Season of Thankfulness

Today is the first day of Fall. That means cooler nights and fuzzy blankets, bonfires and singings, sweaters and hoodies, and s'mores and hot chocolate! Fall is such a beautiful season for so many reasons. It's the beginning of the holidays. Fall is also the season for being thankful. Thanksgiving Day is a special day in Autumn set aside particularly for thanking God for what He's blessed us with. But we shouldn't wait until the end of November to be grateful for what we have. We should thank God every single day!

"Now godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content." 1 Timothy 6:6-8
Have a great first week of fall, y'all!

You Raise Me Up!

"You raise me up so I can stand on mountains. You raise me up to walk on stormy seas. I am strong when I am on your shoulders. You raise me up to more than I can be."

Here the past few days, I have been listening to Josh Groban a LOT. His voice is absolutely gorgeous, and his songs are beautiful. I will definitely be having his Christmas album playing all season.

My favorite song that he does is You Raise Me Up. Not sure if it's technically "his" song, but he most certainly OWNED it. *wink*

I love the lyrics to that song. It's so inspiring! And it's breathtaking to know that there is a God out there who raises me up so I can be more than I can be on my own!

"And He said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me." 2 Corinthians 12:9

Have a blessed day!

Modesty

Hey, gals! I hope you're having a wonderful day. We had lots of rain here yesterday, and this morning it's so nice and sunny outside. I love how everything sparkles after a nice rain shower! Today I want to tell you about what happened to me and three friends last Friday. We have homeschool co-op classes once a week, and I help in the cake decorating class. It was lunch time, so we girls went to Walmart to get some Subway sandwiches for our families. As we walked in, we passed a man who was taking up donations for the veterans. One of the girls said something to me about giving him something on the way out. So, we all walked in and ordered our sandwiches and headed back outside. Me and one of my friends were wearing skirts, and my other two friends were wearing very modest pants. So there was that man again, and he told me hello and asked how I was doing. Then he said, "Can I compliment you girls?" I didn't really know what to say, so I was like, "Sure." The other girls had walked up behind me and listened. He was so nice as he told us, "I love how you dress." He said it was so great to see young women like us not dressing like the world. And then he asked if we were homeschooled. I told him we were, but had graduated. He smiled and said he could tell. Then he went on to say how homschooling is so much better than public school, because evolution "does us no good." We talked with him a few minutes and then told him good bye, and have a nice day. We walked away with smiles on our faces and thankfulness in our hearts. Wow. He totally made my day. It was extremely encouraging to know that dressing modestly is a big statement for God. That man knew by one look at us that we were Christians, and weren't dressing to be noticed in a bad way, like the world does. I just can't say how happy it made me feel. Dress modestly for Christ and He will be seen and others will be made to think about Him whenever you're around! That's big. I think it makes God even happier than we were when someone sees His light shining through us! "Out of my heart, out of my heart, shine out of my heart, Lord Jesus! Shine out today, shine out always; shine out of my heart, Lord Jesus!"

Take It All In!

The weather has been so perfect lately that I just want to jump for joy! The sky is just so gorgeous today. I've got my window open to let in the breeze. A lot of times I know we all just get so busy in this thing called life, and it's so easy to get caught up in the daily blah of things. But instead of being so sucked into our errands, events, and everything else of little importance, we need to slow down and take a look. Take a look at the wonderfulness of this earth. It's so beautiful! Take it all in: the blue skies, white puffy clouds, the birds singing sweetly in the treetops, the crickets in the darkness of night and the flickering flashes of lightning bugs fluttering around. God has given us so many lovely things in nature for a purpose -- that we may enjoy them! I learned years ago that the cicada that we hear buzzing in the heat of summer is actually 17 years old when it finally comes out of the ground. I haven't looked at or heard them in the same way since. It's amazing what care God gives to His creatures, even the smallest ones! Did you know that the hummingbird's wings can flap about 60 times in one second? And it can fly across the Gulf of Mexico without stopping on the way. The woodpecker, the earthworm, Goliath beetle, and many, many others are just a small portion of proof that there is an Intelligent Designer! Let's take all this beautiful nature and changes of seasons in. What a wonderful world we live in! "...Stand still and consider the wondrous works of God." Job 37:14

(It's a) Good Morning!

Good morning, everybody!! It's gonna be a beautiful day; I can feel it already. I'm usually not up this early, but I love to be. Today I woke up to Mandisa on the radio singing "Good Morning." (I don't know if that's the title, but she kept saying it over and over.) And I thought, it IS a good morning! What a perfect song. It is a good morning because I CHOOSE to smile about it, be thankful for it, make the most of every minute of it, and you know what else? Jesus died on the cross for me many years ago, even though I know I absolutely don't deserve it... and He loves me STILL! That makes life SO worth the living. So go on. Feel LOVED. You are pretty stinkin' awesome to the most important One in the whole universe! "I will wake the dawn with praises! I will speak His name abroad! I will worship Him forever, He my Lord, my only God!"