Friday, November 20, 2009
Almost ready
so yesterday I had my 37 week sonogram and the lady that did the sonogram was shocked when she was trying to find the baby. The baby was so low she couldnt even see her face! it was crazy and she told me that she thought that i was dialated and to get it checked bc the baby was in position! so after being weighed, 181 LBS!!! (ive gained 40 lbs so far! golly!), the dr. (who didnt believe that i was dialated) checked me and sd that I am 2 to 3 cm dialated and the baby could come any time now. and it could be 2 to 3 weeks til she comes too. She said that I measure on my stomach outwardly with a 35 week baby but on the sono the baby weighs 7 lbs right now and so I am measuring big that way. That means my baby will be double the size of Parker! so sad! Anyway the dr. said that if the baby gets bigger I might need to be induced because she is pretty big right now. Anyway I am just sitting here waiting on lil baby to come. Mandrae is super excited for her to come. It is so cute. We are all ready!
Friday, November 13, 2009
9 months- 37 weeks
Ok here are pics of me at 9 months last nite. I feel like I gain 3 lbs a day! URGH! I am big, ready to pop and ready for this baby to come. Today is Mandrae's bday and we were hoping Anissa would be born today but doesnt seem like that will happen. He is getting off at 6 pm today and so we are going to Olive Garden for dinner and then to the movie 2012 at 10 pm. Fun Fun! He is turning 26 years old. Happy Birthday Mandrae.
Monday, November 9, 2009
Nov. 8th, 2009
"Devastated but not destroyed"
2 Corinthians 4
Destiny Church
People in the world are snapping:
Examples:
- the shooting at the airforce base in Texas (shooter snapped)
- Rhianna and Chris Brown (chris brown snapped)
- the father that ran over his daughter because she was too westernized (father snapped)
- the pastor in Oklahoma that killed himself
- people are losing their jobs, houses and family members
- people are going through divorces and leaving each other
we might be devastated but we cannot be destroyed
We need to live with new covenant which is based on Christ and what He can do not what we can do.
On our worst day there is still good news- the Gospel.
The best is still yet to come.
We still have trials to go through though.
We need to remember that whatever we have or wherever we are going is because of the grace of God. Just because we have trials doesnt mean that we will not triumph.
1. We are afflicted in every way but not crushed.
Regardless of the affliction we experience, God still loves us and cares. Just because we are in a jam doesnt mean that we cant have joy.
Most people think that your marriage is bad if you have trials but the good and honorable thing about marriage is holding your commitment to each other in all the trials of life.
Having joy in trials isnt saying it will be a joyous time for you but that your attitude should be one of joy in the midst of trial.
Knowing God and having faith in the midst of trials should be enough to give us joy in our trials. God is in process of working something out for our good in the midst of the bad.
2. We can be perplexed but not despairing:
meaning that we can be confused- just because we cant figure out what or why God does what he does, doesnt mean we are losers or low in our faith.
3. We are persecuted but not forsaken:
Just bc we are going thru trials, doesnt mean that God doesnt love us.
Romans 8:30-35
Gods relationship with us is like super glue. To seperate the bond of super glue you have to acutally pull off the other side that it is glued to. When God makes a bond with us, it is stronger than any other bond. If God is stuck to us, who can come between us? No one can stop God's plan. Whatever comes our way we may be devastated but we are not ultimately destroyed.
4. We are struck down but not destoyed.
When your a believer in Jesus you cant be knocked down.
Just like the toy we all used to get for Christmas. The toy that cost like $7 that we played with the most despite the multitude of gifts that we got for Christmas. The lil punching bags that u blow up and they have sand in the bottom of them. When your kids go to sleep and u r turning off lights and walking around putting everything away, you see the punching man and u start to hit. No matter how many times u hit that lil blow up punching man you cant knock him down! That is the same way we are with Christ, we can get struck down but no one can knock us down.
BECAUSE OF CHRIST WE ARE DEVASTATED BUT NOT DESTROYED!
weve all felt devastated but God has not hung us our to dry.
?s:
How can we know our purpose in Christ?
The general purpose of all believers is:
1. Worship Him
2. Be apart of the body of Christ (church) and be involved in a ministry
3. Share your faith
The specific purpose for us all comes down to our personality, experiences, ect. We are to just live a holy life and God will bring us the opportunities that we need to fulfill our purpose in Him. We just need to be open and available and live a holy life.
It is okay to not know your specific purpose. It will be revealed to you in time.
Will you go to heaven if you kill yourself?
Yes! Alot of people believe that u cant go to heaven once u kill yourself bc you never had a chance to confess that sin and when Christ died on the cross he died for ALL of our sins. Past, present and future sins! He died before we were ever born and so he died for all of our sins, including the ones we have not committed yet. If we were to die in a car accident right now, there will be some sins that we were not able to confess to too and we will still go to heaven. Same with killing yourself. Christ already died for that sin.
"Devastated but not destroyed"
2 Corinthians 4
Destiny Church
People in the world are snapping:
Examples:
- the shooting at the airforce base in Texas (shooter snapped)
- Rhianna and Chris Brown (chris brown snapped)
- the father that ran over his daughter because she was too westernized (father snapped)
- the pastor in Oklahoma that killed himself
- people are losing their jobs, houses and family members
- people are going through divorces and leaving each other
we might be devastated but we cannot be destroyed
We need to live with new covenant which is based on Christ and what He can do not what we can do.
On our worst day there is still good news- the Gospel.
The best is still yet to come.
We still have trials to go through though.
We need to remember that whatever we have or wherever we are going is because of the grace of God. Just because we have trials doesnt mean that we will not triumph.
1. We are afflicted in every way but not crushed.
Regardless of the affliction we experience, God still loves us and cares. Just because we are in a jam doesnt mean that we cant have joy.
Most people think that your marriage is bad if you have trials but the good and honorable thing about marriage is holding your commitment to each other in all the trials of life.
Having joy in trials isnt saying it will be a joyous time for you but that your attitude should be one of joy in the midst of trial.
Knowing God and having faith in the midst of trials should be enough to give us joy in our trials. God is in process of working something out for our good in the midst of the bad.
2. We can be perplexed but not despairing:
meaning that we can be confused- just because we cant figure out what or why God does what he does, doesnt mean we are losers or low in our faith.
3. We are persecuted but not forsaken:
Just bc we are going thru trials, doesnt mean that God doesnt love us.
Romans 8:30-35
Gods relationship with us is like super glue. To seperate the bond of super glue you have to acutally pull off the other side that it is glued to. When God makes a bond with us, it is stronger than any other bond. If God is stuck to us, who can come between us? No one can stop God's plan. Whatever comes our way we may be devastated but we are not ultimately destroyed.
4. We are struck down but not destoyed.
When your a believer in Jesus you cant be knocked down.
Just like the toy we all used to get for Christmas. The toy that cost like $7 that we played with the most despite the multitude of gifts that we got for Christmas. The lil punching bags that u blow up and they have sand in the bottom of them. When your kids go to sleep and u r turning off lights and walking around putting everything away, you see the punching man and u start to hit. No matter how many times u hit that lil blow up punching man you cant knock him down! That is the same way we are with Christ, we can get struck down but no one can knock us down.
BECAUSE OF CHRIST WE ARE DEVASTATED BUT NOT DESTROYED!
weve all felt devastated but God has not hung us our to dry.
?s:
How can we know our purpose in Christ?
The general purpose of all believers is:
1. Worship Him
2. Be apart of the body of Christ (church) and be involved in a ministry
3. Share your faith
The specific purpose for us all comes down to our personality, experiences, ect. We are to just live a holy life and God will bring us the opportunities that we need to fulfill our purpose in Him. We just need to be open and available and live a holy life.
It is okay to not know your specific purpose. It will be revealed to you in time.
Will you go to heaven if you kill yourself?
Yes! Alot of people believe that u cant go to heaven once u kill yourself bc you never had a chance to confess that sin and when Christ died on the cross he died for ALL of our sins. Past, present and future sins! He died before we were ever born and so he died for all of our sins, including the ones we have not committed yet. If we were to die in a car accident right now, there will be some sins that we were not able to confess to too and we will still go to heaven. Same with killing yourself. Christ already died for that sin.
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Latest Dr. Update
Ok so I went to the dr. again yesterday. Another disappointing appt. I waited in the waiting room for 2 hours, one lady even walked out and yelled at them and sd that she was going to find a new dr. office, and then when I got in the room I waited one hour for the dr. Then when she finally got in there she was hungry, in a hurry and cranky. I was trying to get all my concerns and questions answered but shew as totally distracted. I asked about my ears because they ache like they are infected every single night and give me migraines every nite and I am miserable. She checked my ears and couldnt see anything and sd that even if i did have an infection she wouldnt give me anything anyway because they dont recommend treating them with anything anyway. (?) Then I told her about my back pain and hip pain and she cut me off and sd yeah that is normal and the only cure is to deliver, ok well see u in 2 weeks and walked out! What in the world??
She did check the babies heartbeat and it is 148 and that was it. I gained 6 lbs!! in 2 weeks!! That is alot! Man maybe I need to slow down?
The nurse before the dr was really helpful though. I told her about my cramps at nite and how I cant even walk in the morning bc my cramps are so bad and she told me to eat bananas and that she got them all the time too when she was pregnant. So that was helpful at least.
Anyway I guess we will see when Anissa comes.
I am totally clueless as to if she is even close to coming now. Before I thought it would be anyday but who knows now.
The nurse told me I need to take it easy and keep my feet up but the dr. didnt really care what I do.
Anyway I get a sonogram on Nov. 19th at my next appt so Mandrae will go with me then. Except we were hoping she would come on the 13th but we will see. Maybe we still have a chance for the 21st?
She did check the babies heartbeat and it is 148 and that was it. I gained 6 lbs!! in 2 weeks!! That is alot! Man maybe I need to slow down?
The nurse before the dr was really helpful though. I told her about my cramps at nite and how I cant even walk in the morning bc my cramps are so bad and she told me to eat bananas and that she got them all the time too when she was pregnant. So that was helpful at least.
Anyway I guess we will see when Anissa comes.
I am totally clueless as to if she is even close to coming now. Before I thought it would be anyday but who knows now.
The nurse told me I need to take it easy and keep my feet up but the dr. didnt really care what I do.
Anyway I get a sonogram on Nov. 19th at my next appt so Mandrae will go with me then. Except we were hoping she would come on the 13th but we will see. Maybe we still have a chance for the 21st?
Inspiration
So I was sitting in church the other day and realized something. I am so excited to go to church and learn what the pastor has to say and preach on. I am so excited to learn more about God. I remember in high school I hated listening to the sermon and just wanted to go for praise and worship but now I cant wait to hear the sermon and learn how to live a better life married and at work and as a future parent. I am so encouraged that I have this excitement inside of me and it just makes me so happy. Just thought I would share that I have the joy of the Lord inside of me and excitement of becoming a stronger Christian. Praise God, He is good! I think that moving to Fort Worth has really helped me get excited to share the Word. I hated it at first but maybe that was God's way of getting me to become stronger in my faith. It is crazy how God puts you in areas that you are not happy with or comfortable and then He reveals why He does it. I guess we are where God wants us. :)
R U kidding me?
Ok so yesterday I went to Target after my dr. appt. and I was getting outta my car and there was a family next to me that was loading their car. The wife turned her head and her empty cart started to roll down the hill and she looked at it and then turned her head and got in her car. The cart was rolling really fast and heading towards a van because she was on top of a hill. There was a Target worker there w a lot of carts and the cart rolled right by him and he didnt move. The cart was going towards a car and was going to hit it hard. I guess the worker wanted to see it hit the car- who knows. So I being pregnant took off! I ran as fast as I could and just barely saved the poor van. I turned around walked the cart to the worker and walked inside. No one seemed to care that the van was saved. Who knows what this world is coming to when 3 grown adults watch a preg woman chase down a cart when they were all closer in the first place! ?
Monday, November 2, 2009
Ole School Holiness
Destiny Church
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Transcend
Ole School Holiness
1 Peter 1: 16-19
Social Media has a HUGE impact on the world today. (face book, blogs, myspace, twitter, utube, tv internet, ipods, dvrs, ect)We now have access to the Bible through the actual book, our phones, online but do we have it in our hearts?What is missing today? An emphasis on holiness.This is an aspect of faith that only works when we have the right mentality. We cant have a worldy mindset.When you travel on an airplane and want to use ur internet you have to pay to use the air card. The only thing is that you can only use the internet when you are at least 10,000 feet in the air or higher. You cannot use their internet when you are on the ground.Same with with faith and holiness, it only works when we have the correct Godly mindset. The solution to our issues or problems in life might be that we need to live holy.Our society has broken away from holiness and we need to get back to the ole school holiness that used to be so important. Whenever we choose the world’s way and not God, we are rejecting holiness. Our society needs better people- not better finances, jobs, technology, fundraisers, homes, ect- we need people with a desire to be holy. We need to have a zeal for God but in accordance to knowledge.
1 Timothy 4:3This passage talks about men out in the world professing truths that are not holy or true. These men are lovers of money, of self, unloving, unholy, haters, lovers of pleasure rather than God. 2 Timothy 3:4-7For example, I was watching the Tyra show the other day (just so I can see what Anissa will be growing up with and hearing in the world). Tyra tends to profess a lot of worldly views and truths that are completely wrong but this show really hit me hard. They were talking about living out your sexual fantasies and there was a Christian childrens writer (woman) on the show who wanted to be a porn star having sex with 2 men for one day while her boyfriend filmed her. Her boyfriend came on the show and she told him that she wanted to act out that fantasy and he didn’t want her to. Tyra and the audience booed him and told him that he is close minded and not a supportive boyfriend for not allowing it and Tyra convinced the woman to act out her fantasy anyway and turn it into a reality. I was appalled.
Because of our relationship with God we ought to live holy. We are called to live like Christ. The question becomes how will we live when we get to heaven? Not are we going to heaven because we already know that we are. We need to have the fear of God.We have minimalized God so much now a days that we have lost the fear of God. God will still judge us accordingly.
Single women need to remember to marry a man that loves God more than they love you. (quote from pastor, just had to throw that in)
Once we become believers, our previous generations no longer will hold us down. We are no longer held back by generational curses, our parents, grandparents, and relatives and their evil ways. We no longer have an excuse. Because of the blood of Jesus we have a new zip code in Christ and that is holiness. We are to choose not to continue in sin because we don’t want God to be mad at us. It is one thing to have your spouse mad at you but a whole other thing to have God mad at you.
What are the benefits of being holy?Everyone in Christ gets the basic benefits but how you live impacts your commission. Pastor, before he became a pastor was a suit salesman and they gave him a base salary plus a commission for every suit he sold. It is the same with our benefits in Christ. How we live impacts our commission in Christ. God promises a special commission with Him when we live holy.We are called to be gracious when it is in our power to be gracious. Just because man (even management at your job) tells you to do something doesn’t mean we are to do it- we are to follow God only, and if Gods way contradicts the human instructions then we regroup and follow Gods instructions. We are to obey God’s mission. Pastor went to see his grandmother in a nursing home to check on her because she has had a lot of surgeries on her bad knees, back, shoulders and hips and is bed ridden 24-7. When he got there he asked her how life is sitting in a bed all the time and all she had was tv and gross food. The first and only thing outta her mouth was, “GOD IS GOOD!”
THAT IS OLE SCHOOL HOLINESS!
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Transcend
Ole School Holiness
1 Peter 1: 16-19
Social Media has a HUGE impact on the world today. (face book, blogs, myspace, twitter, utube, tv internet, ipods, dvrs, ect)We now have access to the Bible through the actual book, our phones, online but do we have it in our hearts?What is missing today? An emphasis on holiness.This is an aspect of faith that only works when we have the right mentality. We cant have a worldy mindset.When you travel on an airplane and want to use ur internet you have to pay to use the air card. The only thing is that you can only use the internet when you are at least 10,000 feet in the air or higher. You cannot use their internet when you are on the ground.Same with with faith and holiness, it only works when we have the correct Godly mindset. The solution to our issues or problems in life might be that we need to live holy.Our society has broken away from holiness and we need to get back to the ole school holiness that used to be so important. Whenever we choose the world’s way and not God, we are rejecting holiness. Our society needs better people- not better finances, jobs, technology, fundraisers, homes, ect- we need people with a desire to be holy. We need to have a zeal for God but in accordance to knowledge.
1 Timothy 4:3This passage talks about men out in the world professing truths that are not holy or true. These men are lovers of money, of self, unloving, unholy, haters, lovers of pleasure rather than God. 2 Timothy 3:4-7For example, I was watching the Tyra show the other day (just so I can see what Anissa will be growing up with and hearing in the world). Tyra tends to profess a lot of worldly views and truths that are completely wrong but this show really hit me hard. They were talking about living out your sexual fantasies and there was a Christian childrens writer (woman) on the show who wanted to be a porn star having sex with 2 men for one day while her boyfriend filmed her. Her boyfriend came on the show and she told him that she wanted to act out that fantasy and he didn’t want her to. Tyra and the audience booed him and told him that he is close minded and not a supportive boyfriend for not allowing it and Tyra convinced the woman to act out her fantasy anyway and turn it into a reality. I was appalled.
Because of our relationship with God we ought to live holy. We are called to live like Christ. The question becomes how will we live when we get to heaven? Not are we going to heaven because we already know that we are. We need to have the fear of God.We have minimalized God so much now a days that we have lost the fear of God. God will still judge us accordingly.
Single women need to remember to marry a man that loves God more than they love you. (quote from pastor, just had to throw that in)
Once we become believers, our previous generations no longer will hold us down. We are no longer held back by generational curses, our parents, grandparents, and relatives and their evil ways. We no longer have an excuse. Because of the blood of Jesus we have a new zip code in Christ and that is holiness. We are to choose not to continue in sin because we don’t want God to be mad at us. It is one thing to have your spouse mad at you but a whole other thing to have God mad at you.
What are the benefits of being holy?Everyone in Christ gets the basic benefits but how you live impacts your commission. Pastor, before he became a pastor was a suit salesman and they gave him a base salary plus a commission for every suit he sold. It is the same with our benefits in Christ. How we live impacts our commission in Christ. God promises a special commission with Him when we live holy.We are called to be gracious when it is in our power to be gracious. Just because man (even management at your job) tells you to do something doesn’t mean we are to do it- we are to follow God only, and if Gods way contradicts the human instructions then we regroup and follow Gods instructions. We are to obey God’s mission. Pastor went to see his grandmother in a nursing home to check on her because she has had a lot of surgeries on her bad knees, back, shoulders and hips and is bed ridden 24-7. When he got there he asked her how life is sitting in a bed all the time and all she had was tv and gross food. The first and only thing outta her mouth was, “GOD IS GOOD!”
THAT IS OLE SCHOOL HOLINESS!
Friday, October 30, 2009
Newest Sermon
Transcend
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Destiny Church
Pastor Womack
1 Peter 1:13
Ready, Set, Live!
Now is the time to live out our faith. First thing to do when living out faith is to manage our mindset. We need to make sure we are not walking around mentally flabby and make sure our mind is set and prepared to live out our spiritual life.
Just as we are coached to do on the basketball court, stay on our toes and be ready for anything that comes our way. Same with spiritually. Stay on our toes mentally and spiritually and be ready for the things the world and satan throw at us. We must not be mentally lazy.
We are called to be learners of Gods Word. If we don’t use it, we will lose it. We have to live and read God’s Word. (Not the daily bread, it is a good tool but not sufficient to the Word of God- it is like trying to live on vitamins without eating, but we still have to eat)
We must make time to meditate on God’s Word. Life gets too busy and stressful and we don’t make time for it.
On game day athletes will show up for a game at 6 am knowing the game starts at 7 pm so that they have time to mentally prepare – get their minds right and stay focused for the task ahead.
Do we have our spiritual game face on?
Are we still learning God’s word? (not do we already know it but are we still learning and seeking it?)
We need to get rid of our stinking thinking. Our thinking should reflect God and not our thoughts. When life doesn’t go our way, our thinking is always impacted. (when we lose our job, family member dies, lose house or car, ect- we turn to human thinking and not God’s way of thinking)
For example:
Last week, a young man went into a bank to rob it and met the woman behind the counter. She started to pray and ask him why he would want to do this when he had so much to live for. They started to talk while he held the gun to her head. He asked her to pray with him and she did and he even gave her the bullet in his gun. He was seen on an interview with Oprah, where he said that he knew that God was talking to him and not the lady behind the counter. She held the money out to him many times and he chose not to take the money and walked out of the bank with his life changed. His mom made him turn himself in later on that evening after seeing his face on the news and he later admitted on Oprah that he had robbed a bank a week earlier. Anyway the woman in the bank had a different way of thinking when the worst came her way and God was able to speak through her and a life was changed in the process.
The robber couldn’t get away from stinking thinking because life didn’t go his way. He knew what he was doing was wrong but he wanted to provide money for his family and celebrate his 2 year old girls bday.
It is tough to think clearly and biblically when life falls apart.
If you are not in God’s Word you cant decipher stinking thinking.
What is the quality of the decisions that you have been making?
Secondly we need to focus on God’s favor and biblical hope.
Not hoping that something will happen but knowing that we will be victorious when trials come our way.
It is one thing to know grace but another to live by grace. When you understand the Word you set your hope on God’s grace. We can hope in Jesus.
WHATEVER WE FOCUS ON WILL DETERMINE OUR EMOTIONS!
If you focus on a dead and scary economy you will be in fear.
If you focus on Christ you will live confidently.
Where do u see the grace of God showing up in your life?
His grace shows up in time to strengthen our hope in Christ in the future.
He also shows up in others lives to be an inspiration and hope to us.
We are called to move forwards in our lives and not backwards
We are obedient to God to possess His favor not to gain His favor.
Now that we are believers we can feel His conviction and that is why he allows us to live however we want and still go to heaven but His conviction causes us to constantly move forward and want to live righteous.
Now that we understand salvation we cannot go back to our former lusts. We are called to move ahead.
Live like you know that God is your father because Satan is no longer your father.
95% of babies walk backwards before they learn to walk forwards and that is how it is in our spiritual lives too. When we are babies in Christ we start out by walking backwards and build our ways to walking forwards.
Are you moving forward or backward in Christ?
Where are u tempted to not grow in Christ?
Are u making spiritual excuses? (by saying I can do whatever I want because I will go to heaven anyway)
Be God’s Next Top Model
God wants us to model after Him.
He wants us to be holy, just as he is holy.
We need to compare ourselves to Christ in whom there is no sin.
Where is God challenging us to look more like Him?
We are to be holy in ALL our behavior. (home, work, kids, spouse, bball court, finances, driving, ect)
We are to represent Christ EVERYWHERE.
If we pray for something and God doesn’t answer the way we were hoping, we are to have confidence in the face that he is still able to answer that request- he just chose not to. Like the 3 men in the fiery furnace, they said that if God does not deliver us we know He is still able to and they had hope and confidence in that fact.
Gods will might not be ours but He is still able to do anything!
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Destiny Church
Pastor Womack
1 Peter 1:13
Ready, Set, Live!
Now is the time to live out our faith. First thing to do when living out faith is to manage our mindset. We need to make sure we are not walking around mentally flabby and make sure our mind is set and prepared to live out our spiritual life.
Just as we are coached to do on the basketball court, stay on our toes and be ready for anything that comes our way. Same with spiritually. Stay on our toes mentally and spiritually and be ready for the things the world and satan throw at us. We must not be mentally lazy.
We are called to be learners of Gods Word. If we don’t use it, we will lose it. We have to live and read God’s Word. (Not the daily bread, it is a good tool but not sufficient to the Word of God- it is like trying to live on vitamins without eating, but we still have to eat)
We must make time to meditate on God’s Word. Life gets too busy and stressful and we don’t make time for it.
On game day athletes will show up for a game at 6 am knowing the game starts at 7 pm so that they have time to mentally prepare – get their minds right and stay focused for the task ahead.
Do we have our spiritual game face on?
Are we still learning God’s word? (not do we already know it but are we still learning and seeking it?)
We need to get rid of our stinking thinking. Our thinking should reflect God and not our thoughts. When life doesn’t go our way, our thinking is always impacted. (when we lose our job, family member dies, lose house or car, ect- we turn to human thinking and not God’s way of thinking)
For example:
Last week, a young man went into a bank to rob it and met the woman behind the counter. She started to pray and ask him why he would want to do this when he had so much to live for. They started to talk while he held the gun to her head. He asked her to pray with him and she did and he even gave her the bullet in his gun. He was seen on an interview with Oprah, where he said that he knew that God was talking to him and not the lady behind the counter. She held the money out to him many times and he chose not to take the money and walked out of the bank with his life changed. His mom made him turn himself in later on that evening after seeing his face on the news and he later admitted on Oprah that he had robbed a bank a week earlier. Anyway the woman in the bank had a different way of thinking when the worst came her way and God was able to speak through her and a life was changed in the process.
The robber couldn’t get away from stinking thinking because life didn’t go his way. He knew what he was doing was wrong but he wanted to provide money for his family and celebrate his 2 year old girls bday.
It is tough to think clearly and biblically when life falls apart.
If you are not in God’s Word you cant decipher stinking thinking.
What is the quality of the decisions that you have been making?
Secondly we need to focus on God’s favor and biblical hope.
Not hoping that something will happen but knowing that we will be victorious when trials come our way.
It is one thing to know grace but another to live by grace. When you understand the Word you set your hope on God’s grace. We can hope in Jesus.
WHATEVER WE FOCUS ON WILL DETERMINE OUR EMOTIONS!
If you focus on a dead and scary economy you will be in fear.
If you focus on Christ you will live confidently.
Where do u see the grace of God showing up in your life?
His grace shows up in time to strengthen our hope in Christ in the future.
He also shows up in others lives to be an inspiration and hope to us.
We are called to move forwards in our lives and not backwards
We are obedient to God to possess His favor not to gain His favor.
Now that we are believers we can feel His conviction and that is why he allows us to live however we want and still go to heaven but His conviction causes us to constantly move forward and want to live righteous.
Now that we understand salvation we cannot go back to our former lusts. We are called to move ahead.
Live like you know that God is your father because Satan is no longer your father.
95% of babies walk backwards before they learn to walk forwards and that is how it is in our spiritual lives too. When we are babies in Christ we start out by walking backwards and build our ways to walking forwards.
Are you moving forward or backward in Christ?
Where are u tempted to not grow in Christ?
Are u making spiritual excuses? (by saying I can do whatever I want because I will go to heaven anyway)
Be God’s Next Top Model
God wants us to model after Him.
He wants us to be holy, just as he is holy.
We need to compare ourselves to Christ in whom there is no sin.
Where is God challenging us to look more like Him?
We are to be holy in ALL our behavior. (home, work, kids, spouse, bball court, finances, driving, ect)
We are to represent Christ EVERYWHERE.
If we pray for something and God doesn’t answer the way we were hoping, we are to have confidence in the face that he is still able to answer that request- he just chose not to. Like the 3 men in the fiery furnace, they said that if God does not deliver us we know He is still able to and they had hope and confidence in that fact.
Gods will might not be ours but He is still able to do anything!
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Thought this was funny!
We went to the alliance air show on Sunday. It is at the Alliance airport across the street from my job. So we got to park in our parking lot at work and walk to the air show, which was SUPER nice bc they charge $20 to park!!! My job also provided free lunch of hot dogs, chips and sodas. It was so nice. The air show was pretty cool I have to say. We got to see all the different kinds of airplanes and go inside them. Mandrae showed me all the planes he rode on, on his way to Iraq when he was with the Globetrotters. We took Larry and Carrie (our friends from our cruise that moved here about 2 weeks ago- YAY!) and they were in the navy and so they LOVED it. There was alot of good food and the planes did some cool tricks in the air. The planes were LOUD though and everyone had ear plugs in and poor Anissa! Every time the plane (atomic bomb) flew by she would kick me so hard bc either the noise scared her or made her mad! Poor girl. We were there for probably 5 hours and there was no where to sit down and so that was really hard on my feet and back but it was fun. I even saw Uncle Dean and his daughter Candace and son in law so that was good.
Regarding the picture below, there was a plane and they named it the puking dogs w a pic on it and I thought HOW PERFECT that is for my lil bebe. She should be the PILOT!
Regarding the picture below, there was a plane and they named it the puking dogs w a pic on it and I thought HOW PERFECT that is for my lil bebe. She should be the PILOT!
My semi costume :)
Ok so tomorrow is our costume contest here at work. Daimler Financial and I am going as a Freightliner because that is what my department finances. :) Haha. So here are pics of me in my costume right after Mandrae and I finished it on Saturday. I cut it out of some old cardboard from the garage and then Mandrae spray painted it and I drew on it. It took like 15 to 20 hours to make and cost about $10 for the spray paint and tape. I think I will make my own costume every year. It was ALOT of fun and I cant wait to wear it. The only problem is that it is so huge that it wont fit through the door and wouldnt fit in our explorer!!! It took us an hour to smash it into in our explorer and we had to rip off the tires and bend the frame a bit. It should still hold up tomorrow I hope! It has been in the explorer since Saturday bc I am not moving it til I have to put it on and walk around work! :) I still need to find me a horn so I can honk as I walk down the aisles at work. haha. And like I said before, I have been feeling some strong back labor and so I wouldnt be surprised if Anissa is born out of a Semi tomorrow. HAHA!
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Fun Facts
Proven Fun (good to know) Bathroom Facts (that I heard on the Tyra show):
- The cleanest way to sit on the toilet is to just plain old sit on it bare bottom. Do not squat because the distance from the butt to the toilet water causes the water splash on you and creating more germs on your rear. Do not use the toilet seat cover because it moves around on the toilet creating more germs to spread to you. Sounds crazy but it is proven that you will get less germs on ur behind by just giving in and sitting directly on the seat!
- The dirtiest part of the bathroom is not the toilet but the floor (the floor right under the napkin dispenser in the stall!) and then the handles.
- The cleanest stall to use in a public restroom is the first one. Dirtiest one is the last one.
- Always hang your purse on the hook in the bathroom and if there isn’t one, use the bathroom with your purse on ur lap or shoulder. In a study 80% of womens purses had feces (however u spell that) on the bottom of their purses from the bathroom. GROSS!
So remember use the first stall always and SIT on the toilet PEOPLE!!!! (and don’t go barefoot and hang your purse)
- The cleanest way to sit on the toilet is to just plain old sit on it bare bottom. Do not squat because the distance from the butt to the toilet water causes the water splash on you and creating more germs on your rear. Do not use the toilet seat cover because it moves around on the toilet creating more germs to spread to you. Sounds crazy but it is proven that you will get less germs on ur behind by just giving in and sitting directly on the seat!
- The dirtiest part of the bathroom is not the toilet but the floor (the floor right under the napkin dispenser in the stall!) and then the handles.
- The cleanest stall to use in a public restroom is the first one. Dirtiest one is the last one.
- Always hang your purse on the hook in the bathroom and if there isn’t one, use the bathroom with your purse on ur lap or shoulder. In a study 80% of womens purses had feces (however u spell that) on the bottom of their purses from the bathroom. GROSS!
So remember use the first stall always and SIT on the toilet PEOPLE!!!! (and don’t go barefoot and hang your purse)
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Update
Update:
So I had my dr. appt yesterday and expressed my concerns like normal with my intense back pain and pre term labor symptoms and of course was blown off once again. So now I don’t even bother anymore. I will just keep living and if something is wrong, I will go to labor an delivery and deal with someone else. URGH. So yeah anyway I have gained a total of 25 lbs so far and am up to 167 lbs. YIKES! But I was the smallest preg lady in there. So I guess I should be thankful. (?) The only problem now is that they found white blood cells in my urine and so there is an infection somewhere and they are sending in samples to see what is wrong.
And I now have the pleasure of not only being kicked in my right side still but also in my ribs now!!! And now that is PAIN! Now I really am gonna pass out. This is crazy!! No one ever talks about how painful these kicks are! What is wrong w me?
I HAD NO IDEA!!!
I am about 33 to 34 weeks now and we are ready!
Well the good news is that Mandrae is SOOO ready!! He couldn’t be more excited or ready for Anissa to come. He is shocked at how ready he is. He wants her out now. So cute.
That sonogram really made a difference. It seems so real now.
Well anyway I go back in 2 weeks when I start my maternity leave and then 2 weeks after that I should be getting another sonogram if she isn’t here by then. We will see.
So I had my dr. appt yesterday and expressed my concerns like normal with my intense back pain and pre term labor symptoms and of course was blown off once again. So now I don’t even bother anymore. I will just keep living and if something is wrong, I will go to labor an delivery and deal with someone else. URGH. So yeah anyway I have gained a total of 25 lbs so far and am up to 167 lbs. YIKES! But I was the smallest preg lady in there. So I guess I should be thankful. (?) The only problem now is that they found white blood cells in my urine and so there is an infection somewhere and they are sending in samples to see what is wrong.
And I now have the pleasure of not only being kicked in my right side still but also in my ribs now!!! And now that is PAIN! Now I really am gonna pass out. This is crazy!! No one ever talks about how painful these kicks are! What is wrong w me?
I HAD NO IDEA!!!
I am about 33 to 34 weeks now and we are ready!
Well the good news is that Mandrae is SOOO ready!! He couldn’t be more excited or ready for Anissa to come. He is shocked at how ready he is. He wants her out now. So cute.
That sonogram really made a difference. It seems so real now.
Well anyway I go back in 2 weeks when I start my maternity leave and then 2 weeks after that I should be getting another sonogram if she isn’t here by then. We will see.
Friday, October 16, 2009
Anissa's new sono pics
Ok this is Mandraes favorite pic. She is holding up her head w her lil hand. So cute :)
Her mouth is open. :)
Her lil hand over her face.
This looks creapy but her eye is kinda open in this pic.
Her mouth is open. :)
Her lil hand over her face.
This looks creapy but her eye is kinda open in this pic.
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Living upside down
Living Upside Down
1 Peter 1:9-12
Sunday, October 11, 2009
We sometimes end up living the Christian life upside down.
God calls us to live a unique life in Him- He calls us to stand out and not blend in.
Just like when u get a new pair of prescription glasses, you tend to keep putting on the old ones because you are used to them and they feel more comfortable. Or you will go back and forth from your new glasses to your old glasses. When we come to Christ, He gives us a new prescription to live by but we tend to go back to our old way of living (old glasses). We allow our old way of seeing things to be a grid of how to live our new life. When we hear new info from Christ we try to work it into our old framework of living. Then we say Gods way of living doesn’t work but really it doesn’t work with our old way of living.
We have to allow Gods word to influence us instead of the world. We get too excited about immature Christians sharing and teaching the Word of God. We listen too much to the famous people who change their lives and try to give us spiritual insight. For example a famous comedian and television actor (whose name was not given) gave his life to God and wrote a book about it and in his book taught that we should wait 90 days to have sex when dating (not taught in the Bible) and he taught that women should not date men from the church and it is okay to date men from clubs and that are not Christians because his mom was a Christian and his dad was not but his dad was a good man and they were married 30 years and his dad was a good man, so it is ok to date a non Christian man (also not in the Bible). That is why we need to know and study the Word of God because there are immature Christians out there spreading their way of thinking and passing it on as the Word of God. We lean too much on their words because they can sing, tell jokes, act or are just simply famous with a lot of influence.
We are not to listen to someone that is preaching the Word but doesn’t go to church or read the Bible. We have no way of knowing where their theology is coming from because they are not studying it in their everyday life. That is how we let the world influence our way of thinking. We are to allow the church to be our pillar of truth. We are called to stand up for truth and allow our faith to be rooted in the word of God.
We must be careful and make sure we are listening to the Word and not the world.
Revelation:
If God has only revealed something in his word to you then there is something wrong. Scripture is not a private interpretation. We shouldn’t say, “what does this mean for me?” It s not about what the word means to us but what it means period. When we say, “God told me last night”- that is not a revelation that is a speculation. Its not a private interpretation but instead God showing something to the world that was not known by humanity.
Don’t hang your faith by something that is not true. It must be proven in the word of God. People have tried to disprove the Bible for years but no one can, why do u think the Bible is the best seller of all time?
We are starting to minimize the salvation of Christ.
Will we rely on the Word of God for our faith?
How much time and money do we invest in the Word? We must study and memorize the word to distinguish the truth.
We need to live right side up- based on Gods framework and not on mans philosophies.
1 Peter 1:9-12
Sunday, October 11, 2009
We sometimes end up living the Christian life upside down.
God calls us to live a unique life in Him- He calls us to stand out and not blend in.
Just like when u get a new pair of prescription glasses, you tend to keep putting on the old ones because you are used to them and they feel more comfortable. Or you will go back and forth from your new glasses to your old glasses. When we come to Christ, He gives us a new prescription to live by but we tend to go back to our old way of living (old glasses). We allow our old way of seeing things to be a grid of how to live our new life. When we hear new info from Christ we try to work it into our old framework of living. Then we say Gods way of living doesn’t work but really it doesn’t work with our old way of living.
We have to allow Gods word to influence us instead of the world. We get too excited about immature Christians sharing and teaching the Word of God. We listen too much to the famous people who change their lives and try to give us spiritual insight. For example a famous comedian and television actor (whose name was not given) gave his life to God and wrote a book about it and in his book taught that we should wait 90 days to have sex when dating (not taught in the Bible) and he taught that women should not date men from the church and it is okay to date men from clubs and that are not Christians because his mom was a Christian and his dad was not but his dad was a good man and they were married 30 years and his dad was a good man, so it is ok to date a non Christian man (also not in the Bible). That is why we need to know and study the Word of God because there are immature Christians out there spreading their way of thinking and passing it on as the Word of God. We lean too much on their words because they can sing, tell jokes, act or are just simply famous with a lot of influence.
We are not to listen to someone that is preaching the Word but doesn’t go to church or read the Bible. We have no way of knowing where their theology is coming from because they are not studying it in their everyday life. That is how we let the world influence our way of thinking. We are to allow the church to be our pillar of truth. We are called to stand up for truth and allow our faith to be rooted in the word of God.
We must be careful and make sure we are listening to the Word and not the world.
Revelation:
If God has only revealed something in his word to you then there is something wrong. Scripture is not a private interpretation. We shouldn’t say, “what does this mean for me?” It s not about what the word means to us but what it means period. When we say, “God told me last night”- that is not a revelation that is a speculation. Its not a private interpretation but instead God showing something to the world that was not known by humanity.
Don’t hang your faith by something that is not true. It must be proven in the word of God. People have tried to disprove the Bible for years but no one can, why do u think the Bible is the best seller of all time?
We are starting to minimize the salvation of Christ.
Will we rely on the Word of God for our faith?
How much time and money do we invest in the Word? We must study and memorize the word to distinguish the truth.
We need to live right side up- based on Gods framework and not on mans philosophies.
SILLY
Ok now I know this wont be funny to anyone because you werent there but when I got home last nite, I was greeted by the craziest, silliest, hyperest dog in the WHOLE WORLD! She was NUTTY! She did indy races around the house and was just so so happy. Well I passed out on the couch watching Dr. Phil and when I woke up, Bebe wasnt sitting by me and so I looked around and this is what I saw.
She was by her doggy door staring me down like she was gonna come and pounce on me but I soon realized she just wanted me to watch her go outside and potty so she could have a treat! She is so silly!
She was by her doggy door staring me down like she was gonna come and pounce on me but I soon realized she just wanted me to watch her go outside and potty so she could have a treat! She is so silly!
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
?
Ok I have to know:
So far this morning I have eaten 3 honey buns and cannot get full!!! I am starving!!!
Yesterday I ate a HUGE bowl of total cereal for breakfast, a whole box of mac n cheese for lunch, a fruit cup, cheetos, 2 cupcakes in a glass of milk, swiss cake roll, rice crispy treat, then for dinner I had 3 tostados, green beans and beef rice and then another swiss cake roll. HELP ME!!! I am just so hungry. Is this bad??? Am I eating too much??? If so... how do I stop??
I will eat something salty and then need something sweet and then eat too much of the sweet and need something salty and it goes back and forth FOREVER! Please, please help me.
So far this morning I have eaten 3 honey buns and cannot get full!!! I am starving!!!
Yesterday I ate a HUGE bowl of total cereal for breakfast, a whole box of mac n cheese for lunch, a fruit cup, cheetos, 2 cupcakes in a glass of milk, swiss cake roll, rice crispy treat, then for dinner I had 3 tostados, green beans and beef rice and then another swiss cake roll. HELP ME!!! I am just so hungry. Is this bad??? Am I eating too much??? If so... how do I stop??
I will eat something salty and then need something sweet and then eat too much of the sweet and need something salty and it goes back and forth FOREVER! Please, please help me.
baby nissys new pics :)
Here is her name that we redid. We painted dots on it and put a bow to tie in the brown color of her crib. It was fun. We did it at 1:30 am on Saturday because we couldnt sleep. :)
( This is the position that Anissa is in according to the Sono)Ok so we went to have the sonogram on Saturday and Anissa is STUBBORN!!! MAN! She would not cooperate! We kept trying to look at her face or her body and she had umbilical cord in her face and her hands in her face and her face buried in my placenta and she would not move to save her life! She had her feet wrapped around her neck. How she does that I don’t know! She was a mess though, we spent 30 minutes trying to get her to show her face or move away from my right hip. And I was RIGHT! The picture I drew was pretty much the position she is in, but she is a lil different now and I will paste a pic of what she looks like now. Anyway she was so bad that they are letting us go back on Thursday to try again. So we are doing another session on Thursday to see her better hopefully. Please pray she will show her face and cooperate. Here are some pics of her from this sono but I will have a cd and dvd of her to paste by Friday. And question: If she doesn’t sleep now does that mean she wont sleep when she comes out???? O boy, I have a feeling I have a mess on my hands. She is something else. SHE NEVER STOPS! I DON’T SLEEP! HELP!
Okay these are all of her face only. They are kinda hard to see bc they are pics of a pic from my phone but you can kinda see. U can see that she has Mandraes nose and mouth. And my mom and Kris (from work) say that she has my eyes (at least the way they are set in because they are not open in the pics).
Friday, October 9, 2009
pre term labor?
Pre Term Labor- Hmmmm…………………………..
Ok so I did want to have Anissa early and wanted to have pre term labor but now that I think that I am experiencing it I no longer want her to come early and so am trying to find out how to make it go away without having to go to the hospital. Why do I think this? Well first of all when I sit down or sleep on my side w my knees pulled to my hips Anissa touches my legs with her arms or something and so that shows you how low she is sitting and so it seems that she is getting into position. It is a crazy feeling. Also all day yesterday I was having Braxton Hicks contractions in my stomach, didn’t feel too well, wasn’t that hungry, had cramping (menstrual and abdominal cramping), and also have been having diarrhea. When I looked it up online it says those are all signs of pre term labor. I don’t want that right now and it says to rest but how long can I prolong these effects?
Anyway we have a 4D sonogram tomorrow at 1:45 with Storkvision here in Ft. Worth and we are excited. They are going to get us a 20 min DVD and then a CD rom with around 30 pics on it. I cant wait to see her and this will also be a way for me to see how low she is and see if everything is ok because I just need to see her and make sure she is ok.
Ok so I did want to have Anissa early and wanted to have pre term labor but now that I think that I am experiencing it I no longer want her to come early and so am trying to find out how to make it go away without having to go to the hospital. Why do I think this? Well first of all when I sit down or sleep on my side w my knees pulled to my hips Anissa touches my legs with her arms or something and so that shows you how low she is sitting and so it seems that she is getting into position. It is a crazy feeling. Also all day yesterday I was having Braxton Hicks contractions in my stomach, didn’t feel too well, wasn’t that hungry, had cramping (menstrual and abdominal cramping), and also have been having diarrhea. When I looked it up online it says those are all signs of pre term labor. I don’t want that right now and it says to rest but how long can I prolong these effects?
Anyway we have a 4D sonogram tomorrow at 1:45 with Storkvision here in Ft. Worth and we are excited. They are going to get us a 20 min DVD and then a CD rom with around 30 pics on it. I cant wait to see her and this will also be a way for me to see how low she is and see if everything is ok because I just need to see her and make sure she is ok.
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
What do you think?
Okay after talking to my dr, this is the position I think she is in. Sideways bc her head pokes out of the side of my stomach and her feet out either my back or the opposite side of my stomach. So if me and my husband push her head back in when it is STICKING out of my stomach, can we hurt her?? What if her legs are extended and when we push her back in we break her leg or touch the soft spot on her head? Is that possible? Just really curious if u think we could hurt her by pushing her head back in from sticking out of my stomach? We dont push hard or anything.
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Living in HD:
1 Peter 1:3-9
If you have an HD TV you will never go back to watching regular TV because HD is so much clearer and so much better.
It is the same in Christianity. We need to strive for HD Christianity- seeing and understanding the details of how to live Christian lives.
God wants us to live like He really is coming back. Unless we understand Christ completely we will not live for Him confidently. It is impossible to praise God and live in perpetual pain. When we praise God it helps remind us of His goodness and our pain isn’t as painful. He is the only one worth of praise. No one deserves salvation, grace, mercy, hope or the love of Christ. So we are to bless Him regardless of our situation. We tend to believe that God owes us the opportunity to be saved but God chooses us according to the foreknowledge of God.
What if God called us in an interview to see if we would be a good Christian deserving salvation? We will never qualify to be born again. We are all unqualified and messed up but GOD still HIRES us. He still chooses us!
If we go into an interview being completely unqualified and still get the job then we would be extremely happy and that is how it is- we should be praising God because we got the job.
We will always be unworthy of God and need to praise Him regardless of where we are in the Christian faith.
When we were born again we got new information on how to life and a new hope. Our life as Christians should NEVER be hopeless.
We should never say our marriage, finances, health, ect are hopeless! We are born again to a living hope. If we live a hopeless life we are living an abnormal Christian life.
God also shows us His ministry and provides us with an inheritance in Him. Our inheritance is defiled, imperishable and reserved in heaven. It should encourage us today even though we do not receive it until we get to heaven.
God doesn’t have a relationship with everyone on earth, only those that are born again. Our rebirth gives us many benefits in Jesus Christ.
We should not listen to Oprah or CNN when they say that we all have the same Father because we do not- only those born again can call on the same Father.
You cannot lose your salvation in Christ, everyone seems to think that that we lose our salvation when our actions do not measure up to Christ but His works save us not ours!
Our eternity is secured but until God removes us from sin we will always face trials and pain. Life will not be perfect until sin is removed from our lives in heaven. Beware of the person here on earth who has no trials because if you are on Gods team, Satan will always be searching for ways to come against you and you will face trials. If you are not on God’s team, Satan has no reason to mess with you, you are already on his team. As long as you are on Gods team, Satn will always bring you trial and pain.
The holy spirit is Gods down payment to us since He cant be with us physically on earth. It is an indication of what is to come. If God gives us the Holy Spirit now just imagine how much more God will do for us in the future and how much better it will be with Christ there with us.
We have to let the world go, we hang on too tight. We need to quit hanging onto the wrong things. We think if only I had a new job, or new clothes, a new house, a new spouse, the new phone then everything would be better but we are always wrong! Things are never better just by getting the newest and best things here on earth. We are living on an earthly hope. How much better would life be if we could live here on earth with our heavenly hope.
The proof of our faith is when we go through troubles it authenticates our faith. Our faith is what brings us through those hard times. Nothing can destroy our faith- nor life nor death! When we come out of pain and trials with our faith still strong that is the proof of our faith in Christ.
It is not what we give to God but what He gave to us and we must speak well of God in spite of our pain and trials.
The trial of living in HD is that we serve and love a God that we cannot see or touch. And that is the mystery of worshipping Him. We are called to walk by faith and not by sight. Too many of us walk by sight and that is why we are limited in our Christianity.
To live in HD you must live by faith. We tend to walk around defeated because we don’t understand the nature of faith. We can no longer live in the hope of our job, education, marriage, house, ect……..those are temporary.
A new thing we do at our church is we text the pastor ?s while he is preaching and then at the end of the service he answers them. Here are some of the ?s:
Does God choose everyone to be on His team?
No God doesn’t choose everyone because then He couldn’t say that he chooses. He chooses by the foreknowledge of God. Remember we love Him because He first loved us. No one can pursue God, He pursues us. If you feel Gods tug on your heart then He has chosen you. How can we know we are chosen? When we place our total confidence in Him then we are chosen and when we face trials and come out of them with faith in Christ we are chosen!
Will God wait for us to accept Him?
No God will not wait for us to come to Him. We never know when God calls our family home. Tomorrow is never promised. God gives us time to get right with Him but we will never know how much time we are given.
Are certain sins worse than others?
No every sin is despicable to God but there are different consequences to certain sins.
Is it okay to divorce when you face trials or betrayal?
God never asks or tells anyone to get a divorce. If American Christians would understand that trials come regardless then the divorce rate would be a lot smaller in America. Hardship is not a reason for divorce. Trial in marriage is inevitable just like we will face trial in life as well. God does say it is ok to divorce if one person is an unbeliever and decides to leave on their own or if there is continual sexual immorality (cheating). The heart of God is forgiveness and people do mess up but if the sexual immorality continues he will permit a divorce but never requires it.
Living in HD:
1 Peter 1:3-9
If you have an HD TV you will never go back to watching regular TV because HD is so much clearer and so much better.
It is the same in Christianity. We need to strive for HD Christianity- seeing and understanding the details of how to live Christian lives.
God wants us to live like He really is coming back. Unless we understand Christ completely we will not live for Him confidently. It is impossible to praise God and live in perpetual pain. When we praise God it helps remind us of His goodness and our pain isn’t as painful. He is the only one worth of praise. No one deserves salvation, grace, mercy, hope or the love of Christ. So we are to bless Him regardless of our situation. We tend to believe that God owes us the opportunity to be saved but God chooses us according to the foreknowledge of God.
What if God called us in an interview to see if we would be a good Christian deserving salvation? We will never qualify to be born again. We are all unqualified and messed up but GOD still HIRES us. He still chooses us!
If we go into an interview being completely unqualified and still get the job then we would be extremely happy and that is how it is- we should be praising God because we got the job.
We will always be unworthy of God and need to praise Him regardless of where we are in the Christian faith.
When we were born again we got new information on how to life and a new hope. Our life as Christians should NEVER be hopeless.
We should never say our marriage, finances, health, ect are hopeless! We are born again to a living hope. If we live a hopeless life we are living an abnormal Christian life.
God also shows us His ministry and provides us with an inheritance in Him. Our inheritance is defiled, imperishable and reserved in heaven. It should encourage us today even though we do not receive it until we get to heaven.
God doesn’t have a relationship with everyone on earth, only those that are born again. Our rebirth gives us many benefits in Jesus Christ.
We should not listen to Oprah or CNN when they say that we all have the same Father because we do not- only those born again can call on the same Father.
You cannot lose your salvation in Christ, everyone seems to think that that we lose our salvation when our actions do not measure up to Christ but His works save us not ours!
Our eternity is secured but until God removes us from sin we will always face trials and pain. Life will not be perfect until sin is removed from our lives in heaven. Beware of the person here on earth who has no trials because if you are on Gods team, Satan will always be searching for ways to come against you and you will face trials. If you are not on God’s team, Satan has no reason to mess with you, you are already on his team. As long as you are on Gods team, Satn will always bring you trial and pain.
The holy spirit is Gods down payment to us since He cant be with us physically on earth. It is an indication of what is to come. If God gives us the Holy Spirit now just imagine how much more God will do for us in the future and how much better it will be with Christ there with us.
We have to let the world go, we hang on too tight. We need to quit hanging onto the wrong things. We think if only I had a new job, or new clothes, a new house, a new spouse, the new phone then everything would be better but we are always wrong! Things are never better just by getting the newest and best things here on earth. We are living on an earthly hope. How much better would life be if we could live here on earth with our heavenly hope.
The proof of our faith is when we go through troubles it authenticates our faith. Our faith is what brings us through those hard times. Nothing can destroy our faith- nor life nor death! When we come out of pain and trials with our faith still strong that is the proof of our faith in Christ.
It is not what we give to God but what He gave to us and we must speak well of God in spite of our pain and trials.
The trial of living in HD is that we serve and love a God that we cannot see or touch. And that is the mystery of worshipping Him. We are called to walk by faith and not by sight. Too many of us walk by sight and that is why we are limited in our Christianity.
To live in HD you must live by faith. We tend to walk around defeated because we don’t understand the nature of faith. We can no longer live in the hope of our job, education, marriage, house, ect……..those are temporary.
A new thing we do at our church is we text the pastor ?s while he is preaching and then at the end of the service he answers them. Here are some of the ?s:
Does God choose everyone to be on His team?
No God doesn’t choose everyone because then He couldn’t say that he chooses. He chooses by the foreknowledge of God. Remember we love Him because He first loved us. No one can pursue God, He pursues us. If you feel Gods tug on your heart then He has chosen you. How can we know we are chosen? When we place our total confidence in Him then we are chosen and when we face trials and come out of them with faith in Christ we are chosen!
Will God wait for us to accept Him?
No God will not wait for us to come to Him. We never know when God calls our family home. Tomorrow is never promised. God gives us time to get right with Him but we will never know how much time we are given.
Are certain sins worse than others?
No every sin is despicable to God but there are different consequences to certain sins.
Is it okay to divorce when you face trials or betrayal?
God never asks or tells anyone to get a divorce. If American Christians would understand that trials come regardless then the divorce rate would be a lot smaller in America. Hardship is not a reason for divorce. Trial in marriage is inevitable just like we will face trial in life as well. God does say it is ok to divorce if one person is an unbeliever and decides to leave on their own or if there is continual sexual immorality (cheating). The heart of God is forgiveness and people do mess up but if the sexual immorality continues he will permit a divorce but never requires it.
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Am I crazy?
Ok so yesterday I had my doctor appointment and I had so many things to discuss with my dr and so many ?s. Well when I got there, first of all I have gained 2 lbs in 2 weeks- so I guess that is normal. Then I told her all of my issues:
Migraines- should I get the MRI or not and how to manage the pain
Baby movement and pain that will make u pass out
Belly pain around my belly button
Not sleeping
Work schedule
Back pains
Well every issue I brought up was blown off. She just said o yeah that is normal, o yeah that is normal, o yeah that is normal.............for real?? It is normal to pass out from the baby moving?? And what if something was wrong?? What if she is wrapped around my umbilical cord? Dont I have reason to be concerned? Can I not worry and get reassured. I mean I would understand if that was the answer to some ?s but NOT every single ?.
She did say that my migraines are of concern but until I agree to do an MRI she cant help me. If they get worse I am supposed to go to the ER and have them do an MRI right away. She seems to think they will and that she will see me sooner than expected but we will see.
Anyway am I crazy to think that I should get some kinda sympathy or concern from her?
And why cant I get a sonogram of the baby to make sure everything inside is ok? They make you wait from 5 months all the way to 9 months to see the baby again! It has been 3 months since I have gotten a sono. Not fair! I wanna see the baby and make sure everything is ok.
And I want to know why all my friends that are pregnant didnt go through any of the things I am going through.
Ok well I am done venting now. Sorry bout that. This is just frustrating. But I am working for this month and then will go on leave on Novemeber 1st, if I can last that long. :)
O and they said that my due date has been changing and to average them all out they would put me at Dec. 15th but I am messuring for Dec. 8th still so if the baby isnt here by the 15th then they will induce me but she thinks she will be here before then. I still think she will be here on the 21st of nov.
Migraines- should I get the MRI or not and how to manage the pain
Baby movement and pain that will make u pass out
Belly pain around my belly button
Not sleeping
Work schedule
Back pains
Well every issue I brought up was blown off. She just said o yeah that is normal, o yeah that is normal, o yeah that is normal.............for real?? It is normal to pass out from the baby moving?? And what if something was wrong?? What if she is wrapped around my umbilical cord? Dont I have reason to be concerned? Can I not worry and get reassured. I mean I would understand if that was the answer to some ?s but NOT every single ?.
She did say that my migraines are of concern but until I agree to do an MRI she cant help me. If they get worse I am supposed to go to the ER and have them do an MRI right away. She seems to think they will and that she will see me sooner than expected but we will see.
Anyway am I crazy to think that I should get some kinda sympathy or concern from her?
And why cant I get a sonogram of the baby to make sure everything inside is ok? They make you wait from 5 months all the way to 9 months to see the baby again! It has been 3 months since I have gotten a sono. Not fair! I wanna see the baby and make sure everything is ok.
And I want to know why all my friends that are pregnant didnt go through any of the things I am going through.
Ok well I am done venting now. Sorry bout that. This is just frustrating. But I am working for this month and then will go on leave on Novemeber 1st, if I can last that long. :)
O and they said that my due date has been changing and to average them all out they would put me at Dec. 15th but I am messuring for Dec. 8th still so if the baby isnt here by the 15th then they will induce me but she thinks she will be here before then. I still think she will be here on the 21st of nov.
Friday, October 2, 2009
I didnt mean it!
ok so i wanted to say that i didnt mean it when i said that i was going to spank anissa when she came out. i was just joking, i would never do that. I feel bad for saying that and want u to know that i love her and cant wait to see her and regardless of the pain i have she is only doing what she knows and trying to get comfortable. she is already my favorite thing in the world and i didnt mean what i said, i was just expressing how much it hurt. So please know that this baby will be loved and I was just joking. :) thanks.
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
I give it one week!
I give my belly button one more week til it will be completely poke out. :) You can tell I am bored. Haha. Anyway last nite it was really close to being all the way pushed out and so I give it one more week.
And I told Mandrae last nite when this baby comes out she is getting about 50 spankings for all this kicking!!! I dont know how much longer my insides can take it. And NOW she has moved to my ribs!!! HELP ME!
I sit at work, like right now, and watch her head, arms, legs, fingers, toes, ears, rear, back, knees, elbows- all poking through my stomach and wondering just how much longer it will be til she bursts a kidney, bladder, intestine, lung! O goodness THE PAIN!
And I told Mandrae last nite when this baby comes out she is getting about 50 spankings for all this kicking!!! I dont know how much longer my insides can take it. And NOW she has moved to my ribs!!! HELP ME!
I sit at work, like right now, and watch her head, arms, legs, fingers, toes, ears, rear, back, knees, elbows- all poking through my stomach and wondering just how much longer it will be til she bursts a kidney, bladder, intestine, lung! O goodness THE PAIN!
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Sermon- Sept 27th- VERY POWERFUL!
Between 2 Worlds:
1 Peter 1:1
We as Christians (believers) have been left behind by our family of origin and have to figure out how to live on earth. We are in a sense like E.T.- we are aliens to earth. We are born on earth but earth is not our home. We are caught between earth and heaven. God wants us to live to the beat of a different drummer here on earth. We cannot live like those here on earth because we live between two worlds. Everybody else doesn’t live like us or carry the same value system that we carry. We live only to bring glory to God. Our great temptation here on earth is to withdraw from where God wants us to live on earth. We can get caught up in arrogance of not wanting society around us and withdrawing or separating ourselves from the world. Our great tendency is to duplicate the values and morals of this fallen society. There must be a difference between how we view family, finances and our way of thinking.
We reside on earth as aliens (foreigners) but this is all temporary, we will be in heaven in the end.
We will face trials and pain and it will get the best of us if we are using an earthly mindset. Sometimes we pray for God to deliver us from things he puts in our lives and we waste our time asking God to remove ways He has already placed out for us.
We are displaced here on earth but for a specific reason. If we get too comfortable we will not be able to be ambassadors for God. We can either avoid society or become ambassadors to the society that we live in. We are living too earthbound and need to transform out thinking to living as aliens. We are living too much for other people and satisfying them (too concerned about what they think of us and not what God is calling us to do). As we go through pain, God may not take it away but we should be comforted knowing that God is there for us.
One day Pastors son was sick and in bed crying and Pastor tried to get him to cry it out but his son kept crying for a long time. So pastor went in his room and started to rub his back and his tears turned into snoring. Pastor didn’t take his pain away or heal him but his son was comforted with the fact that his daddy was there.
That is how we should feel in Christ. He may not always take the pain away but He is always there to comfort us.
When was the last time you thought about sharing your faith? When was the last time u shared your faith?
When we come to Jesus it shouldn’t just change our destination but also our thinking, morals and values as well.
The world is concerned about your image and your outside but God is concerned about your heart. We need to stand up and say this isn’t Burger King but the King of Kings and you cant “have it your way” once you are saved!
We cant control what is around us and we will suffer but we need to align ourselves with Christ and not with society. We are scared of man now a days when our real fear needs to be of God. We are scared of our boss and of what people might say but we need to instead be obedient to Christ first. We will still suffer in our obedience and disobedience because there is only place that we will NOT suffer and we are not there yet. Only one place is perfect and that is HEAVEN. God had to save the best for us for later.
Just remember that we will encounter suffering. When you live for Christ you will be ridiculed. Any culture or society that is not influenced is influenced by Satan. There is no in between. You can only be influenced by God or Satan. There is no will is not influenced by one or the other.
If you think that God is calling you or asking u to do something- consult his Word. God leads through His Word and His direction will never conflict with his Word.
1 Peter 1:1
We as Christians (believers) have been left behind by our family of origin and have to figure out how to live on earth. We are in a sense like E.T.- we are aliens to earth. We are born on earth but earth is not our home. We are caught between earth and heaven. God wants us to live to the beat of a different drummer here on earth. We cannot live like those here on earth because we live between two worlds. Everybody else doesn’t live like us or carry the same value system that we carry. We live only to bring glory to God. Our great temptation here on earth is to withdraw from where God wants us to live on earth. We can get caught up in arrogance of not wanting society around us and withdrawing or separating ourselves from the world. Our great tendency is to duplicate the values and morals of this fallen society. There must be a difference between how we view family, finances and our way of thinking.
We reside on earth as aliens (foreigners) but this is all temporary, we will be in heaven in the end.
We will face trials and pain and it will get the best of us if we are using an earthly mindset. Sometimes we pray for God to deliver us from things he puts in our lives and we waste our time asking God to remove ways He has already placed out for us.
We are displaced here on earth but for a specific reason. If we get too comfortable we will not be able to be ambassadors for God. We can either avoid society or become ambassadors to the society that we live in. We are living too earthbound and need to transform out thinking to living as aliens. We are living too much for other people and satisfying them (too concerned about what they think of us and not what God is calling us to do). As we go through pain, God may not take it away but we should be comforted knowing that God is there for us.
One day Pastors son was sick and in bed crying and Pastor tried to get him to cry it out but his son kept crying for a long time. So pastor went in his room and started to rub his back and his tears turned into snoring. Pastor didn’t take his pain away or heal him but his son was comforted with the fact that his daddy was there.
That is how we should feel in Christ. He may not always take the pain away but He is always there to comfort us.
When was the last time you thought about sharing your faith? When was the last time u shared your faith?
When we come to Jesus it shouldn’t just change our destination but also our thinking, morals and values as well.
The world is concerned about your image and your outside but God is concerned about your heart. We need to stand up and say this isn’t Burger King but the King of Kings and you cant “have it your way” once you are saved!
We cant control what is around us and we will suffer but we need to align ourselves with Christ and not with society. We are scared of man now a days when our real fear needs to be of God. We are scared of our boss and of what people might say but we need to instead be obedient to Christ first. We will still suffer in our obedience and disobedience because there is only place that we will NOT suffer and we are not there yet. Only one place is perfect and that is HEAVEN. God had to save the best for us for later.
Just remember that we will encounter suffering. When you live for Christ you will be ridiculed. Any culture or society that is not influenced is influenced by Satan. There is no in between. You can only be influenced by God or Satan. There is no will is not influenced by one or the other.
If you think that God is calling you or asking u to do something- consult his Word. God leads through His Word and His direction will never conflict with his Word.
Dr. Update
Ok so yesterday was my MRI appointment. My migraines do not seem to be getting any better and the last 2 days I noticed that my right ear which is the side that my migraines are on has been bleeding, not a lot but it is really weird bc I never had my ears bleed and I clean at least one time a week. So I found that weird. Anyway I couldn’t wait to go to my MRI appt so I could maybe find why I am having migraines and get it fixed. Well after my 30 min wait in the waiting room I went to the MRI room to have it done and she asked me to sign a piece of paper. After reading the paper it said that there are risks to the fetus/baby by doing an MRI and the risks are not yet confirmed if severe or slight. My dr. told me that they would cover my stomach and the baby would be fine but she was wrong. In an MRI there is nothing to cover your stomach from the UV Rays. Or whatever Rays they have? So I had to decline the MRI. I was so upset. I do not want to put Anissa at risk at all but I am at the same time MISERABLE! I do not know what to do and they cant prescribe anything to help the problem bc they have no idea what the problem is. So frustrating. So yeah anyway, I did get some good news though- I don’t have diabetes and my glucose test turned out fine. So at least I have some good news but how I am going to survive the next 2 months w this migraine I don’t know. And then last nite I have Braxton hicks contractions really bad all nite and it was aweful and this morning Anissa was again trying to escape my belly and lay on the soft PQ bed. It was SOOOO painful. I just lay there and moan. I wonder what Mandrae thinks. Haha.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
pregnancy pics from Jared!
Jared Wanzer took amazing pics. Here are some of the preg. pics he took. If you want to see more u can see them at http://www.jaredwanzerphotography.com/Other/Karissa-Baby-Shower/9634457_vtTaa.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
The latest update
Ok so I just got a call from my dr, here is the news:
My MRI for my brain and migraines is on Monday.
I failed the glucose/diabetes test and so could possibly have diabetes and have a 4 hr. glucose test on Thursday this week.
I am anemic and now have to take iron pills or chewables.
So I got 3 sets of bad news in one call.
I am kinda frustrated.
My MRI for my brain and migraines is on Monday.
I failed the glucose/diabetes test and so could possibly have diabetes and have a 4 hr. glucose test on Thursday this week.
I am anemic and now have to take iron pills or chewables.
So I got 3 sets of bad news in one call.
I am kinda frustrated.
baby blues
Update:
So I have been having some major migraines lately. I seemed to get really sick on Monday after the baby shower and it just stayed with me. So on Thursday my migraines were really bad so I went to Labor and Delivery to get checked out. Before I went my blood pressure was really high at 148/98 and then when I got to the hospital it was down to 110/60. (whatever!) They gave me a shot in my rear to take away the pain and the shot was supposed to knock you out and make you feel drunk so that you cant walk or feel pain. Well it sure did knock me out and the nurse asked me how I felt and if I had pain and at the time I was knocked out and pretty much in a deep sleep and I said I am fine and went back to sleep. Then they released me while I was asleep and when I woke up my migraine was WAY worse. I told the nurse and she got made at me! I cant help that when she asked me before that I was too asleep to give her a straight answer, I was knocked out. Anyway I convinced her to let me go home anyway bc i was so tired and so mandrae wheeled me out in a wheel chair. So she said that the shots affects would only last about 6 hours. So I got up to go to work the next day, still w the migraine and I had to hold my eyes open the entire way to work! It was the hardest time I have ever had driving. By the time I got to work I was pretty much asleep and stayed at work for an hour (fell asleep a few times) and had to go home. I was SO OUTTA IT! So when I finally got home (mom had to keep me awake on the way home- thanks mom) I slept til 6 pm straight, completely knocked out. My body must have been exhausted! It was bad. Anyway I woke up feeling aweful! My migraines just wont go away and they are in the back right of my brain. Feels like someone stuck a knife back there and sometimes turns the knife. It hurts to open my mouth or move my head in any direction whatsoever. It hurts to eat, drink and talk. My poor husband. I am so miserable that I take it out on him bc I just cant function. Today it is not as bad but it comes back late at nite. URGH.
So yesterday was my next dr. appt and I took the glucose test and drank my bottle of orange sugar water and then they took my blood. They think I am anemic bc my blood was clear looking. I am still waiting to hear the results. I also got a Rhogan shot and it wasnt that bad but my arm is real sore now. They are also setting me up with an MRI bc of my migraines bc they have no idea what would be causing it. So sometime this week I have to go and get an MRI. FUN FUN! It is a hectic week! I am really struggling. I do not want to be preg anymore and I just want to see Anissa NOW. Then I found out that now my due date is Dec. 18th. The one I had before was wrong. So now I have to wait EVEN longer!!!! I think that Katrina and I had pretty much the same due date. That is cool. :) Anyway I have also gained a total of 20 lbs. That is ALOT! I have gained 10 lbs since my last appt. MAN! I need to slow down eating I guess but dr. sd that I am right where I need to be. And this baby is kicking me like crazy. I just want this to be over and I want to deliver right now. I cant take these long days of work and I am so tired. Please pray for me. I want this to be over.
So I have been having some major migraines lately. I seemed to get really sick on Monday after the baby shower and it just stayed with me. So on Thursday my migraines were really bad so I went to Labor and Delivery to get checked out. Before I went my blood pressure was really high at 148/98 and then when I got to the hospital it was down to 110/60. (whatever!) They gave me a shot in my rear to take away the pain and the shot was supposed to knock you out and make you feel drunk so that you cant walk or feel pain. Well it sure did knock me out and the nurse asked me how I felt and if I had pain and at the time I was knocked out and pretty much in a deep sleep and I said I am fine and went back to sleep. Then they released me while I was asleep and when I woke up my migraine was WAY worse. I told the nurse and she got made at me! I cant help that when she asked me before that I was too asleep to give her a straight answer, I was knocked out. Anyway I convinced her to let me go home anyway bc i was so tired and so mandrae wheeled me out in a wheel chair. So she said that the shots affects would only last about 6 hours. So I got up to go to work the next day, still w the migraine and I had to hold my eyes open the entire way to work! It was the hardest time I have ever had driving. By the time I got to work I was pretty much asleep and stayed at work for an hour (fell asleep a few times) and had to go home. I was SO OUTTA IT! So when I finally got home (mom had to keep me awake on the way home- thanks mom) I slept til 6 pm straight, completely knocked out. My body must have been exhausted! It was bad. Anyway I woke up feeling aweful! My migraines just wont go away and they are in the back right of my brain. Feels like someone stuck a knife back there and sometimes turns the knife. It hurts to open my mouth or move my head in any direction whatsoever. It hurts to eat, drink and talk. My poor husband. I am so miserable that I take it out on him bc I just cant function. Today it is not as bad but it comes back late at nite. URGH.
So yesterday was my next dr. appt and I took the glucose test and drank my bottle of orange sugar water and then they took my blood. They think I am anemic bc my blood was clear looking. I am still waiting to hear the results. I also got a Rhogan shot and it wasnt that bad but my arm is real sore now. They are also setting me up with an MRI bc of my migraines bc they have no idea what would be causing it. So sometime this week I have to go and get an MRI. FUN FUN! It is a hectic week! I am really struggling. I do not want to be preg anymore and I just want to see Anissa NOW. Then I found out that now my due date is Dec. 18th. The one I had before was wrong. So now I have to wait EVEN longer!!!! I think that Katrina and I had pretty much the same due date. That is cool. :) Anyway I have also gained a total of 20 lbs. That is ALOT! I have gained 10 lbs since my last appt. MAN! I need to slow down eating I guess but dr. sd that I am right where I need to be. And this baby is kicking me like crazy. I just want this to be over and I want to deliver right now. I cant take these long days of work and I am so tired. Please pray for me. I want this to be over.
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Just a thought
I am pretty sure my baby is going to come out saying, "Thank you for calling Fastruck, my name is Karissa, How can I help you?"........................................................poor thing has to listen to it all day long!
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Curious
Can a baby pop your bladder??
Is it possible that Anissa bought a trampoline without telling me and is jumping on it? I promise she just randomly jumps really hard and then oops.................
.....................................if u know what I mean?
Is it possible that Anissa bought a trampoline without telling me and is jumping on it? I promise she just randomly jumps really hard and then oops.................
.....................................if u know what I mean?
an even blonder moment
So on Saturday when we got to Hutchinson we ate lunch with my grandma and grandpa and Amanda and my mom and we had tea to drink. Mandrae only likes sweet tea so we gave him some sweetner for his tea and didnt think anything of it. After a few minutes, Mandrae looked at me with a look of disgust. I was like what?? He said, "TASTE THIS!" I tasted his tea and he had poured all 6 packets of sweetner in his lil cup of tea!!! It was aweful. I guess he has never used sweetner before and thought it was like regular sugar! He is CRAZY!!
Baby shower
Bull Riding
Ok so at the state fair on Monday, my dad got Zak and Mandrae to ride the bull. It was hilarious. Here are pics of the guys. I am surprised they did it. Now we gotta get dad on the bull!
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