Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Matt 5:3

Okay so here goes...I hope for anyone that has been reading my blog that I am not confusing you. The last post I tried to quickly wrap up the last book that I just finished. I talked about the next book I have started called The Excellent Wife by Martha Peace.....loving this book!!!! I am also starting to read another book called A Beautiful Offering by Angela Thomas. At first starting out I didn't think I could read/do both books. I was originally just reading the one by Angela Thomas since that is the class I would be doing with the deacon wives at our church then I realized that they were offering this other book as a class on Wednesday nights which was a book I had already thought about reading. I am already learning so much and so excited that all I can say is thank goodness I have a blog because I want to share the things I am learning.

So hear goes.... tonight I am going to talk about a few things from the book: A Beautiful Offering. This book is about the Beatitudes and the Sermon on the Mount and puts it in to a perspective that helps us with our lives we are living today. The above scripture(title of the blog) was the first beatitude discussed. I loved it when the author said this How gently he teaches us that even in our brokeness, this life can become a beautiful offering to God. He said, first thing that when you are poor in spirit, when you are broken, when you are completely empty and without resource-especially then you are blessed. She said the verse could be translated like this: Your life is a beautiful offering to God, even when you are poor in spirit, because then you are very close to the kingdom of heaven. She also said that when everything is gone that makes more room for Him and every time there is more room for Him, you are blessed.

This author made it a point to state that many of us that grow up in christian homes or become a "christian" think life will be great after that. We think we will be happy forever, no trials to come, and singing our christian songs by the campfire but life does continue and God says...In this life will be trials of many kinds and that's where the brokeness comes in. But right here in scripture God says that we are blessed because of that. He loves us and knows we are not perfect. The author says Brokeness comes to us for many different reasons and a lot of times because of the choices we make. We look around us and know that it's not how we dreamed it, but here it is, and it's all in a million pieces. It becomes obvious that this life isn't going to be put back together like a puzzle. Somebody is going to have to start over. Wow!! Isn't that awesome that we can start over. That first means praying to God and asking for forgiveness, then turning away from the choices that got us there in the first place and sometimes means still having to work through the scars left behind. I always try to remind myself that when life is not going great, God is working every piece of it for His glory. That gives me hope for better things to come.

The next chapter focused on the scripture from the Sermon on the Mount. You are the salt of the earth......You are the light of the world. Matthew 5: 13-14 This means that as followers of Jesus/ God we are to be light in the darkness of the world. I will leave you with this. It was a little passage written at the end of the chapter I read tonight set up like a poem but didn't sound like a poem. Seems like a collection of thoughts.

It's never to late to become.

It's never to late to change.

You haven't been away too long.

His forgiveness can still cover your sin.

His love can heal your wounds.

Your life isn't too broken for Him.

As long as you have breath, it's never too late with Jesus.

He doesn't expect your offering to be perfect. He never said that it would be easy. Move toward Him, and watch Him supernaturally make you into salt and light.

Stay the path.

Let Him pick you up when you've fallen.

Face in His direction.

You may have given up on God, but He has never given up on you.

Go be the city(the light). Go be the salt.

I hope you are blessed by these thoughts as I was when I read them tonight in the book. Have a blessed weekend (it's almost here).

~Julie

New Book: The Excellent Wife by Martha Peace

Wow! What an amazing day! Where to start is the question..... First I will start by talking about our anniversary weekend. We celebrated our 7th wedding anniversary this weekend with a quick weekend getaway :) I had to work the weekend before our actual anniversary so we waited and celebrated this weekend. Colby planned it all and every step of the weekend was a surprise. We had an excellent time and were able to just hang out together without any distractions and enjoy new experiences together. We left Saturday at noon and ate at the Old Spagetti Factory in Louisville. From there we headed to our hotel to check in. We stayed at the Sheraton Hotel in Indiana on the Ohio River. For the afternoon we just hung out and went swimming at the hotel. For Saturday night, Colby had made dinner reservations at Ruth's Chris Steakhouse for 9pm. It was so awesome because when we got there the sun was starting to set. On Sunday we ate at Denny's for brunch and then headed to the Louisville Slugger Museum (a place neither of us has ever been). Then we sat on a park bench on the Ohio River and enjoyed the Sunday afternoon breeze. The Belle of Louisville just happened to be coming down the river and turned in front of us and headed back up the river. I, of course, got tons of pics. We went to Derby Dinner Playhouse for the evening to see the show Ring of Fire. Again, we both had never been there. The food was good and the show was great! We got home around 10:30 Sunday night. We enjoyed our small weekend getaway!!!

So flash forward to today......I was at home today. As many of you know, I had been reading the book A Woman After God's Own Heart. I finally finished today and it was an amazing book. This book has definitely challenged me to prioritize my life and organize my life as to be an effective follower of Christ and effective helper to my husband! There is much more to this book than that but the priorities are to be as follows when prioritizing your day: #1 God, #2 Your Husband, #3 Your Children, #4 Your Home, #5 Your Spiritual Growth, #6 Your Ministry Activities, #7 other activities. Having this outline to plan my day by has really helped. In the morning you can sit down and write out your plan for the day by putting each thing in the appropriate slot. In each category you ask the question: What can I do for ______ today? Example: What can I do for my husband today?...... I HIGHLY recommend this book to any woman that is struggling to find out the purpose of her life as a child of God and as a wife if you are married.

So now I will move on to the next book I am about to start reading. Our church has discipleship classes on Wednesday night and has classes that are taught based on various books. I am so excited to read this book. It is called: The Excellent Wife by Martha Peace. I got the book tonight and read the first two chapters. Wow! If only I had read these two books right before or shortly after getting married. These two books would have been very beneficial in helping with my walk with Christ as well as being a godly wife to my husband. But I am a firm believer that now is never to late to start. So here I am. The author in the book asks some very hard questions: Am I doing the good works God intended for me? I am very excited to see what else the book holds. I am ready for this journey! I am excited to see God working around me. I am excited to see prayers answered. That is all for tonight. There is so much awesome info in this book I would like to share but I just can't narrow it down right now.....maybe b/c it's late. Anyway, I plan on posting more about this book and another book I will be reading for a different class that I am taking with the deacon wives at our church. I will leave you with some pics from this weekend.

Saturday Lunch: Good Food and Cheap too!

The Louisville Skyline from our hotel room

Saturday Night Dinner

Louisville Slugger Museum


The Belle of Louisville turned around
in front of us and headed back up the River.




We saw the show Ring of Fire!

Have a Blessed Week! Julie :)

Keep Your Faith that God Will Move in Tough Times

Well, today is our 7th wedding anniversary! I don't feel nearly old enough to be able to say that but I feel very blessed to be able to say that as well. I am truely blessed with a wonderful godly husband. He is my best friend, encourager, listener, and shoulder to cry on. It has been a wonderful day. We went out to eat with my mother-in-law to Smokey Bones which was very yummy. I have a few pics but will post those later since they were taken with my husband's phone and I have to figure out how to get them on here. We will further celebrate our anniversary this coming weekend since I had to work this past weekend. I'm super excited because Colby has planned this and has not told me what we are doing yet! Well now I will continue on about what I have learned recently in my quiet time with God.

Today as I sat down to do my devotion and quiet time, I was very burdened about some friends I have been praying for! It seems as though I pray and I know that prayer is the most powerful thing I can do but my human nature takes over and satan begins to put doubts in my head. Doubts that fill my thoughts such as just give up praying because it's too late now and this will never work out for the good. But it seems as though when I am lacking the faith that God is there and that He hears my every prayer and already knows the plan, God reminds me very blatantly to have faith in Him because He does know the future and the plans He has for us and so I must remain strong and keeping praying diligently for my prayers are heard by the Lord and he will answer those prayers according to His will in His perfect timing. Today was one of those days that God used my quiet time with Him to remind of these such things.

The author of the devotional passage I was reading today was discussing how she had been praying for some friends that had walked away from God and lost there faith for some time. She was discussing how no matter how far away from God someone seems to be, God will use something, whether it be a person, a song, or a situation to draw them back to Him. She said she was reminded of the passage...Nothing is impossible with God. (Luke 1:37) The Lord will use all types of situations to lead a person back to Him. She continued with the passages....Follow me...My yoke is easy and My burden is light....I am the way the truth and the life...(Luke 5:27, Matthew 11:30, John 14:6). And so when I was done reading this devotional passage for the day, I realized that God had just given me a little punched to the shoulder so to speak and taught me for the day that I must have faith and continue to be committed and pray. He taught me today that He is in control and He already knows the outcome and will use any circumstance to work things according to His will. My job is to not worry but to trust the Lord and shut out the doubt that satan is using to continue to control this situation. I finished this quiet time today with renewed hope and faith in God. How Amazing!!!!! I thanked God today for sending messages like this to me in the perfect time that it is needed. It is in those times I am reminded that there is a God, He hears our prayers and answers them according to His will and is there in times when encouragement is needed in our lives!!!! I will continue to pray without ceasing! ( 1Thessalonians 5:16-18) The following is also another favorite verse of mine: And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to his purpose (Romans 8:28).

Have a Blessed Week,
Julie

New Computer: The Better to Blog With!

I now have a new computer. Yay!!!! Colby got me a new laptop for our wedding anniversary that is coming up. Our anniversary is August 16, 2003 and yep that means that this year we will be married for 7 years. That is why I changed out picture on the blog to a pic of us when we got married. I don't hardly feel like it has been that long. We have been through a lot together and still love each other more everyday. Marriage is definitely something that you have to work at in the bad times as well as the good times. I hardly feel old enough to have been married for 7 years now. It's easy to quit in the hard times and give up on a relationship but think about the greatest feeling when you do the hard work and persevere through the hardest of times and come out stronger in your relationship and also having honored your vows you made before God. Lately, I have been reading 'A Women after God's Own Heart and Colby and I have been doing nightly devotional time together. Two things have really stood out to me that I have learned during this time.

First, to have a marriage that lasts for years to come a person must know Jesus as their personal Savior. They must have Jesus ruling in their entire life because we are all sinners and when our focus is not on Jesus and our life is not focused on Him then we are focused on ourselves. This leads to a selfish attitude and life that is no longer pleasing to God and we have distanced ourselves from God. When all of this happens, it is reflected into our marriage and is often not a pretty sight! (Therefore whatever you want others to do for you, do also the same for them. Matthew 7:12) If you are married or have been married you could most likely think back and realize that most arguments and issues that have come about in the relationship are due to our own selfishness. When we are in turmoil with our spouse this becomes unconfessed sin in our lives and separates us from God which is just what Satan wants! Just this week I experienced this in my own life. Colby and I had a disagreement and it happened at the end of the night right before we did our devotion and prayer time. My feelings of being slightly mad actually made it hard to pray together with my husband because my heart was not right. It literally felt like I was separated from God for that period of time until I confessed that sin. The ultimate forgiveness experience in marriage comes when you and your spouse ask each other for forgiveness for the wrongs committed against each other and then actually pray together and confess those sins before God. (He who covers his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy. Proverbs 28:13) In our lives the priority should be God first, relationship with your spouse second and children third.

Secondly, I have realized that God created me to be a helper to my husband.( I will make him a helper suitable for him. Genesis 2:18) God must have wanted to really teach me this one the last couple of weeks because I read about it in my book and also in the devotional book my husband and I are doing together. You see, in this day and time women are made to think that we are to have the power, no man is to rule over me and tell me what to do. So here goes the infamous verse that I am willing to take some slack over. Jesus said it in the bible and I'm sure he caught slack over it back then. (Wives, submit (or subject) yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. Ephesians 5:22) So if you really think about...if it's easy to submit to the Lord then this is what Jesus is asking us to do to our husbands. It means being a blessing to your husband instead of being recentful and nagging. It means putting your husband first instead of yourself. Now there may be someone who reads this and says ' How can I continue to be submissive, respectful and think of my husband when he doesn't think of me/not respectful of me?' Well first of all pray, pray and pray some more for your husband that God will change his heart because you certainly can't do that on your own. Also, in this situation I am reminded of a great verse in the Bible. (Likewise, wives, be subject to your own husbands to that even if they do not obey the word, they may be won without a word by the conduct of their wives, when they see your respectful and pure conduct. 1Peter 3:1-2) I shared this with a friend that was going through a hard time in her marriage at one point. She was about to give up. They had a lot of stress in their lives and I told her pray for you husband and I read this verse to her. Now obviously that didn't make things into roses and butterflies but it did remind her of Jesus' teachings and gave her hope to persevere through that tough time. Just think about the fact that if a person's husband is to be won without a word by the conduct of their wife (ehhhmmm, nagging) the wife's life has to be godly, her focus on God and her life right with God. I leave you with a few questions...... Is God the number one priority in your life? Are you taking the role as helper to your husband seriously and are you honored to have that God-given job? Are you submissive to your husband as to the Lord? Sorry if any guys are reading this as it was geared toward women mostly but if you pay close attention you too can learn from some aspects of this post.

Have a Blessed Day!!!

Julie