The way, the truth and the life

He is the first and the last, the beginning and the end. He is the keeper of creation and the Creator of all.

He is the architect of the universe and the manager of time. He always was, always is, and always will be.

Unmoved, unchanged, undefeated and never undone.

He was bruised, but brought healing. He was pierced, but eased pain. He was persecuted, but brought freedom.

He was dead and brings life. He has risen to bring power and He reigns to bring peace.

The world can't understand Him. Armies can't defeat Him. Schools can't explain Him. And leaders can't ignore Him.

Herod couldn't kill Him. Nero couldn't crush Him. The new age cannot replace Him and Oprah can not explain Him away.

Remind yourself that He is life. He is love. He is longevity. And He is Lord!

He is goodness, kindness, faithfulness and He is God.

He is holy and righteousness and powerful and He is pure. His ways are right. His word is eternal.

His will is unchanging and His mind is on us. He is our Savior, our guide, our peace, our joy, our comfort, our Lord and He rules our lives.

I serve Him because His bond is love. His yoke is easy. His burden is light and His goal for us is abundant life.

I follow Him because He is the wisdom of the wise, the power of the powerful, the ruler of all rulers, the Ancient of Days.

His goal is a relationship with me!

He'll never leave you, never forsake you, never mislead you, never forget you, never overlook you, and never cancel your appointment in His appointment book. NEVER!

When you fall, He'll lift you up.

When you fail, He'll forgive you.

When you're weak, He is strong.

When you're lost, He is your way.

When you're afraid, He is your courage.

When you stumble, He will steady you.

When you're hurt, He's going to heal you.

When you're broken, He will mend you.

When you're blind, He will lead you.

When you're hungry, He will feed you.

When you face trials, He is with you.

When you face persecution, He will shield you.

When you face problems, He will comfort you.

When you face loss, He will provide for you.

And when we* face death, He will carry us* all home to meet Him.

He is everything, for everybody, every where, every time and in every way.

*This reference is for those who have chosen to accept Christ as their Lord and Savior. That choice is available to every single person.

I didn't right this. It was sent to me from a friend who got it out of a Beth Moore study. It moves me and leaves me speechless every time I read it. To think this is the God I serve, the ONE who loved me first and chose me before the beginning of time. Speechless.

As speechless as it leaves me to soak in who God really is, I can't help but be stirred up when I hear someone speak against the truth that is my God. And that is why I can't hold back from speaking about who He is. The truth must be said. It must be heard.

I believe that I am called to respect any and all authority placed over me. That is the order that God has put into place.

Everyone must submit himself to the government authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God.

Romans 13:1

You won't hear me speak out against our president, who ever it may be at any given time. That is, I won't speak against His character or spread gossip. Neither will I wish harm on him or his family, as I wouldn't do for anyone.

But I can disagree with a person's choices or what they state on my behalf, representing me as an american.

The truth is there is no man on this earth that can be 'hope' for people. We are all human, we are all sinful, we will all disappoint and let others down. The only true hope for all mankind is through Jesus Christ.

He IS the only WAY, the TRUTH, and LIFE.

Would I be...

Would I be lying if I said that staying home is easy?

It's harder than I ever thought it could possibly be.

Long hours.

No nights or weekends off.

Would I be a horrible mom if I said that there have been {recent} times that I've thought 'I don't want to have any more children' {because I don't want to experience this again}?

Sometimes this job is so hard,

I think 'I couldn't possibly want to do this again.'

Would I be wrong if I thought this job, being a mom, was really a way that God wants to continue to grow and to mold {prune really} my character?

I've never seen the ugliest side of my

selfish nature like I have these last 6 months.

Tonight was a rough one. For what ever reason sleep was fought. It was fought the strongest it's been fought so far. There were tears involved, by both of us. As much as I am against CIO methods, it got to a point where I'm not sure that it mattered if I was holding and bouncing her or if she was laying in her crib. The crying was intense.

As difficult as it is to admit, I lost my temper in the form of a growl of frustration. This in turn only sent the already on-the-verge-of-hystarical upset E into a startled uproar. Let me just say that it was not pretty. And I'm not proud of my lowest moments.

At this point I just had to stop. I turned on the dim light {the one we use in the night only if we need to see, it's actually a blue light bulb} and unwrapped E from her wrap that she sleeps in. She slowly started to settle down. However, no matter how I tried I could not get her to look at me. We sat in the glider and she leaned on me, completely relaxed, but wouldn't look at me for anything in the world.

After we rocked for a few minutes, in complete silence, my heart was softened and I couldn't hold back so instead I full on apologized for losing my temper. I kissed my sweet girl's head and caressed her foot {which she was using to distractingly play with the arm of the chair}. She looked up at me, only after I had apologized, and we finally made eye contact. She gave me a smile, her toothless grin that melted my heart like never before. Her little hand reached up and touched my mouth and she said something in her 'baby-talk.' And I knew that she had forgiven me. We had made up.

It was the sweetest exchange I had ever experienced.

We continued to rock and to quietly play together. And it was then and there that I decided to always, no matter what has taken place between us, to always apologize and ask for her forgiveness. To never ever let a wronging on my part go with out making it right. Making it right in her eyes, and in the Lord's eyes.

Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord,

The fruit of the womb is a reward.

Psalm 127:3

What is 'Bold Blogging?'

This isn't the first time that I have {in my humble opinion...} blogged boldly. There have been other times that I have written about my faith {here and here are a couple of examples}, and not to mention my opinions on vaccines and breastfeeding.

But lately I've been asking myself the question What is bold blogging?

I really started thinking about it after this fellow blogger wrote this and then in response to that blog another fellow blogger {and reader of the first fellow blogger :)} decided to start doing this.

So the conclusion that I have come to is that for my personal bold blogging {I know that everyone's bold blogging could look very different} it means that I will speak boldly for the things of the Kingdom of God. The things that I know to be truth. Those things which the Lord is working out and through in my life and in my relationship with Him. I hope that it will encourage me to seek Him in His word and all that I do everyday of my life! If my bold blogging is able to encourage, exhort, minister or simply speak truth to someone else in the world, Praise God!

But what I don't want bold blogging for me to be:

1. My opinions spoken as fact. Don't get me wrong, the truth of the Gospel message is, to me, indeed fact and I will proclaim it as such as long as I'm living on this earth. But things not pertaining to salvation of souls, I don't want to push those kinds of things.

2. Condemning or judgmental. Again, if anyone feels that my proclamation of the gospel message as being true is condemning others or judging anyone, then they have missed the true meaning of the message itself. Jesus came to bring Life and to bring it more abundantly! He spent His time with the sick and hurting people so that they would know that there is more than this painful and sickness stricken world.

3. Not honoring or giving all glory to God. He is the only one worthy of praise! And one day every knee will bow and acknowledge Him as Lord. I want to do that now!

So I ask of you, dear readers {all three of you!} to please keep me accountable and if you believe that I have done any one of these things in my future of bold blogging, please speak up and let me know. I pray that I will have a humble and soft heart to hear you out and respond accordingly, in a way that also brings glory to God.