is gone, and its place
remembers it no more. But from everlasting to everlasting the Lord's love is
with those who fear him, and his righteousness with their children's children--
with those who keep his covenan...t and remember to obey his precepts.~Psalm 103:15-18
(NIV)

Okay today I'm kind of cheating...I read my devotion
last night and one of the activities was to define God's love with each letter
of the alphabet. And this morning I received this verse in my email box about
the everlasting love that is God's love!! In our life we have challenges,
stressors, but isn't it reassuring that just as flowers die, leaves fall, and
wind blows them away so are our challenges and stressors fade and don't linger
with us forever. Yes I know when you are "in the thick of it all" it seems as if
it is never ending. But today I challenge you to think of God's love instead of
those stressors, you can help me complete the ABCs...if anything it will serve
as a nice distraction from the stress you are facing, and more than likely reset
our focus to what is everlasting and forever, God's love for us. Okay here we
go

A~Awesome or Always (Aiden's new thing when its time
to leave anywhere is its okay mommy Jesus is with me always you can
leave:)
B~Boundless
C~Compassionate
D~Determined
E~Everlasting
F~Forever
G~Grand
H~HUGE
I~Incrediable
J~Jesus' death for me
K~King of Kings
L~Love
M~Magnificant
N~Neverending
O~ONLY
P~Patient
Q~Quiet
R~Respectful
S~Sustains
T~Timely
U~Undeniable
V~Valued
W~Wonderful
X~Xciting(okay I know how to spell but couldnt think
of anything that started w/ X:)
Y~Yeilding at NOTHING
Z~Zebralike (okay I know this one will need some
explanation~yesterday while I was playing with Aiden and his leapfrog thingy I
learned that each Zebra has different stripes similar to our fingerprints, each
is unique~well God loved us so much to make us each unique with special skills,
gifts, and if he did that for Zebras just think of the love he has for you and
me:)

Wow that only took me 10 minutes, try it you will
feel much better about those daily stressors and challenges that you may be
facing right now.

In God's Love,
Sarah:)

Today's Devotion

Angels?




"And God never said to any of the angels,"Sit in the place of honor at my right hand until I humble your enemies, making them a footstool under your feet." Therefore, angels are only servants—spirits sent to care for people who will inherit salvation.~Hebrews 1:13,14"



As I was driving to work this morning I was feeling a little light headed and it took me back to about 2.5 years ago when I had a similar feeling while driving and to this day I know an angel was with me. I wanted to share this experience as a way to show how we are protected by God's angels everyday, but as I scoured the scriptures something else was made clear to me, angels are merely God's servants. They would not have a "job" without the guidance of God's hand. In fact much of the scripture I found regarding angels was the devil trying to tempt Jesus and Jesus' rebuttal and redifination of what angels' roles are.



The event that happened 2.5 years ago could have had a very different and traumatic outcome if God did not choose to send his angels to protect me, and give the truck driver behind me quick reflexes and alertness that still amazes me to this day. That day I was very thankful for the angels sent by God. But do I pray to angels? Of course not the only deserving ONE of prayers, worship, and praise is our Heavenly Father who is 3 in 1 (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit). Through the Holy Spirit we can live like Jesus lived if we only listen to the words, actions that God has placed in our hearts through the Holy Spirt.



Yes I appreciate that God sent that angel on that day, but I'm more thankful for the debt paid by Jesus for my sins. Today I encourage you to be thankful for the angels that may have been placed in your life throughout the years but also remember who placed them there and praise HIM today!



In God's Love,

Sarah

Today's Devotion

The fight that really matters!!!


Fight the good fight for the true faith. Hold tightly to the eternal life to which God has called you, which you have confessed so well before many witnesses.~ 1 Timothy 6:12, NLT



As human beings I think naturally we want to win an argument, be right, and be respected. Well right now I'm feeling a bit defeated and disrespected, nothing major just a conversation that was had between me and a coworker of mine. As I was beginning to wallow, feel insecure, and throw myself a pity party I remembered this verse. "Fight the good fight for the true faith", was the conversation that was so upsetting to me surrounding my faith? NO it was surrounding around my work with a family. Yes it is important as humans to feel respected by our coworker but is it the most important thing in our life, definately not. Whats most important to me is that people see me and respect me for my faithful walk with my Heavenly Father. If this coworker began to question my faith, or insult my beliefs well then I would hope I would have stood up to her. And honestly I did say, "I'm feeling attacked" we've worked together for 4.5 years so felt comfortable being honest with her. But that is not really the point the point is the fight to make people around us respect our work doesn't really matter in the Big Picture of life. The fights in life that surround my children, husband, and faith are what are most important. The fight to challenge my emotions when I'm frustrated and continue to show the same love God has shown me when people upset me, raise my children to love God, connect spiritually with Nathen, those are fights worth fighting....winning an argument/discussion with a coworker not so important!!!



The second part of the verse "hold tightly to the eternal life to which God has called you" yes this life and the coworkers that come with it is temporary but what I have with God that is forever, and its comforting to know that today!



In God's Love,

Sarah:)

No Ballarinas

As I was driving home tonight from work I had a thought that both saddened and angered me; I will never have a ballarina because I do not have any daughters. I have long known (well for the last 2 years) that I would not have daughters and thought I had accepted it and embraced it. Just this weekend while at the K-State homecoming football game I was thanking God for my sons, knowing I'd never have any child of mine wearing skimpy cheerleading or dance team outfits!!! But tonight I was saddened that I would never take a daughter to dance class. I have so many memories of going to dance class, changing into my dance clothes in the car, ice cream after the recitals, the cute costumes, and well the memories are endless because dance was part of my life from Kindergarten to 7th grade when I decided to give it up to play or rather warm the bench for the Jr. High Volleyball team. After my initial sadness I was quite angry at myself for feeling sad about not having a daughter, and I'm still a bit angry at myself. Whenever anyone asks me if I wish I had girls I always say and genuinly mean "No, I'll have my daughters when my boys get married". And I still feel that way...but I wont be taking them to dance lessons I'm sure. However, I will I'm sure have my fair share of football games, wrestling matches, soccer games, track and cross country meets, and whatever else interest the boys. But I'm for certain that one of those interest will not be ballet!!! And thats okay because as I will miss out on that girly stuff that I would experience with a daughter I'm excited about all the new memories in the making of being a mom to 2 sons having no brothers it is exciting and a little anxiety provoking at the same time to see what experiences are to come with our two sons. We've already had so many precious memories made even if they are no ballarina memories. But still I wonder if anyone else with only sons or only daughters for that matter ever have these feelings of sadness of not having the other gender for a child. Please understand I would not trade in my sons for the most perfect little girl ballarina, because I think my little tackle monsters are pretty awesome! And feel blessed beyond measure still curious if anyone else have similar feelings like these or am I a bad mom!

Today's Devotion

Weakness=Power!???






"But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me.~2 Corinthians 12:9, NIV"





I think I may have used this verse before, but its a good one and one that ministered to me this morning when I got in my email box so you get it again as well:) The verse before this one is Paul pleading to take away his pain, and this verse is Jesus' response. How often do we reflect on the wonderful gift of grace that God has granted us? Um well probably not enough. No, if you all are anything like me we beat ourselves up when we make mistakes, we feel guilty when we fail, we feel ashamed, and embarrased, we think we are a "bad christian", wouldn't it serve us better to remember this verse? HIS grace is sufficient and allow Christ's power rest on us! I think so.



Last night was somewhat of a challenging evening internally for me. The boys were actually being quite well behaved I'm not sure if I was tired from the alarm going off at 3:30 AM so Nathen could drive his 3.5 hour trip to work~um yes I did go back to sleep...so really shouldn't have been so cranky at 8 PM. BUT I was irritable, snappy, and just not portraying the mom that I would like my children to remember. I had yelled at Aiden for a reason that I cannot even recall, snapped at Evan for wanting to drink out of my water bottle (when I had left his upstairs..what else was he suppose to drink since I was not going back up stairs to get his) by the time bathtime arrived I was to my limit and actually walked away to let the boys just play and let me cool down (our bedroom is across the hall from the bathroom so I could still see and hear the boys) and check my email when I got an encouraging and thoughtful email containing scripture from a dear christian friend. At that moment I felt God's power rest on me, HIS words given to my friend and I who needed them at that moment turned our evening around~its still amazing to me that I chose to walk out of the bathroom during bathtime because I hardly ever do that but now I know I needed that email at that exact time. (Tami, thank you so much for sending that message to me last night)

Yes I felt weak, helpless, and out of control last night but after reading that email I was encouraged and decided to turn what was left of our evening around. I went in and apologized to the boys for yelling and snapping at them and told them I loved them very much in which Aiden responded "I love you too, and mommy I yelled at you too". As if justifying for me my behaviors~but yea he's 3.5 and I'm 33 so should have more patience and control than him. Anyways, we ended our evening reading praying together, reading Bible stories and singing together. And honestly it was so peaceful and perfect and it was because I allowed Jesus' words to work in me and accept my weaknesses, knowing HE is more powerful than any mood I'm in.



I know I'm not perfect so am wondering why I get so disappointed when I make mistakes, maybe its because I'm not accepting God's grace and turning everything over to HIM? Through our weeknesses we need HIM more, and that is a good thing. So today I'm embracing the fact that I'm not perfect and accepting HIS Power and grace to work through me.



In God's Love,

Sarah

Today's Devotion

Fishing for People




Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” Matthew 4:19



Yesterday's sermon really ministered to both Nathen and I so thought I'd share a little bit of it with you. The sermon was preached by our church's youth pastor (Josh), our senior pastor gets a week off a month and the sermon responsibility rotates among the other pastors in the church. The sermon really challenged us to share the Good News to those who are nonbelievers through both our actions and words we share with them. He gave the gamut of excuses that we all have for not sharing our faith with others, not enough time, they'll think I'm a crazy christian, ect. All of these excuses I've used at one point or another. Its our responsibility to share not to save others...I'd never thought of it like that before, not that I think I have the power to save people but its not up to me if that person chooses to be saved or not its my job to SHARE...that takes a little of the anxiety away at least for me.



We are to fish for people. I don't know much about fishing but do know that it takes patience, and a quiet environment for the most success. Fishing to some is very boring, but to my dad it is very relaxing and rewarding even if he doesnt catch anything I think he feels at peace during this quiet time in nature. I think as Christians we are to be honest in our living accepting the rocky waters we have in our lives and be real with the people we are sharing our faith with, they may see us as fake if we present ourselves in a different light. This was something that hit me yesterday...I try so hard to be perfect, and while sitting there being preached to about sharing my faith I thought "I have so many flaws, I'm not a good example of a Christian" and just as I had that thought the point in the sermon was to show our real selves and to be real! Just as in fishing for fish fishing for people takes patience, and determination while at the same time offering unconditional love and a peaceful environment. There are so many people around us that are not believers and if we dont share with them they will be destined to spend eternity in hell and sadly we don't really care. Now we can't save them but can cast out our line so to speak and share with them. We don't need to go on a big catch (mission trips to Africa, ect) we can fish for people in our own ponds in our back yards (friends, coworkers, family, ect).



At the end of the sermon Josh asked us to imagine ourselves being on trial for murder that we were innocent of and the main witness who could prove our innocence sat on the stand and said NOTHING, what good is a silent witness? So today I encourage you to push your level of comfort and go fishing, sharing the good news. Last night we did a little fishing of our own (I share this not to brag on myself but to make myself accountable to what I encourage others to do) passing out a bible verse with candy to trick or treaters. Yes I was a little nervous, and anxious about how parents and children would think of this extra treat, but it doesnt really matter what matters is that I shared, and if one family decided to turn their life over to Jesus then it was worth the uncomfortableness. Happy Fishing!:)



In God's love,

Sarah:)

Friday's Devotion

Christian=Pumpkin?






You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl instead they put it on its stand and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven~Matthew 5:14-16.



A friend of mine posted this on facebook earlier and although simple I think quite true:

Being a Christian is like being a pumpkin. God takes you and washes all the dirt off of you. He scoops out all

the yucky stuff. He removes the seeds of doubt, hate and greed. He carves you a new smiling face and puts His light inside of you to shine

.........for all the world to see.



I'm not a very crafty mom so can not say I know how to carve a pumpkin but I still love this metaphore. The work has already been done for us through God's sacrifice of his only Son on the Cross. To piggyback on yesterdays devotion, no sin is too much for God's love, he's already paid the debt. All we have to do is accept him as our Savior and let his light shine through us. Yes this can be difficult at times, but in my experience when I'm doing what I know God whats me to do it feels good regardless of the consequences! So on this almost Halloween evening and all the days that follow be that perfectly carved pumpkin that God has made you and allow his light to shine across your neighborhood.



Have a safe and Happy Halloween



In God's Love,

Sarah