Praise God!

In life, we are all faced with suffering; momentary affliction. We are constantly being told by society that we deserve the best, we deserve to be happy on our terms, we deserve to do what we want, we deserve the world and, for whatever reason, the world owes us. So we hit suffering, but lash out because we think we don't deserve it - it isn't fair.  But the Bible promises us suffering [Acts 14:22, John 15:20, 1 Peter 4:12, 2 Timothy 3:12]; it promises us that this life will be difficult - because this world has been infiltrated with sin and we don't necessarily belong here. We belong with our Heavenly Father in the New Jerusalem. We must remember that God works all things together for the good of His purpose (Romans 8:28) and that no matter what we are going through it will never overpower or out weigh God's glory. It will never trump His mercy and grace that He showed us at Calvary, where He gave His only Son who knew no sin, to be sin that we could be completely reconciled to God [2 Corinthians 5:21]-- That we could have a right relationship with Him. Christ suffered in ways that we will never suffer - He suffered for the wicked though He is completely innocent. In a way, he was framed - put on trial and received the death penalty while the real criminal got away with murder. Christ suffered, that we can have eternal life - and so we rejoice and praise God. BUT we need to remember that everything we suffer here is momentary; and in suffering unjustly [not just justly], we are given more of an understanding (though not a complete understanding) of what Christ did for us. We need to remember that God has a purpose for all things - and that we are but a miniscule part of a bigger picture, the faintest brush stroke. We need to remember to praise God in ALL circumstances (1 Thessalonians 5:18); praise Him in suffering as well as times of comfort. We're here for a much bigger purpose. We're here to glorify our Jesus until He returns and brings us home. So praise God at your lowest, praise God for circumstances that you don't understand, praise God for the ways He is growing you in faith, praise God in the sad times and praise Him in the happy times. Praise God for redeeming your soul; for pulling you out of eternal damnation to bring you into eternal life. Praise God. (1 Peter 4:12-19). How great it is to know that our suffering is worth it; that it serves a good purpose.

I leave this post with my go-to verse in times of trial.
Romans 8:18 " For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us."

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year! I hope that you've all had a wonderful holiday celebrating with family and friends. I hope that it was safe. I've realized this past New Year's Eve how silly and responsible we can be. We left our friends' house early, were home by 10 and then started putting away laundry. I know you're jealous of how crazy we can get! It's almost like we're adults....oh wait, that already happened.

So Happy New Year. New Year. New Beginning. But is it really a new beginning? Or do we just make it out to be. It always seems to give us this feeling of a fresh start from our "old ways". A fresh start from the day-to-day routine we fall into that may or may not become monotonous and boring and just plain uninteresting. I feel like it shouldn't be a new beginning, and yet I woke up this morning feeling fresh and ready to conquer. Conquer the laundry that never ends (and we don't even have kids yet!), conquer the dishes, conquer my laziness, conquer my insecurities, conquer the job hunt, conquer the world... Ok - maybe not the world (I may be ambitious, but that's a little too ambitious if you ask me).

Before I go on and make a public declaration of what I intend to do (with God's guidance, mercy, grace, help, and re-direction if He doesn't want them to happen), here's a quick "top 10" things that we experienced in 2012. (well, more like the first 10 happy things I could think of that happened in 2012).

1. We bought our first house!
2. And we learned that appliances break...most of them.
3. We adopted Hershey, our second bunny.
4. Anthony went back to school :)
5. We learned how to balance a pool without a pool guy (thanks to procrastination AND impatience)
6. I made it to my annual ER visit (don't worry - nothing was serious... but I'm getting a good track record on this "once a year ER visit" deal).
7. We learned we will be welcoming another niece into the world in 2013!
8. A's parents moved out here.
9. My momma moved out here.
10. We learned a lot about God's blessings, humility, mercy, love, abundance, care, protection and provision...and that is precious.

And as for the things I intend on doing this year that can only be accomplished WITH God's help, because I am far too lazy and get far too distracted way too easily (oh look, there goes a bunny running up our stairs!).

1. Get closer to God//develop a stronger relationship with my Savior.
2. Read my bible daily//read the entire bible this year
3. Work hard to be a more Proverbs 21 wife//friend/daughter/sister/woman
4. Pray more
5. Love more
6. Finish painting the house
7. Read all 7 HP's.
8. Read more.
9. Make an effort to exercise.
10. Find a job since I'm out of one come Saturday.
11. Visit Ken, Maya, Ryan and Megan.
12. Organize the house.
13. Be more disciplined in ALL areas of my life.
14. See opportunities to serve others more AND be grateful for them.
15. Keep a positive attitude regardless of how I feel.

SO there are serious and important things (like #1 -5) and fun things (#6,11) and things that really don't matter other than they seem fun (#7).  The most important things are at the top, cause let's face it - there's always room for more Jesus and having my life centered on Him more and more will make all other areas that much more attainable; it'll make all other areas that much better, that much sweeter, that much more rewarding, that much more joyful.

SO here's to a fresh start - to a year of focusing on getting close to my Jesus and growing in Him and becoming a better wife for my husband, a better daughter for my moms, a better sister for my siblings, a better friend for my friends, a better woman for anyone I may come in contact with - that they will see Jesus in me and not me in me; that they will see His purpose and not mine; that they will see me and want to get closer to Him. That my life would be just for Him more and more this year. SO here's to a year of new beginnings, that you will be disciplined and work hard to accomplish the things you're working towards, that you would have a year of love and learning and laughter and accomplishments, that you would look back and not think that you've wasted your year, that you would look back and rejoice in the things that occurred. Happy fresh start.
May your joy be found in Jesus, the one who gave His life that we may have a relationship with God and live eternally.
Love to you all,
S