When God speaks through us

So many are suffering in our nation.  Those people are our neighbors, friends, and those people are us!  Why does suffering occur? I don't think I could ever write on this topic as well as Brandon speaks about it in the sermon below.  If you have time to listen, this sermon will be worth every second of your time.  The Holy Spirit literally spoke right through Brandon.  Thank you Jesus for a faithful brother in Christ!  

The Gathering Place » Message 6-23-13

God will provide!

Being a hostess is not my gift!  I repeat, it is not my gift!  I stress about the house being clean before, during, and after!  I stress about food!  Is there enough?  Is it good?  PHEW, it stresses me out!  I want to be good at it!  I want to have people over all the time and be easy going.  It just isn't so!  Last night we had about 13 or 14 people in our house.  I offered to feed everyone and I really wanted to bless people by having them over to watch a game and giving them food.  

This is how the day started!

There was one major difference between the ants in my house and the ants in the picture above!  The ones swarming my house were even less attractive! They were in the master bathroom, the kitchen sink, pantry, and in the master closet!  No exaggeration, it looked as if our floor was moving in our closet!  The stupid things were all over our dirty clothes! I tried everything I could think to get rid of them.  By the end of it, my house smelled like a pickle from all the vinegar I used to clean with!  It also smelled like peppermint oil.  Wow, what a mix!  The bug man came to my rescue, and I DID NOT FEEL BAD for killing the tiny annoying creatures.  Okay, now that I think of it, maybe I do feel a little bad. If I could have gotten rid of them any other way, I would have thought about it.  After all, they do work harder than I have ever thought of working!  If I had half of their motivation I would get much more accomplished.  I really wish I would work for the Lord, the way these ants work for their queen who is able to be killed by the pinch of a human finger.  Of course, it would not be this human finger!  I'm not touching an ant unless it is on me or attacking a child!   

Okay, enough about the ants that were so hard to kill.  We finally got rid of most of them around 1:00.  My house was a wreck from taking everything out of the pantry.  I lost it! People were coming over, ants had taken over, the day before I found out news I didn't want to hear, my baby felt bad, and I was coming down with a sore throat!  Phew, did I mention hosting is not my gift.  Anyway, I was half determined to push through and half determined to cancel.  One of my sweet friends Jen, who has four children of her own offered to watch Landry while I cleaned.  That was such a HUGE help!  Once Landry came home she took a long nap, which is not normal for her!  It was a miracle!  While she napped I was able to finish cleaning and preparing the meal.  While preparing I noticed we did not have enough shredded cheese! OH MY GOSH! I don't keep anything on hand, so I was hopeful my neighbor Lis had some. As I was calling Lis, I opened the refrigerator and saw this glorious shredded cheese! I had enough to complete all of the enchiladas! 

Jen dropped off a salad and didn't even stay to eat!  Yup, that is the kind of friend she is!  Did I mention she is also my cousin?  How blessed am I to have her as family?!!! Alan went to pick up a pizza from Johnny's Pizza House and they messed up the order.  We were given two pizza's for the price of one!  This was another miracle!  Our dear friend Allison, brought a wonderful sopapilla cheesecake and Lis brought Alan's favorite, chocolate chip cookies!  People went home with food!  God totally provided!  

The night turned out to be fun!  It was nothing I did, because like I said it just isn't my gift.  The Lord worked through my anxious self and provided everyone with a good time and good food!  Thank you Jesus for your ability to provide a way!

This is the sauce that was made by Jen and used to season the chicken for the enchiladas! 

The spread of food we had minus the cheesecake! 

Taylor and Landry!

My sweet Savannah girl!

Funny Aunt Amber!  She stole Landry's headbands!

Landry saying, Aunt Amber you better give them back!

Prayer Series 1

When I first began blogging, I said I would share some of my prayers from the years prior to blogging.  I have put this off for over a year now.  I haven't looked in my prayer journal in a long time, but I believe God is prompting me to re-read past prayers and share a few of them from time to time.  The first prayer I wrote in this journal (which is more like a regular journal entry than a prayer) was not dated.  I am guessing it was written in April or May of 2011.  It really isn't a difficult one to share.  It is a perfect one to begin with, because it isn't that personal.  I am sure some of the prayers locked in this journal will be harder to share.  I will have to take a look at old scars.  Some of those scars have probably healed and some still remain.  They are reminders of pain past and/or present.  Some will not resemble scars at all, but will remind me of God's many blessings.  I am not sure what this series will unlock (if anything).  I am not sure of its purpose, but I do hope it glorifies God and brings me closer to Him.  I hope to make this series a priority.  I also want to begin writing my prayers again.  I have not written down prayers in a long time.  Writing keeps me focused.  My brain tends to go in a million different directions all at once, but when I write I am focused. 

Written around April or May of 2011:

On Sunday's, without fail, it always seems to be difficult to get ready for church.  This difficulty can present itself in many ways like feeling ill, arguing with loved ones, lack of a desire, and so on.  Why?  I believe, for me, it is because I neglect to wake up and put on the full armor of God.  Especially, but not limited to, praying in the Spirit.  As a child, I loved singing the song, "I'm in the Lords Army." I had no idea what that really meant.  The Lord's Army?  Here is what I think it means, "Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, it is against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world, and against spiritual forces of evil in the Heavenly realms."  We must fight and without the Lord and the full armor of God we will lose.  We are constantly engaged in battle.  At times, it is easy for me to see this, because I struggle with depression.  The lies that bombard my thoughts feel so real.  The depression is greater when I have not spent time with the Lord.  Sometimes the battle is so fierce and I am too weak to pick up or put on anything.  Those are the times my brothers and sisters in Christ seem to step in and lift me up in prayer.  They stand before, but even greater and mightier is Christ!