My niece, Katelynn Grace 

The Miracle of Birth

Yesterday I had the BEST experience of my life to this date! My sister delivered her second baby and I was there to see the birth! It was the most AMAZING, INCREDIBLE experience I have ever been a part of and seen...EVER! I was speechless the whole day(well, actually night) b/c I knew that I would start balling and then my sister would start balling...
Anyway, Katelynn Grace was 8 lbs 13 oz and 21.5 inches long.

Day by Day

Have you ever had one of these moments...
This morning at church the congregation was singing the hymn "Day by Day." The last verse was sung accapella. The whole church was filled with the sound of worship toward God. As I was singing I had the thought that maybe this is one preview of Heaven! Everyone singing to God, worshipping wholeheartedly...it was one of those moments for me that I was extremely excited about being in Heaven. Not that there are days when I don't look forward to being in Heaven, but today just hearing people's voices was amazing. I'm looking forward to spending eternity worshipping my Heavenly Father!!!!

Hmmmm?

So, it's almost been 3 months since I had oral surgery to take out all 4 wisdom teeth! In the process of all of it, one of the nerves in my lower jaw was damaged. So, after have many many many follow ups and being poked and prodded...yesterday I had an appointment with a neurologist. The whole visit was funny! I walked into the office, looked around and realized that I was THE ONLY person under the age of 75, and the ONLY person who could walk on my own. And what's really wrong with me...um...I can't feel the left side of my bottom lip! HA! So, I met with the doctor and he poked and prodded and made sure that all of my other nerves were working fine. His final diagnosis...nerves grow back, take a multi-vitamin and stay healthy! Anyway, it was just all amusing to me. So, for the time being I will just keep walking around with food on my lip and drool going down my chin...until some kind person tells me that I'm drooling or that food is on my lip! :) You think that wouldn't happen...mark my words...it happens every day! If nothing else, I laugh at myself!
Ps 40:16 But may all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you; may those who love your salvation say continually, "The Lord be exalted!"

Lacking Nothing

Psalm 34:8-10 Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him. Fear the LORD, you his saints, for those who fear him lack nothing. The lions may grow weak and hungry, but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing.

Last night I was sitting in a Bible study geared toward career people in their 20s. The topic was being introduced to Jesus Christ. If you are a Christian you have already been introduced to Him, but how many of us really take the time to get to know Him in a personal, intimate way? We spend time with Him when it is convenient for us...but how many times do we pass up an opportunity that we could be experiencing Him in a deeper capacity? I was reminded last night that God is interested in the details of everything and that His attributes are inexhaustible!!! Spend time today to experience God in your life!!

Focus

Today I caught myself holding onto the fact that spring break is in 15 days! Another teacher and I were "trying to encourage" one another to keep on keeping on for 15 more days... As excited as I am to take a mini-vacation, spend time with friends, lay out, do absolutely nothing, spend time with my family, and not have to deal with students...I was reminded that what God sets forth today has meaning and purpose, and I need to focus on today and what God would have me to accomplish for Him...not for my selfish purposes! I have been searching for what people really look for life...fulfillment, purpose, acceptance...and the only way to find them is to have a relationship with Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ fills you everyday with the Holy Spirit. Jesus Christ directs you each day where to go and leads you in what to do. You find acceptance in Jesus Christ in His promise, "I will never leave you nor forsake you!"
2 Corinthians 4:16-18 states, "Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal."
I hope that you are encouraged today to focus on what God's purposes for your life are today. You might be sad, lonely, tired, happy, or you maybe going through the worst time in your life and you don't think that you will ever make it to a sunny day...rest in God, let the Holy Spirit fill you, ask God to guide and direct you, know that He will take care of you!

A Favorite Quote of Mine

Lloyd John Ogilvie
"With Christ we have everything, without Him, nothing we do however spectacular has meaning. Therefore I must rediscover again everyday: Christ must be ALL or He is nothing at all."

I was reading this morning in Ps. 29. Over and over again the verses say, "The voice of the Lord..." He controls everything, builds everything, destroys, breaks down, strikes lightning...
Verses 10-11 are incredible after reading the previous verses. Vs. 10-11 - The LORD sits enthroned over the flood; the LORD is enthroned as King forever. The LORD gives strength to his people; the LORD blesses his people with peace.