Fallen Before The Ark

   I've been on a bit of a Blog Vacation. Spent some time thinking about other things that are going on and devoting more of my free time to being a better Wife and Momma. Now that I feel like I have a better handle on things I am back in the Blog-saddle.
  Something super awesome that I have been doing lately is reading through the book of 1 Samuel. Whoa. Talk about gnar gnar! I am only 10 chapters in, but let me just tell you, there is some crazy stuff happening in there! Something that really struck me is in Chapter 5, here's some super cool God knowledge for ya...
   The Israelites were in battle against the Philistines, and they were losing. So the Israelites sent for the Ark of the Covenant, thinking that if it was with them in battle they would surely win. Wrong. The Philistines CRUSHED the Israelites, and when they did they stole the Ark of the Covenant. WHAT!?! Who does that? Who steals someone else's God? Any way- moving on. They brought the Ark back to their city and placed it in "Dagons temple", that was there God. Ok here's the rest....

^"3 When the people of Ashdod rose early the next day, there was Dagon, fallen on his face on the ground before the ark of the LORD! They took Dagon and put him back in his place. ⁴ But the following morning when they rose, there was Dagon, fallen on his face on the ground before the ark of the LORD! His head and hands had been broken off and were lying on the threshold; only his body remained. ⁵ That is why to this day neither the priests of Dagon nor any others who enter Dagon’s temple at Ashdod step on the threshold."


   Uh... Can you say, AWESOME! When I read this, I giggled.... Out loud. It was just a cool moment for me. Reading about the power of my God, and how He made other stupid little statues bow at His feet. So cool.
It was encouraging because I realized that God can and still does do that. When I feel like darkness is closing in on me or I let fear creep in, God makes it cower at His feet. He is bigger and stronger then anything or anyone else. I am glad He is on my side....


Grace & Peace

Written on my Arm

   As some of you may know I recently got a partial sleeve on my left arm. The things in it are all things I feel the Lord is showing me or speaking through me. I haven't written out what they all mean and I thought now would be a great time to do so, so here we go...

- The tree is from Song of Solomon 2:3 " Like an apple tree among the trees of the forest is my beloved among young men. I delight to sit in his shade, and his fruit is sweet to my taste."

- The heart and banner is from 1 John 4:16 " And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in us."

- The flowers are from a painting i did a while back about the fruits of the spirit in Galatians 5:22-24 " But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires."

- The rays of light and the sun are from Mark 13:26 " At that time people will see the son of man coming in the clouds with great power and glory." (I also used the Hillsong United song "Hosanna" for a little inspiration from the line "I see the king of glory, coming on the clouds with fire". That's where the fire colors in the rays come from)

- The peace sign in the heart is from James 3:18 " Peacemakers who sew in peace, reap a harvest of righteousness." 

- And lastly, probably the most meaningful for me, The waves from Jonah 2 " From inside the fish Jonah prayed to the the Lord his God. He said:
In my distress I called to the Lord, and He answered me.
Out of the belly of Sheol I cried out, and you heard my voice.
For you cast me into the deep, into the heart of the seas,
 and the flood surrounded me, 
all your waves and billows passed over me;
Then I said " I am driven away from your sight,
yet I shall look again upon your holy temple."
The waters closed in over me to take my life;
the deep surrounded me;
weeds were wrapped about my head
at the roots of the mountains.
I went down to the land whose bars closed upon me forever; 
yet you brought up my life from the pit,
O Lord my God.
When my life was fainting away,
I remembered the Lord,
and my prayer came to you,
into your holy temple.
Those who pay regard to vain idols
forsake their hope of steadfast love.
But I with the voice of thanksgiving will sacrifice to you;
what I have vowed I will pay.
Salvation belongs to the LORD."

One last thing I wanted to share. Last night as I was doing my devotional, the reading for that day was James 3. The chapter where one of the verse references for my tattoo is. It was the first time since getting my sleeve I have randomly read over one of the verses. It was so incredible. As if the Bible wasn't already so special, it became even more to me in that moment. Realizing that I am wearing a piece of Gods word forever was so powerful. It was a great moment.


- Grace & Peace




* Side Note * If your in LV and thinking about getting work done, I would definitely encourage you to go to Chance @ Red Handed Tattoo Gallery. He is the guy that did all my work. Incredible artist. Incredible man of God.

He Fills Heaven and Earth

   Over the past several months, 7 to be exact, we have been lifting up Daniel's younger cousin in prayer. She was first admitted into the hospital in May due to severe headaches, where they found some serious things going on. All of this leading into multiple brain surgeries and a lot of nights in the Hospital. She is only 17, this was supposed to be her Senior Year of High School. She had already began looking at Colleges, envisioning her future, thinking of majors, and all of that has been put on hold. There was a point at which they diagnosed her and began treatments, only to leave her back in the Hospital again with the Doctors at a loss.
   As we have been praying for her I have really struggled with God. She is totally in love with God and pursues Him daily, she is a great daughter, and incredible student, and overall just a joy to be around. And I can't understand why God would let this happen to her. Why He would let it last for so long and not give any answers or Hope that it will ever come to an end. I found myself saying, "God where are you? Why aren't you with her?" And this is what He showed me,

"Am I only a God nearby,” declares the LORD, “and not a God far away? 

Who can hide in secret places so that I cannot see them?” 

declares the LORD. “Do not I fill heaven and earth?” 

declares the LORD." - Jeremiah 23:23-24

 He is with her. He is all around her. Even though we may not understand why He is letting this happen, we can rest assure knowing that He will always be by her side. I will continue to pray for her and pray for Gods miraculous healing over her body, but until that happens I know she will never be alone. Please join our family in praying for this Beautiful girl. Strength for the fight ahead of her and for Gods hand of restoration on her body.

Grace & Peace






**** Photo Courtesy of wallpapers.pixxp.com

A neck in Irons

"His neck was put in Irons" Psalm 105:18

I read a devotion the other day centered around this verse. It was exactly what I needed. The funny thing is it was for the 27th but the day I was reading was actually the 29th. It's like God wanted me to get my dates mixed up so He could speak so profoundly. Thanks Lord. 

  This is what it said, " Never run from suffering, but bear it silently, patiently, and submissively, with the assurance that it is Gods way of instilling iron into your spiritual life. The world is looking for iron leaders, iron armies, iron tendons, and muscles of steel. But God is looking for iron saints, and since there is no way to impart iron into his peoples moral nature except by letting them suffer, He allows them to suffer." - Streams in the Desert

  And early this morning, I received a phone call with devastating news. My nephews mom who had just had an emergency C-section called to say that her brand new baby boy didn't make it. Jesus called him home. There were health problems along the way and he was born 11 weeks early, but we were really feeling optimistic that he was going to pull through. And now we are left with broken hearts and no words to say to comfort a grieving mother. I turned back to this verse in Psalms and just prayed. Sometimes not saying anything, sometimes saying everything I could think of. But I am realizing that in the midst of this heart break, God is doing something greater. God is preparing a family for something. And my new prayer is that they can find that purpose and run towards it. Lord, give them the goal so they can focus on it.

Running in the Streets

  Last night at the Response, Daniel and I shared from James 5. This is the verse that struck my heart, " My dear friends, if you know people who have wondered off from God's truth, don't write them off. Go after them. Get them back and you will have rescued precious lives from destruction and prevented an epidemic of wandering away from God."

  Whoa. Just soak that in for a minute..... It reminded me of a quote I heard a while ago, " If we actually believed in hell the way The Bible describes it, then we would be running in the streets trying to get people saved." So why is it that I am not running in the streets? I think it is a mixture of things. I'm worried what people will think of me, I don't think they would respond well to a crazy lady yelling at them, and the big one is I don't know if they really want to hear what I have to say. I think I have been letting that last one be my driving force. "I know that they don't want to listen to me, so I won't even try." But in reality, I think that is just a cop out. I think I am too afraid of being rejected or finding myself in a confrontation that I don't try.
   My insecurities are keeping me from reaching out to people. I think it may be time to get over myself and start talking to people. So maybe I wont be running down the street yelling it at people, but if I can at least start a conversation with someone in line that's a start. You never know what interaction could lead into another interaction which could lead into a friendship and then ultimately lead into salvation. So hears my goal: Start talking to strangers. Sounds silly, yes. But is it effective, maybe. I guess I will just have to see.


 - Grace & Peace









**** Photo Courtesy of Bostonbiker.org

Tangled Thread

  While Ava took her afternoon nap today I decided to be productive and finish one of the 900 projects I've started. (ok, maybe there aren't 900- but there are at least 9!) The project I chose to tackle today was a stuffed owl I wanted to make for Ava. I had made one for my niece for her 2nd Birthday back in September and started Ava's at the same time. It was a twin owl, cousin, i love you thing. There is a lot of hand stitching involved in this project. Lots of layers and I use a super thick thread, made for hand stitching. I did the small hand stitching parts first to get them out of the way. When I had finished with that and moved on to the more intensive hand stitching parts I needed a lot more thread. As I began to sew I was getting into a rhythm and then the thread stop short. I turned the owl over and saw a huge knot. I didn't understand how it could knot, but it did. I got it out and continued on, only to get another knot after a few more stitches. This continued to happen every 4-5 stitches. I was getting a little bit irritated. 

  Then I felt like God said" You're getting caught up in your own thread". I sat there for a minute just staring at the needle and thread, slightly shocked that God used sewing as an example and also trying to figure out what that meant. Here's what I arrived upon. Our lives are a long thread. We sew and get into a rhythm of things, and then we let ourselves get upset about something we don't have control over, or we are envious of something we don't have, or wish we were somewhere else. Every time we focus on one of those tings we get a knot in our thread. Causing us to stop and untangle ourselves, hopefully learning the lesson we needed to. But all to often after getting back into our rhythm we are in a knot over the same thing again. 

  I need to focus on the important things and find a good rhythm. Trying every day not to get caught up in another knot. I hope you can find your rhythm.

Find Your Everest

  Life. I'm feeling more and more as if it is just rushing by me. Like I am not making the most of every possible moment. Daniel, Ava, and I went out to breakfast this morning at a tiny little diner in town. One of the reasons we love going there is because of the vibe it has. The walls are covered with pictures and surf boards, little nick-nack things and crazy paint. On the wall next to the table we sat at today was a series of 5 or 6 pictures of this young boy. They were pictures of him climbing mountains. Not just little ones either. Like, Kilimanjaro... Seriously. One of the pictures was twice the size as the rest and looked like it was a magazine cover. When we read the headline Daniel and I were astonished. It was the young boy standing at the top of Mt Everest. Wow. His name is Jordan Romero and He climbed Everest at 13. He is the youngest person to ever climb that mountain. On the picture he wrote a little note to the owner of the diner and at the bottom wrote "Find your Everest".
  Daniel and I started talking about what that meant to us. "Find your Everest". Had we climbed our own Everest? Eventually the topic phased out and we left the diner, but the thought of Jordan's words rang loudly in my mind. I have been searching for something lately. I am not sure what it is or how it is going to come to fruition, but I feel like it is my Everest. It is almost within reach. I am excited to discover the things that God has in store for me and the Mountains He is having me climb right now to get ready for Everest.
   What is your Everest? Have you reached the peak?





**** Photo Courtesy of Facebook.com