Christmas shopping @ the mall = torture!

Waiting on Emily. The story of my life these days.

A New Year 1-1-11

A new year.  A fresh start.  A clean slate.  Twelve months to get things right and move forward.  A chance to make right everything I messed up last year.  

What will I do with this opportunity? Will I let it pass and be at the same place next year?  Or will I make the most of what God is offering?


I'm not talking resolutions for the new year.  I want change, permanent change.  My hope this year is to move forward:  to start the ministry I know God has entrusted to me; to help my girls grow to be all God has called them to be; to be a better mother, daughter, sister, friend, laborer.  I want ALL God has for me, every single blessing, every promise.


So how do I accomplish all this?  By being in the Word daily; through prayer and fasting; by listening in the silence for that small still voice; by being obedient to what He calls me to do; through crucifying flesh daily; less Facebook and more THE BOOK; less watching TV and more seeing through God's eyes.


So a few verses to set the theme of my life for 2011:

I'm not saying that I have this all together, that I have it made. But I am well on my way, reaching out for Christ, who has so wondrously reached out for me. Friends, don't get me wrong: By no means do I count myself an expert in all of this, but I've got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward—to Jesus. ...I'm off and running, and I'm not turning back. ~ Philippians 3:12-14 (Message Bible)

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you,” declares the LORD, “and will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you,” declares the LORD, “and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile.”~ Jeremiah 29:11-14

Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you. ~ James 1:27 NLT

These were his instructions to them: “The harvest is great, but the workers are few. So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send more workers into his fields." ~ Luke 10:2

Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise. ~ Hebrews 10:23


So with fear and trembling, I begin this journey of 2011.  

May the Lord bless you and keep you;

The Lord make His face shine upon you, 

And be gracious to you;

The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,

And give you peace.

Thanksgiving

Some pics of Thanksgiving with my family.

Me, Mom & Dad

Emily

Emily & PaPa

Olivia

Olivia & PaPa

Olivia pretending she can throw a football

Olivia & Meemer

Crazy Smith Girls

Mom & Dad

Comfort in Affliction

"Then they will seek My face; In their affliction they will earnestly seek Me." 

Hosea 5:15

"O My people, has not My hand fashioned for you many signs and wonders?  Have I not ministered to you in miraculous ways?  How is it you say therefore in your heart, 'I will turn again to human strength'?  How often have I spoken to you and never failed to keep My word?  Will you not, then, trust Me now in this new emergency, even as you have trusted Me in the past?

"Your need is greater this time, and so I have made the testing more acute.  I strengthen you in the furnace of affliction and purify your soul in the fires of pain.

"Lean hard upon Me, for I bring you through to new victories, and restoration shall follow what seems now to be a wind of destruction.

"Hold fast to My hand, and rest in My love, for of this you may be very certain:  My love is unaltered; yes, I have you in My own intensive care.  My concern for you is deeper now than when things are normal.

"Draw upon the resources of My grace, and so shall you be equipped to communicate peace and confidence to your dear ones.  Heaven rejoices when you go through trials with a singing spirit.  Your Father's heart is cheered when you endure the test and do not question His mercy.

"Be like a beacon light.  His own glorious radiance shall shine through you, and Christ Himself will be revealed."

~from Come Away My Beloved by Frances J. Roberts

Olivia's birthday

Tomorrow is Olivia's birthday...My firstborn. What a precious sweet gift she has been to me!! She was the perfect first child, the kind to make you want more. I thought she was the most beautiful little thing I had ever seen. People would stop us in the mall to look at her.

I cannot fathom where the time has gone...19 years. She's no longer a baby but a young woman in college who will be going to China one day to fulfill the call of God on her life, the call she's known since she was 12. I wish her dad were here to see the awesome person she's become. He'd be so proud. I know I am!!
 

Happy birthday, Olivia!!! I love you so much!!

My friends

I love my friends. They make me laugh. There have been times I don't think I would have made it without them.

My friend, Shelly, was my college roommate. She was the one who introduced me to my husband. She was the one who was with me when he died. I remember her telling me the day after he died, "I feel like I've failed you as your friend. I wish I could have helped prepare you for this." I looked at her and said, "How could you have done that?" "I don't know." We laughed. She helped me be able to laugh at a time all I wanted to do was cry. She continues to make me laugh.

There's Renee, my sister. We've always been close. The older we get, the closer we seem to be. She's a second mother to my girls. She's the one who understands the dysfunction that is our family!!

Diane is the one who speaks her mind. She's bold and passionate. She pushes me to be all God created me to be.

Girlfriends...Thank you, God, for the ones You've placed in my life!! I don't know what I'd do without them!!