Thankful Thursday

It's Thurday ~ time for pausing to think of the things we are thankful for.

Today, I am thankful I put my wants aside for a bit and spent time with my daughter. Rather than reading, watching TV or blogging I spent time with Rebecca.

She wanted to play a board game. After she had played by herself for a few minutes, she asked if I would play. I have never been the kind of mom who sits on the floor and plays with my kids for long periods of time. I just never really enjoyed it. However, as time has passed, I have realized some of the perfect opportunities I lost to connect with my children. These days I am trying to be more intentional about spending quality time with my kids, even when I don't want to or it seems unnatural for me.

This morning, Becca asked me to play Snakes & Ladders with her. I stopped what I was doing and we enjoyed a great game! Then, later after the littlest guy was down for his nap, Becca called me into her room to show me the amazing train tracks she had set up. The tracks weren't quite matching up so I helped her to fix them and then we played together. New routes were created, wooden animals were added to the fun (we had to get creative when the zebra wouldn't fit in the tunnel), and blocks were used to construct a barn. It was fun watching her use her imagination. Times like these are priceless and I hope to have more of them!

Check out Iris' blog to participate in Thankful Thursday or to read other people's thankful thoughts.

Faith Lifts is Back!

The daily devotionals, Faith Lifts from 5 Minutes for Mom, is back up and running! It has been on hiatus for the past couple months as it was waiting for some new people to fill in the gaps. I read today's devotional, the first official one since starting up again, and I have already been challenged.

Today's devotional, "Waiting on the Lord", is about beginning our day with God (click here to read this post). While reading it, I was encouraged to try BEGINNING my day with God. That doesn't mean waiting until 11am when kids are napping and the chaos of children playing has subsided, although that is a great time for me to do my devotions.

What I mean is to BEGIN my day with God before my feet even hit the floor! I know this will be challenging for me.

First, I don't like mornings, I never have! Before having kids, people would ask me when I was going to have a baby. I would quickly answer, "When I'm ready to give up sleeping in!" I have given up sleeping in (although I still try to on Sundays - I love Saturday night church!), but the thought of getting up any earlier than I need to is NOT appealing to me, to say the least.

Secondly, I don't often wake up until I hear a knock at my door announcing my day care kids arrival. Either that or I'm jumping out of bed to get Daniel ready for school.

So my plan for tomorrow (I'm taking this one day at a time) is to say a quick prayer for God to guide my day and to give me the strength and wisdom I need for the day, all before my feet hit the floor and I stumble down the hall to answer the door.

I believe that focusing on God FIRST will help me to be more aware of Him in my day, which in turn will help me be a better parent. I don't claim that I will have a perfect day - God doesn't promise that, but He DOES promise that He will meet all my needs ("And my God will meet all your needs..." Philippians 4:19) because His grace is sufficient for me ("My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness" 2 Corinthians 12:9).

For me, this is something that will be quite difficult to accomplish, but with His strength I will try! I'll let you know how it goes!

Weigh-In Saturday

Twelve days are over and Jeremy is feeling cleaned out!

He finished his 12-day cleansing / detox yesterday and celebrated by having Chinese food for lunch. As much as I thought he should be careful with what he ate, he was certain his stomach would be fine...and it was. He ate only a portion of his lunch and never had any stomach pains. That in itself is amazing! He always has had stomach pains after eating things that aren't very healthy. What a difference the cleansing did! He is planning to have sushi today for lunch (he had to deprive himself of it for twelve whole days ~ can you here the sarcasm?!).

After today's lunch he is back to his diet and also plans on writing down everything he eats. Even though he "cheated" yesterday & will again today, he is still determined to continue with his diet. He still has about 50 lbs to lose and is hoping to have it done by the end of summer, if not before.

Because he realized almost too late that he wasn't eating properly for the cleansing, he wants to do it again in the fall after he's down to his ideal weight.

So, you're all wondering what he weighs now! Well, because he didn't eat properly for the entire cleansing we are pretty sure he would have lost more weight. However, if you remember two weeks ago, Jeremy's weight had gone up to 249 lbs. He started the detox the next day. Last Saturday he was down to 239 lbs (a loss of 10 lbs) but then on Monday he was up to 241! Well this morning he weighed himself and is back down to 239 lbs. It should be more exciting because he is under 240, but somehow this number, 239, seems to be the number that's hard to get past (on the way down). We are hoping that with Jeremy keeping track this week of everything he eats that it will help him to refocus and get past this frustrating number.

Thank you for all your encouragements! It's good to know that he has people rooting for him, supporting him and excited about this journey.

PS: I would post a picture but Jeremy is off helping a friend with some burning and then they're going to do a dump run, so the picture will have to wait until I can catch him standing still for 3 minutes! Maybe next weekend!

Movie Review

We just finished watching the movie "The Great Debaters" with Denzel Washington and Forrest Whittaker. Before tonight we had never heard of this movie, but the premise on the back sounded intriguing.

"Inspired by a true story, (Denzel) Washington shines as a brilliant but politically radical debate team coach who uses the power of words to transform a group of underdog African American college students into an historical powerhouse that took on the Harvard elite. Featuring a superb cast of rising young actors, "The Great Debaters is marvelous entertainment that you should not miss" (Andrew Sarris, The New York Observer)."

"The Great Debaters" is based on a true story. The bonus features show amazing interviews with the original people this moving story is based on. Before filming, the actors were able to meet the person they were portraying. After watching the interviews it was clear the actors did an amazing job portraying these heroic figures of American history.

I was not prepared for the depth this movie delves into: the political history of the African American people, racism, etc., but the passion that was portrayed left me with utter respect for the African American people and a disgust for the racism they experienced.

"The Great Debaters" is moving and inspirational with a touch of humor mixed in. It has two scenes that we fast-forwarded because of the sexual content although the second one (near the end) ended up being a false alarm. These days you never know how graphic things will be; the first one didn't appear to be very graphic, but as I said, we did fast-forward it). There are also a couple parts that I chose to look away simply because I don't like seeing people suffer (although I don't remember any visually graphic violence). Despite these two things, I would love to see this movie again and definately recommend it.

If you watch this movie or have already seen it, I would love to hear your comments! Below is a trailer for "The Great Debaters".

He CHOSE To Suffer

This morning for my devotions I read chapter eight of the book "Seeing and Savoring Jesus Christ" by John Piper. The chapter is called, "The Incomparable Sufferings ~ The Anguish of Jesus Christ". Click here to read the book on-line.

Author - John Piper

The content itself wasn't anything new for me, but it's the way it is written, the graphic reminder of just how much Christ suffered for us at his death that spoke to me.

Here are some of the points I gleaned from my time this morning:

• Jesus did not deserve to suffer, yet He suffered the most ever in history or the future
• Jesus was mocked, tortured and humiliated relentlessly, yet He did not take revenge; rather He remained silent and did not defend Himself (Luke 23:9) so as to fulfill Scriptures (Matthew 26:56)
• Jesus' friends betrayed and abandoned Him (Luke 22:48; Matthew 26:75)
• Jesus could have refused the suffering and crucifixion but he was obedient to His Father and CHOSE this path (Philippians 2:8).

It was God's will that Jesus suffer so intensely, "to crush him" (Isaiah 53:10). But Jesus accepted all of it to fulfill the Scriptures.

"Not only was it suffering by design, but also by obedience. Jesus embraced the pain. He chose it - "obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross" (Philippians 2:8). ~ Piper, p.70

Jesus CHOSE to die, even this hideous, humiliating death. Jesus knew that if He disobeyed and refused to go through the pain that all the people ever to live (including us) wouldn't / couldn't be free from our sins. He was obedient - even to the point of death!

"No one takes (my life) from me, but I lay it down of my own accord" (John 10:18).

Piper goes on to say that two purposes were accomplished in the suffering of Christ (p. 71):

1. The suffering of Jesus brought us to God who is fullness of joy and pleasure forevermore. "Christ...suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God" (1 Peter 3:18).
2. In the very hour of death the Father and the Son were glorified. "Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him" (John 13:31).

Piper concludes by saying, "Our joy in savoring God and his glory in saving us are one. That is the glory of Christ's incomparable sufferings" (p.71).

Knowing that Jesus CHOSE to suffer, was humiliated, taunted, mocked, ridiculed, endured excruciating physical pain as well as the pain of betrayal and abandonment; knowing that He went through all of that because He chose to...it makes me ever so grateful. He KNOWS how I feel when I am hurting, feel alone, have physical pain. He CARES about my pain. Today I am pondering about the depth of what this means to me.

Thankful Thursday

I am thankful for TRUTH.

The past several months have been full of soul searching, praying, reading my bible at great lengths, seeking discernment with friends and family. In all of this, I have been praying for truth; truth to be revealed, truth to be seen, truth to be accepted. Yesterday I prayed specifically asking God to reveal truth to me in any areas that I needed, that the areas would be made clear and that He would show me the steps I need to take to move forward.

I know that in asking this I am asking for more hard times (because change doesn't come easily), but I really sensed that this was my time to ask. Last night was our cell group (care group/small group) night. We are down to just us and one other couple at the moment. We were both lacking babysitters so we decided to switch spouses for the evening. I went to their place to meet with the wife and the husband came to our place to meet with Jeremy. "The wife" and myself had a wonderful time sharing and praying. Through our conversation, a couple things were revealed to me that God wants me to work on. It was so exciting because I had just prayed for this earlier in the morning!

So today I am thankful for God's TRUTH!

What are you thankful for today? Visit Iris and celebrate giving thanks!

Prayer Request

Contemporary Christian musician, Steven Curtis Chapman's 5yr old daughter was struck & killed by an SUV. For more details, you can look at Travis Cottrell's blog (here).

Detox Update

A brief refresher to remind himself about what he should or shouldn't be eating during these 12 days gave Jeremy an unwanted reminder.

He realized after supper tonight that he has not been all of the proper foods this past week and a half. He has been eating a fare share of meat only to find out that he was supposed to only be eating about 20% meat. Also, he hasn't been eating very many carbs and tonight he was reminded that about 80% of his food should be carbs (potatoes, brown rice, sweet potatoes, etc). He has been feeling like the detox wasn't working as well as he had hoped and now he understands why! He is feeling frustrated that the past week and a half have been wasted to some degree. We both know that he still has received some benefits from doing the cleansing but now realize that the full effects won't be available. Needless to say, Jeremy is taking the last couple of days to do things properly. Hopefully things will improve in this short of time.

He is finished his detox on Friday afternoon. We will be doing a weight update on Saturday so check back for the latest progress!

Weigh-In Saturday

Last weekend Jeremy weighed himself and it seemed that the scale wasn't working properly - at least that's what he was hoping because the scale numbers read 249 lbs. The scale said that Jeremy had gained 6 lbs during a week where he thought he had actually done quite well.

Last Sunday Jeremy began a 12-day cleansing/detox program. As I've already posted a couple of times this week he has been hit with the whole gammit of symptoms. And the more enjoyable effect that has happened is losing some weight.

But this morning there seems to be more frustration. Yesterday morning the scale said 239 lbs (that's as low as he's gotten since starting his diet this past winter as well as for several years). Now for the frustration. This morning when Jeremy weighed himself the scale read 241 lbs. He gained 2 lbs in 24hrs. We know that weight fluctuation happens and everything but it sure gets discouraging. Especially when the numbers yesterday read under 240! He is almost down to how much he weighed when we met almost 13yrs ago. We're hoping that this next week we will see numbers under 240, and with one more week to go on the cleansing/detox program, we're pretty confident we won't be disappointed.

Movie Review

Tonight, Jeremy & I decided to have a date night. Jeremy had a stressful day at work; add the whole detox/cleansing affects to it and he was ready to get out. So we booked a sitter (a rare opportunity on a Friday night!) and went to the movies. We are going on Sunday with some friends to see the new Narnia movie, "The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian" (see here for a movie review), so we resisted and chose to see "Nim's Island" instead.

Before seeing "Nim's Island" tonight, all I really knew about it is that Karen from Praying Karen had seen the movie and that she loved it! I took a chance that we might have the same taste in movies and am so glad I did! "Nim's Island" was a breath of fresh air. Before heading to the theatre tonight, I was checking out a number of different movies at Plugged-In Online (a Christian media review site) and was getting rather frustrated with realizing that some of the movies we were interested in seeing had explicit sexual humor - even though they were only rated PG. It is very frustrating.

But as I said, I was pleasantly surprised with "Nim's Island". It's a great adventure story with some good humorous parts and even a point where I got teary. It was free of graphic violence, sexual content and as far as language goes, it was pretty much as clean as they come these days (see here for a complete review).

I'd love to hear if you've seen this movie yet, and if not, I highly recommend you check out "Nim's Island"!

Cleansing / Detox Update

Jeremy's cleansing / detox is still having effects on him - which is good, I guess! Yesterday he came home from work with a bad head cold (or the symptoms of it). This is one of the things he could expect from doing the cleansing.

So, for now Jeremy is fine with repeatedly blowing his nose and having his head feel stuffy because he knows it's just a matter of time before all the toxins and bad stuff is out of his system and he will be feeling great!

Check back tomorrow for a weight loss update - it should be pretty exciting!

Thankful Thursday

I am thankful that I have JOY!

To participate in "Thankful Thursday", simply visit Iris and follow the simple steps here.

Detox Update

As I mentioned earlier this week (here), Jeremy is doing a 12-day detox/cleansing program.

He started it Sunday at supper time and by bedtime he was already beginning to feel some effects. Monday he was feeling weak, had a headache, and his stomach was "doing its cleansing thing", to put it nicely! Even his voice sounded weak. By Tuesday his body was achy (especially his arms and back). He still had a bad headache and he was getting very familiar with the bathroom!

Curiosity got the better of Jeremy so he weighed himself this morning. So far he has lost about 6 lbs (I don't remember the exact numbers). I talked to him a little bit ago and his voice is sounding like it has a bit more energy. He is still a frequent visitor to "the little boys' room" but the achy, nauseas feeling seems to be subsiding. If the worst is over then Jeremy's reaction isn't as bad as I thought it would be. Check back on Saturday for another weight loss update!

Happy Mother's Day!

Six years ago I celebrated my first official Mother's Day! The year before that I was pregnant so I wasn't officially a mommy yet. I thought it would be fun to show a few pictures leading up to me becoming a Mommy for the first time!

Jeremy & I at our friends' wedding

(approx. 20wks pregnant with Daniel)

May '01

Sept. '01 (38wks pregnant)

I'm a Mommy at last!

Sept. 30, 2001

Approx. 7am

Our new family

Jeremy, Leanne, Daniel & Richard (our former foster-son)

Then 2 1/2yrs later, we welcomed our beautiful daughter, Rebecca, into our lives.

Yesterday's Mother's Day celebration was pretty low key but ended up being very relaxing and enjoyable.

We began our day by going to church, something that is weird for us! We normally have church Saturday night (our church rents another church's building, so we meet Saturday night so as not to "push" each other out on Sundays). This past weekend we joined with another church and met Sunday morning! It did kind of throw off the feel of our weekend a little but it was all good. So after church, we headed to the first restaurant that didn't have a 2hr wait! We managed to find one with only a 15 minute wait!

After lunch we headed home so the kids could give me their gifts. Daniel made a cute card and a very nice candle holder at school. It was very sweet!

Then, the kids - along with Jeremy - gave me the gift they all worked together on. Jeremy says I can't keep plants alive (I keep disagreeing but after looking around at the variety of dead plants, I'm beginnig to think I might have to agree!), so I was presented with a beautiful planter full of artificial silk flowers placed in real soil! I love the colors (blue being my favorite) and the kids were excited to show me the the flowers they each picked out. Daniel chose the pussywillows and Becca chose the blueberries. The great thing is that last summer I kept looking everywhere for a taller planter but, not wanting to spend lots of money, I didn't end up buying one. And here they gave me one for Mother's Day! It was perfect!

I was out with some ladies from our church on Friday night and ended up being out quite late, so needless to say, I was still tired yesterday. Jeremy took Becca grocery shopping while I stayed home and napped and Daniel watched some TV. Later, Jeremy put the groceries away, made supper and got the kids ready for bed. I really felt like I had a day off from "Mommy Duties". That is probably one of the best gifts I could have, especially these days with the extra kids I take care of!

After a phone call with my Mom and sister, Jeremy & I relaxed with some TV and headed off to bed. It was another great Mother's Day!

Weight Loss Update

Okay, something fishy's going on here! Either our bathroom scale is not working properly or Jeremy is forgetting about some major food cheating! The scale said he gained a bunch of weight this week, when he actually was eating pretty well.

We may take our scale back and try another one. In the meantime, Jeremy has picked up a detox kit. Our chiropractor has strongly recommended that Jeremy consider doing a cleansing / detox for his system. With all the unhealthy eating over the years and all the stomach problems Jeremy has had, he figured it was time!

After doing some research Jeremy bought a Wild Rose Herbal D-Tox Program. He began last night and over the next 12 days, Jeremy's system will get a complete cleaning and overhaul! In the next few days he may experience some irritability, fatigue, nausea, flu-like symptoms, low energy, headaches...! And I'm guessing that he will experience every symptom simply because he's never cleansed out his system before. But then again, he has been eating quite healthy lately. But after that, it sounds like everything should be great! He should feel more energy and feel better all around. He started last night and already he is noticing some action happening! Oh, and he could lose up to 10lbs during the next week and a half!

During this 12-day program, he has to eliminate all yeast products from his diet. That includes breads (he was only eating low-carb ones anyway), some fruits (apparently some are high in yeast?!), and vinegars. We have been making our own salad dressings lately, using olive oil, balsamic vinegar and some Epicure herbs/seasonings. Now we will have to use lemon juice in place of the vinegar, but that's okay. We should survive!

Look for updates on this newest adventure!

Grace Like a Deer

Earlier this week, a friend shared some verses from Habakkuk on her blog. I love the passage these verses are in so I thought I'd share my thoughts on it with you!

I had the opportunity to study the book of Habakkuk a number of years back when I was at Capernwray Harbour Bible School & Conference Centre (of Torchbearers International). At the time I wasn't too interested in studying this book, but as I delved into the study I quickly changed my attitude. It has since then become probably my most favorite book of the Bible.

If I was to summarize the book of Habakkuk in one short sentence, it would be "God's faithfulness never changes". How amazing is that?!

The book starts out with the prophet Habakkuk complaining to the LORD (1:2). "How long, O LORD, must I call for help, but you do not listen?..." (Thank You, Lord, that even when it feels You are not listening, You ARE.) And the LORD answers the prophet by saying (1:5,6), "Look at the nations and watch - and be utterly amazed. For I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe, even if you were told. I am raising up the Babylonians, that ruthless and impetuous people...".

The prophet complains again (1:13), "Your eyes are too pure to look on evil; you cannot tolerate wrong. Why then do you tolerate the treacherous?..." (Thank You, Lord, that even though at times it feels like the hard times will never end, You know when they will end.) And again, the LORD answers Habakkuk (2:2,3), "Write down the revelation and make it plain on tablets...For the revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay. ...". The LORD finishes up with some "Woe to him...'s".

Then comes chapter 3, my favorite chapter! Habakkuk responds to the LORD by saying (3:2), "LORD, I have heard of your fame; I stand in awe of your deeds, O LORD. Renew them in our day, in our time make them known; in wrath remember mercy. ...". (I stand in awe of You, Jesus, because of Your mercy, grace and love for me!)

Then Habakkuk finishes up with the following verses. Every time I read these verses (16-19) it's as if there is a symphony in my head, playing softly at first, then with each statement, the music becomes louder, stronger, more celebratory, holding out and waiting for the final resounding note.

These verses are so exciting!

Habakkuk 3:16-19

"I heard and my heart pounded,
my lips quivered at the sound;
decay crept into my bones,
and my legs trembled.
Yet I will wait patiently for the day of calamity
to come on the nation invading us.
Though the fig tree does not bud
and there are no grapes on the vines,
though the olive crop fails
and the fields produce no food,
though there are no sheep in the pen
and no cattle in the stalls,
yet I will rejoice in the LORD,
I will be joyful in God my Savior.

The Sovereign LORD is my strength;
he makes my feet like the feet of a deer,
he enables me to go on the heights."

Did you hear it? The symphony?! Isn't it amazing?! Even though everything around me is in utter disarray, the crops have failed, the sheep and cattle are gone, "yet I will rejoice in the Lord"!

Shortly before I attending Capernwray, I was driving alone along a winding road. On one side of the road was a forest and on the other side was a steep rockface mountainside. As I was peacefully driving, a sudden thought broke my silence. "What if there is a deer ahead?"

Immediately I heeded the warning in my head and slowed down, becoming more aware of my surroundings. As I rounded the next corner, there in front of me was a deer, standing in the middle of the road! Because I had that "thought" and had listened to it, I was able to slow down enough before the deer pranced away up the mountainside.

A couple things struck me. First, WOW! God had warned me of a danger ahead! Thank you, Jesus!

Second, the way the deer turned and pranced up the mountainside was amazing. It was so graceful. With only a bound or two the deer was off the road and with another couple prances, it was out of sight. If I was to climb that mountainside I would be scared, slow-moving, grasping for the next place to cling on to. But this deer, without thought bounced, 1 - 2 - 3, and was gone! Such grace, such strength, and without hesitation.

"The Sovereign LORD is my strength;
he makes my feet like the feet of a deer,
he enables me to go on the heights."

Thank You, Jesus, for life experiences that help me better understand Your words in the Bible. Thank You that You are my strength and that I can depend on You, even when it feels everything around me is crumbling. Thank You for making my feet like those of a deer, enabling me to go on the difficult heights with grace.

Weigh-In Saturday

Minus 5!

Jeremy took this week and each day made healthy eating choices. He didn't look at the week as a whole - that can be too overwhelming. One meal at a time!

To help with staying focused this past week, Jeremy bought and cooked up some sausages last week and boiled up a dozen eggs. That way, each morning he could warm up a couple sausages and have a hard-boiled egg for breakfast. He was getting tired of cottage cheese every morning. He also takes fruit (apple or pear) with him and eats it on his way to work. This helps to kick his metabolism into gear and helps set the eating habit tone for his day.

And this week he lost 5 lbs! Yay! He is now at 243 lbs.

I think we will be looking at buying a smaller size of pants in the next few weeks if the weight continues to come off. Already, his pants are beginning to look a little big, and one of his pullover sweatshirts is very baggy on him (his tummy used to fill it out). I'm setting aside money each month to help with purchasing Jeremy new clothes once he's down to his ideal weight. He has also been unpacking some smaller-sized clothes that he's had in storage for a few years.

One of Jeremy's goal is that once he has acheived his ideal weight we will go and buy him a suit. He has never had one and for the past few years we figured why spend the money if Jeremy's going to lose weight? So that will be his "special" purchase at the end of all this.

Imagination!

Last weekend we were invited to some friends' for supper. Some of their kids babysit for us, so our kids were thrilled to go play at their house!

After supper the kids came out and modeled their lovely, creative outfits they found, with help from Miranda. We had a great laugh and the kids were so proud of themselves. Thanks, Miranda for playing with our kids so well and meeting them at their level. It means so much to our kids!

Thankful Thursday

Today is "Thankful Thursday". I have never participated in it before, but today I have something I feel compelled to share. I first saw it at Heather's blog, "Mumblings of a Mommy 'Monk'", but I believe it originated at Iris' blog "Sting My Heart". If you want to participate in "Thankful Thursday", go to Iris' blog and leave your link on Mr. Linky. So here goes...!


I was reading a post by Heather at "Mumblings of a Mommy 'Monk'". I must say that this post was very good and I encourage you to read it! Click here to read this post. It's about the tone that mothers set for the home, based on the saying, "If Mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy!" Definately worth reading the post.

But back to my point. A few posts ago I wrote about "Joy???" and feeling like I didn't have it at the time. Since then, I have struggled to feel like I have joy.

I left a comment on Heather's blog because I was really able to relate to what she shared about moms setting the family tone. While I was leaving a comment, I quickly read through the other comments. A lady named Christin, of "As Gold Refined", left a comment that really spoke to me. Christin made a comment about the difference between joy and happiness. Here is part of what she said:

"Joy isn't the same thing as happiness. Happiness comes as a result of circumstances - joy remains no matter what your circumstances - you can be unhappy and still have joy. Joy is a promise from the Lord and it is obtainable - we just need to seek Him first. :) As we continue to do that, He will continue to mold us. We just need to remember to keep moving forward with our eyes on Him. :) Yes, we are certainly works in progress! And God promised to complete the work in us if we don't grow weary in doing good."

Although it was encouraging to read that explanation between the two, I still struggled to feel the joy. As much as I loved what Christin wrote, I felt that I still wasn't "getting it" with the whole "Joy" thing.

Well, last night, our church small group met. Instead of doing our regular routine, we spent the evening praying and having communion. We prayed for people in our church, whoever God put on our heart. We were able to get through quite a few people. Have you ever spent time praying in a group, and when you were finished praying no one spoke right away? That's how it was last night.

It was so good to spend that time, bringing people before our almighty, caring God. I am so thankful for that time last night. After our prayer time was over I felt the joy return to my heart. "Joy is a promise from the Lord and it is obtainable - we just need to seek Him first." In order to seek God first, we need to take our eyes off ourself! Coming before God in prayer is an excellent way of doing this.

I am thankful for fellow Christians who share a passion for praying. I am thankful I shifted my focus off my own woes to consider other people and how they are hurting. I am thankful that I can have joy even when I don't feel happy. I am thankful for a God who never changes, who is always waiting for us to come before Him, who wants to bless us in ways we never imagined (big or small).

Praise & Coffee Giveaway!

It's the first of the month again. Time for Praise & Coffee's free giveaway. All you have to do is go to this post and leave a comment. The draw will be made on the 10th.

This month, the prize is 1 bag of Starbuck's coffee and the "Holy God" CD by Brian Doerksen.