Getting the junk out.

It happened to me on the playground the other day.

It was one of those moments, where God used the smallest thing to speak straight to my heart to teach me something.  Has it happened to you?  You observe something, just a normal thing, and then you hear that voice in your head say, "You see that?  That is what I want you to do too".

Little Emma was having a great time at the playground, climbing the steps, going down the slides, and running around the place as fast as her little legs would carry her.

As I watched her, I noticed a peculiar thing; she was picking up the little pieces of debris (mostly rubber wood chips that had made their way onto the steps and bridges of the park because they had stuck to the children's feet), and tossed them out of her way; back on the ground where they belonged.  She did this several times over, and I thought to myself, "She's getting rid of the clutter so that next time she climbs the stairs, goes down this slide, etc., she won't have to deal with it again.

Genius, I tell you.

How often in our lives are there little things that get in our way every single time, and we never pick them up, clean them out, or do anything about them at all?  

These little things are those habits, those attitudes, those little areas of sin and disobedience, which seem to rear their ugly heads in our lives over and over again.

If we never deal with them, they will only continue to get in our way.

Hebrews 12 verses 1 through 3 say

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, ² fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. ³ Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. "

This verse came to my mind as I watched my daughter play that day.

How are we going to run the race if we keep tripping over the same clutter over and over again?

Only when it is addressed, rejected, and thrown out will we be able to run.  It's not easy to take the extra time and energy, but consider the freedom with which we can run without being all tangled up!

Gatherered Thoughts: That still small voice

"Train yourself to listen to that small voice in your head that tells you what's important and what's not." - Sue Grafton

I am part of the Gathered Thoughts Writing Prompt Linky Party at Lovefeasttable.com. 

Each of us is writing on a specific quote or prompt and are all linking together today.  Head on over there to experience some great thoughts on some real heart issues.

My prompt is the following quote by Sue Grafton:

"Train yourself to listen to that small voice in your head that tells you what's important and what's not."

I have one of those voices in my head, don't you?   We all do, it's just a matter of how in tune with it we are.  Call it conscience, call it God's whispers, or call it whatever you will, but I believe that those small promptings to do what is right and what is good are from God.  His holy spirit gives us those thoughts and we are able to act upon them in obedience or reject them.

I have a cool story for you.

In May of 2011, deadly tornadoes ripped through Joplin, Missouri and left over 100 people dead and destroyed countless homes and communities. 

We all heard about the devastation, and a few families from my church decided to partner with a local food and clothing pantry to collect items to bring down and distribute to those families who had lost nearly everything.  They would be working through a local church to literally hand out the items collected to the families who most needed them.

As I went through my closets and around my house looking for items to donate, I came across some brand new king size white sheets, still in their package, that I had purchased awhile back as a spare set.  We had never used them because our bedding was more in the tan and chocolate color category, so there they sat.

"Give those away", I heard in my head.

Thinking to myself for a split second that it was a shame to give away the brand new sheets, I heard the voice again, saying, "Give those away".

Into the donation pile and off to the collection they went.

"Train yourself to listen to that small voice in your head that tells you what's important and what's not."

It was important that the family in Joplin who lost everything have those new white sheets.  It was not important that I have them sitting, unused in my closet.

Here is where the story gets humorous.

We recently changed our bedspread cover from the aforementioned brownish one to a light blueish grayish one.  The brownish one was in desperate need of replacement because it had gotten a huge rip in it, due in part to our family tickle-fests on the bed.

Part of me had forgotten that I had donated the white sheets.  Thinking that tan sheets would no longer look right with a blueish graying comforter, I went into the closet looking for them.  Then I remembered where they had gone.  

Interestingly enough, later that evening, Papa was talking about some of the items he had brought with him when he moved here from Arizona that he wasn't using and wanted to get rid of.  Included in these things were not one, but TWO sets of nearly new king size white sheets.

"Train yourself to listen to that small voice in your head that tells you what's important and what's not."

God took our one set of white sheets and gave us two in return.  He is so good.

What might He be telling you to do today?  

"Train yourself to listen to that small voice in your head that tells you what's important and what's not."

Much love.

Who do I look like?

I'm currently reading a great book that I will be blogging about much more in the future, but I read a bit of it the other day that I just had to share with you.

Joanna Weaver, author of "Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World" describes how we ought to view our time spent with God.  She references the writings of Kent Hughes.  Hughes writes,

"Our lives are like photographic plates, and prayer is like a time exposure to God.  As we expose ourselves to God for a half hour, an hour, perhaps two hours a day, his image is imprinted more and more upon us.  More and more we absorb the image of His character, his love, his wisdom, his way of dealing with life and people."

Source

I don't know about you, but I want to look far more like my Lord than like myself.

I've also included a song by Meredith Andrews who beautifully captures the idea of spending time with our God.

Lord, give us hearts like to be with you and be made more into your image! 

A thought for you today!

A journaling experience like you've never had before

Remember when I talked about how much I loved keeping a prayer journal?  

Take a peek at the post I wrote awhile back if you haven't had the chance to see why I'm such a fan of keeping a journal.  

It turns out that the lovely Laura from "Along for the Ride" is also a fan of keeping a journal.  

She hosted an amazing series in January called "Journaling through January". 

I found out about her series when January was almost over, but I plan to journal through February.  I think her daily prompts are so great because they cause you to reflect over so many different facets of your life.  She has all kinds of different topics day by day to write about, and I can't wait to do it.  It's also a great way to start journaling, if you've wanted to jump on the bandwagon for awhile.  

I want to recommend that you head over there and take a look at her daily prompts, and, if you feel so inspired, email me or comment below to join with me and we can do this together.

What you will have to do once you are on her main page, is scroll down on the left side and click on "January" in her archives.  This will bring you to the prompts, along with her other January posts.

Scroll through and start on day 1.  This should be fun!   I'll see you tomorrow for Drab to Fab!

Cease Striving and Know that I am God

"Cease striving and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth."  Psalm 46:10

You may also know this verse as "Be still and know that I am God . . ."

I was talking to a friend last night and she brought up this verse.  She has been going through a job search for awhile now, and has been struggling to not get discouraged.  She wants to achieve something by getting a great job that she has studied years to be qualified for, and that pressure to "succeed" weighs heavily upon her.  

That intense pressure to succeed. . . where does it come from?  

Does it come from people around us?  Sure.  Our parents?  Sometimes.  Culture and Society?  Yes.  But, most often, it comes from ourselves.

We are the ones who impose stress upon ourselves to live up to certain standards that may or may not be the standards our God has for us. 

Thus, we listen again to the words of this verse:

"Cease striving and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth."

Pause and take a deep breath.  

Are you "striving"?  

Striving does not mean aiming to do your best at what you do.  God does want us to live lives of excellence that reflect His glory to others.  He's not telling us to live sloppy lives.  This verse doesn't mean stop trying. 

It does mean stop trying to make it all happen by yourself.

How does this verse speak to you today?  What area(s) of your life are you "striving" in?  What are you trying to make happen that you should be allowing God to have control over?  Where are you relying on yourself instead of Him?  

In what areas have you imposed arbitrary standards upon yourself that you have no business trying to wear yourself out to achieve?

Something to think about today, friends.

Much love to you all.

 

My Story

I want to share something with you.  It's my story.  The story of my life.  Actually, God's story for my life thus far.  

  
I was born in Chicago, IL to two of the most loving and wonderful parents that you will ever meet.  Both of my parents had come to know Christ and made Him their Lord and Savior by the time I was born.  My mom did so a young age and my father had done it in his late teens.  Our home was always a loving, peaceful, encouraging environment.  I was an active part of our church while I was still in diapers.

I asked Jesus to forgive my sins at the age of 3.  By the grace of God, it really did "stick", and I continued to love and grow in God all the way up through adulthood.  During my awkward and socially intimidating junior high and high school years, I dove into my church youth group as my place of acceptance, my primary social outlet, and my source of deepest friendships.  I was so blessed to be a part of a truly amazing youth group that "glamorized" knowing God well, knowing the Bible, and living out your faith in an unmistakable way.  High school was time of exponential spiritual growth for me.  I had the opportunity to experience the joy of serving God on missions trips to Alaska, England, and El Salvador, and I learned how to share my faith with strangers.  I got to pray for people and saw God answer the prayers.  I became hungry for God's word, and loved reading my bible at night before I went to bed.  I had a pink leather bible, and it is full of highlighted verses (in all colors), circled ones, notes, and hearts around various promises that I really took to heart.  I loved the thrill of learning what the Bible had to say and memorizing it.  I even posted colorful sticky notes all over my room to help me remember the verses that mattered to me most at that time.  This is ALL due to God's work in my heart at that time.  He drew me to Himself to get to know him in a real and unmistakable way, which would serve me well as I would have to fall back on that real experience with the Lord in later years when my mind was causing me to doubt and question God.

I decided on a liberal arts Christian college called Bethel University in St. Paul, MN.  Part of the "liberal arts" gen-ed requirements for my Spanish and Education majors included classes on apologetics - the defense of the faith.  I also took another class entirely focused on theological issues and basically questions that are impossible to answer with certainty.  These classes caused me to have to re-evaluate what I believed and why I believed it.  Could I explain the reasons behind my understanding of God and how he worked?  In many cases I could not.  My mind would spin all day with questions about God and confusing, unsettling attempts to answer those questions didn't leave me very confident.  It was hard.  I remember praying at one point and saying something like "God, I don't feel like I know who you are anymore.  I thought I did, but now I'm not so sure". 

This "crisis of faith" came at the end of my college career, when it was already a scary and confusing time.  "Where will I get a job?  Will I be good in this field of work?  Where will I live?  What do I really want out of life?" were all questions that filled my mind at that time.

Fast-forward a few months.  I did get a teaching job (back in the Chicago burbs where I grew up), and got settled back in my hometown.  Still not completely back to the point with God that I was in high school, yet still committed to serving Him and seeking Him with all my heart, I began another rough season. 

The trigger for this season was a strong feeling of rejection in the guy arena.  There were several relationships I had been in over the years, and other relationships without the title - that ended in the guy finding someone better than me and abruptly cutting me off.  I know this happens to girls (and guys) all the time.  But for me, in this case, the rejection was enough to send me into a depressive state that lasted almost 2 years.  I developed what I would call today an eating disorder; not to the point where I got sick but I definitely saw food as an enemy - an enemy to my being pretty enough to be desired by a guy?  Maybe, but that thought wasn't really going through my mind during this time.  Perhaps it was just an enemy to me being in control of my situation.  I journaled A LOT, spent an inordinate amount of time at coffee houses thinking and trying to pray to God to rescue me out of this, but it hung on for about 2 years.  It literally felt like a dark cloud over my head or a sad and dreary haze my brain was stuck in that it couldn't get out of. 

One day, though, my faith began to return.  I hit a cracking point and told God that I had no better choice than to trust Him and His goodness.  That has been my mantra since then.  If you cannot trust God, whom can you trust?

God slowly brought an amazing group of girlfriends around me, and we developed deep friendships that involved being honest about what we were going through, and praying for each other about everything.  God was active in our lives, and as He changed us, answered our prayers, and taught us things, we were living examples of His goodness to one another.  Those friends held me up and I was able to do the same for them. 

The more I learned to trust God in EVERY area of life, the more I began to pray for my future husband.  I was 23 years old, and I felt ready to be married.  I began writing extremely specific prayers for him in my journal, and praying that God would prepare the two of us to meet soon. 

A few months later, on a trip to Minnesota to visit my brothers at college, I met a friend of theirs.  He intrigued me.  I was careful not to move very quickly because I really wanted the next person I dated to be my husband. 

As he and I got to know each other, he began telling me about things that had been going on in his life over the last six months.  Much of what he said sounded very familiar.  I went back to my journals and read the entries I had written to pray for my future husband.  You could literally go through with a pen and check off the prayers I had prayed with the events that had transpired in his life.  God was graciously giving us the affirmation we needed to move forward with confidence in our relationship.

We have now been happily married for almost 7 years.  We have two beautiful daughters together, which has served to knit us even closer together as we see each other shine in our roles as parents.  I have come to a confident and profound assurance of my savior’s love, faithfulness, and providence for me, and I thank Him for showing Himself to be so real in my life over these years.  I just love Him, don’t you?

That is my story.  My testimony.  The one I used to think was boring because I did not have a dramatic "before and after" God comparison.  I now know, though, that my story is a testimony to God's faithfulness.  He will NEVER change even though the situations of our life do.  We go through many different seasons, and He is gracious to love and carry us through each and every one. 

Thank you, GOD, for your goodness.  Thank you so much for being so real in my life.  Please meet my friends in their times of need, and show yourself to be the faithful friend you've always been to me.  

{P.S.  If you follow The Pless Press, you will see my story there on Februrary 3.  She was (divinely) inspired to host a series called "My Story".  Click on over there to see some other wonderful women's stories!}

Priorities

I have a confession.  

It seems like I've had a hard time living out in practice what I say my priorities are.  

Specifically, I've had a hard time with what I say is my number one priority, which is connectedness with God.  I find myself guilty of going through my days without so much as greeting God, talking to Him, asking Him his opinion about my activities, or praising Him for the many reasons He deserves it.  I read a book that I described here called "Respectable Sins" in which the author describes this phenomenon as "godlessness".  Godlessness is not inviting God into your day, doing things without consideration of Him, not listening or actively speaking with Him as you go about your business.  This is what I've been struggling with lately.  

Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to say that I've completely ignored God every day, it's just that I know that there is a level of communication with Him that I desire to have as a regular part of my life and I am sure that I am not currently experiencing that.  

The reason this is the case boils down to how I spend the hours and minutes of my day. 

My time MUST reflect my priorities.  

If I say that cleaning my house must come after building and maintaining my relationships with the precious people around me, then I must tell myself to make that phone call before I get into an hour's worth of cleaning.  If I say that intentionally playing with and teaching my girls is more important than spending time online, then I must choose to be fully present with them instead of checking my blog or email.  The items lower on my totem pole of priorities must wait until the higher items on my totem pole have been fulfilled.

I was writing about this the other day (in my prayer journal), and came up with my list of priorities from most important down.  These are extremely specific to me, but as you look at them, see if they are similar to what you would say, or if there may be other people or tasks in your life that you would fit in somewhere.

1) Make sure my heart and mind are connected with God by talking (and listening) to Him throughout the day.  (Right up here would be immediate obedience to anything He might lay on my heart to do).

2) Care for my (1) husband and (2) girls.

3) Care for Papa.  (I jokingly refer to him as my 85 year-old child.  I'll tell you all about him soon)

4) Serve or encourage others as opportunities arise.

5) Keep up my house and myself.  (This encompasses a lot of activities)

6) Pray for opportunities to tell others the story of Jesus who has come to forgive and redeem our lives, and to give us a hope that we will never experience apart from Him.

The order here is important.  I need to make sure the activities at the top of the list are done before I spend my time doing the activities at the bottom.  

Over the past few days I will start to do the dishes and the girls will be asking me to do something.  I whisper to myself "priorities" and go play with them.  The dishes can wait.  

I will be wanting to go use the computer to check my facebook, blog hop, or any old thing and will see the laundry that needs to get done or the opportunity to make Jesse a sandwich for lunch because he will be coming home for a lunch break soon.  I get up and do what is beneficial for real people instead of spending my time with inanimate objects.  

I turn the alert sound off on my smartphone so that I don't have that urge to check it every five minutes when a new email comes in!  I prefer it this way.  Let it stay where it needs to be on my priority list.


This is one of those points I will keep coming back to.  


What about you?  How are you doing with this?  I'd encourage you to prayerfully list out what your priorities are, and then challenge yourself to make sure the moments of your time match up with what you've decided really matters.

2011 Highlights

2011 Highlights:

It is good for us to sit down and remember all that has gone on in the past year, and be thankful for all that has happened that we have been able to enjoy. Even if it doesn't feel that the year overall has been "good", surely there were part of it that are worthy of reflecting on and saying a genuine "Thank you" to God.

It’s also good to look back at the trials we’ve had and see that we have come through them and that lots of things we dealt with were, in fact, temporary.  Since we recognize that God has been faithful to us in the past, we can know that we have no reason to doubt Him in the future.  I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again:  If we can’t trust God with our lives, whom can we trust?  Today, I will be focusing on the highlights of the past year and as I write about each one I am thinking about how grateful I am for each event.

That said, here are my 2011 highlights:

1) Becoming a stay-at-home mom. 

This is one that I honestly did not know would be as much of a “high” as it has become.  I struggled with this decision for a while.  I wondered if I would become stir-crazy; if the monotony of daily tasks would get to me and I’d regret quitting the great job I had teaching high school.  Believe it or not, since the day I submitted my resignation to the district, I have had five different opportunities to go back and work for them, whether doing a maternity leave or a part-time position that opened up after I resigned.  It was a tough decision to say no to these tempting opportunities to keep up with my skills as a Spanish teacher yet still keeping large chunks of time as a mom with my girls.  However, taking care of my husband’s grandpa (Papa), which has become somewhat of a part time job, and keeping that consistency with the schedule has outweighed the benefit of working  in these positions.

2) Celebrating the wedding of my youngest brother.

We gained a great sister-in-law this year.  Stephen and Lauren’s wedding was a celebration to remember.  The two of them sing on the worship team together at their church and their wedding ceremony had a full band leading all of us in celebration of God’s love for us as we celebrated two people’s love for each other.  Welcome to the family, Lauren!

3) Seeing my youngest girl learn to walk and talk.

This is always a high for any parent.  My 17-month-old Emma has just mastered walking and is chatting all of us up daily.  My favorite is how she is putting little sentences together.  She’ll name an item first and then say what she wants to do with it.  (i.e. “Water . . . drink it!” or “Nemo . . . watch it!”)  So adorable.

4) Getting to know all of the awesome young adults at my church. 

My husband and I have become really involved with the college & career group at our church.  I see this group as so important because that phase of life where you finish school, look for a job, look for a husband or wife, and try to make your way in the world can be scary, discouraging, and difficult.  To have a bunch of friends going through the same kinds of things with you, along with a few oldies (like me and Jess) who have recently survived and moved through that phase, is invaluable.  Both Jesse and I have had the chance to lead a small group or girls and it has been such a cool thing to form solid friendships with some awesome people.  We pray for each other’s needs, talk about what is going on in our lives, and, of course, study the Word of God together.  It rocks.

5) Starting a little tutoring business.

Since I am no longer teaching, I have begun tutoring high school students just like I used to teach, who need help in their Spanish class.  This has been a perfect opportunity to keep up with my language and teaching skills, but even more it has been a great chance to get to know some really cool teenagers.  I would never have met these kids if I hadn’t put my name out there as a Spanish tutor, and honestly it has been so fun working with them and watching their skills and confidence with Spanish shoot up over the school year.  Plus, I get to make my own hours with this, which is always great.

Those are my highlights.  What are yours?  

Before and After Kids

Before I became a mom, my life was different in many ways.  I've decided to share a few of them with you, let's see if you can relate to any of this:

KIDS:  Before & After

I knew what sleeping in meant.                       

7:20 is a late morning for me.

I’d spend every Sunday morning reading at the coffee shop for an hour.

The coffee shop has made maybe $5 on me in the last year.

We ate out relatively often in a nice restaurant.

Chipotle, Noodles & Company, and Panera is going out for us.

My floors stayed clean for days after I swept them.

My floors stay clean for 5.6 seconds after I sweep them.

The grocery store was a place I could pop in to at any time.

Grocery trips must be strategically and carefully planned out.

My schedule was determined by my workday and social activities.

My schedule is determined by naptimes.

I drove a small black SUV.

I drive a minivan :)

I bought nice flatbread crackers with Portwine cheese spread for snacks.

I buy goldfish for snacks.

I was able to store all of our specialty glassware in our cabinets.

Two entire cabinets are taken up by plastic sippy cups, bottles, plates, and tiny colorful silverware.

My purse was organized, maybe a bit of loose change.

My purse has a loose kid spoon, nipple (for a bottle), travel wipes, and used tissue.

We had a guest room.

We don’t have much extra room.

I could talk on the phone as loudly as I wanted in the house.

I sometimes talk so quietly in the house that my friends think something is wrong.

I smiled and laughed at my favorite TV shows.

I smile and laugh at my kids.  (They are so cute!)

Even though my life has changed, and in many cases things are more work or simply harder to do than they were before, I would not trade this post-kids life for anything.  

I remember taking a walk alone shortly after #1 was born.  I made the realization that my life would never be the same again.  At the time, this was a frightening thought.  I was kind of a slave to my baby and her needs.  What about my freedom?  What about the things that I want to do?  These things would have to stop, or at least be put on hold.  I actually had to mourn the loss of my old life in those first few days after I became a mom for the first time.  

Mourning that loss was necessary, though.  It made me see that I truly was living for myself, and I had to embrace the reality that it wasn't all about me anymore.  Thank you, God, for saving me from myself in that way.  Kids force you to do what you should be doing all along - putting others before yourself.  I hope God gives me 25 kids so I can never stop learning that lesson.  (Just kidding about the 25).

What are your  best "Before & After" statements?  They can be funny, serious, irreverent, or sentimental.  I'd love for you to share.  Let's see what we can come up with!  If you have ever written a post on this topic, I'd love to see it!  Please send me the link in your comment.

Much love, ladies.

Dealing with Death

We recently lost a loved one in our family - my grandmother's sister, my great aunt June.

Aunt June is the second one from the right.  She's telling us about losing her husband some years back but still having hope in God and trust that God Himself will take care of her when her husband cannot.

This photo was taken only a month ago around Thanksgiving at a little get together we had because my cousin had come into town.

Only 3 short weeks after visiting with her at this family gathering, she suffered two strokes; the second being so severe that she was simply unable to recover.


She will be missed.  She left a great legacy of devotion to her family, hard work in all she did, and, most of all, service to Christ.

Losing loved ones really gets a person thinking.

What will be said of me when I'm gone?  What does our life really mean while we are here?

How do we spend our time and energies?   In "futility" or "idleness", building our own name and fame or in service to others and to God?  

This is so challenging to me because I know my temptation is to spend far too much time worrying about myself and my life and far too little time concerned for others.

I've often said in the past, "Think about yourself at the end of your life.  When you are on your death bed, what is it that you will consider the most valuable way(s) that you spent your time?  Try to live your whole life spending as much time on those things as possible."

This is so heavy and so true.

Life moves SO fast.

I think of the children's book "Ten in the Bed".  There were ten in the bed and the little one said, "Roll over", so they all rolled over and one fell out.

The generations pass through this same cycle.  When you were a babe, your parents and most likely their parents generations were around and (hopefully) vibrant and active.  If you were lucky, you even knew your great grandparents for a time.

But just like a children's story about falling out of the bed, the generations roll over from one to the next. 

I am in the young parents generation.  Yesterday I was a child and on the bottom.  Today I am in the parents generation and tomorrow I will be in the grandparents' generation.

It all goes round and round like that.

And when you think of how fast it goes, it can be scary.

Except when you remember the hope we are all offered in Jesus Christ.


"I am the way, the truth, and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me."  John 14:6.

In the truest and most profound statement in all of human history, Jesus offers us the hope of eternal life with the Father (God) in heaven.  You and I do not have to call death our final ending.  We do not have to fear it.  We can have our ugly sin (ALL OF IT) forgiven by Jesus Christ and go straight into the most joyous, beautiful, and perfect places imaginable.  We can live forever with God in unbroken fellowship with him and all who have called on His name throughout the ages.  But, there is only one way to get there.  You must go through Jesus and the forgiveness he bought for you by his gruesome and agonizing death on the cross.

If you have confessed your need for a savior, and called on Jesus to forgive your sins, then you have the hope of glory ahead of you.  A life of meaning now and a future of hope.  Check out my post on HEAVEN for a reminder of what we are in store for.

If you have not reached out to God to accept the gift of redemption He offers you in Jesus Christ, you may not know the hope I am talking about - the hope of spending eternity in heaven, the weight of your sin lifted off your shoulders, and the knowledge that you have been made right before the creator of the universe, the almighty God.  He chose to forgive us through Jesus's sinless death, all out of His love.  He shows us over time that we need Him, and He does the forgiving and the reconciling once we ask Him.

Death is sad, but it is not scary for the one whose hope is in God's grace poured out through Jesus.  It is where we say goodbye to this earth with all it's troubles and say hello to our Maker and the perfection we've never known.

Consider your life today as I have.  Is it going the way you want it to go?  Are you able to spend enough time on what matters most?  Do you have the joy right now of knowing Jesus as the savior of your sins and the one who gives your life a purpose and meaning greater than you?

Once it's your turn to roll out of the bed, will you roll into an eternity with the One who loves you more than anyone has ever loved you and who removes your sin "as far as the east is from the west"?

Thank you, God, for your love for us.  I can't wait to be with you for all eternity just as Aunt June is now!

If you have 2 or 3 extra minutes, please click here and really think about this song and it's lyrics.  It echoes these ideas and is absolutely beautiful to listen to.  It often makes me weep.