Greensboro Grasshoppers Game

Hope was chosen to be part of the color guard presenting the flags at the Greensboro Grasshoppers game last night. She is holding the NC flag. If you click on the photo to enlarge it you can see which one she is. The are looking pretty spiffy in their dress uniforms and chrome domes! She is in the top 6 at RCHS in the JROTC and really excells at everything she does in the program. We are very proud of her achievements. As you can tell by her ribbons she is moving up in rank as well. Ben was her guest and afterward they enjoyed the game. It was a beautiful day, probably the prettiest one we've had yet this spring, so God was gracious as always!

Hope and Me....

I love my Hopie! She brings such joy to our lives!

More Pics of Miss Hannah

Walls....

I went to revival tonight at a friends church and the evangelist preached out of Proverbs chapter 24 starting in verse 30 and one of the things he touched on was how the walls were broken down. He said that a wall in the Bible is always a sign of security and protection. He explained how that Solomon noticed #1. the Condition of the field and vineyard #2. the Character of the man. #3. The cost. The man was lazy. So lazy in fact that he had become complacent and didn't even recognize how bad the fields were or that the wall was broken down and because of it, things that the wall was meant to keep out, were getting in and things that were behind the wall, were now getting out.

My mind wandered to the story of job and how God had a "hedge" about him. I know we are to inspect our hedge....it is our job. God puts it there but we are to maintain it. Making sure there are no cracks that satan can get in. My mind then went to the story of Nehemiah as he was rebuilding the wall at Jerusalem and I couldn't help but remember how he wept when he heard the condition of the wall. He confessed the people's sin and how they had failed God and he included himself in that confession. He then traveled to Jerusalem and began the work of rebuilding the wall. However, there was great opposition and he ended up literally having to work with one hand and hold a sword to fight in the other. Wow....what a picture of how satan does not want us to rebuild! If we are foolish enough to become complacent in our lives and let our wall down....let the world in and let us out into the world then satan will fight tooth and nail to keep us from rebuilding. It will be hard, discouraging and exhausting. It can be done with the Lord's help but how much easier it is to inspect regularly and handle the little things while they are just that "little". Confess our sins, have the desire to live consecrated lives and pray daily for God to search our hearts and show us if there be any wicked way in us. I don't want to look back at what it might cost me for not being faithful. Let us also be thankful for the walls of protection and security he has placed in our lives and let us be faithful to do the maintenance!

Hannah's Spring Pictures

I added this pic because I couldn't believe how flexed her muscles were just jumping off of those pipes....that girl is solid!

Romans 8:38-39

"For I am persuaded , that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord"

Wow! What a promise! What comfort I draw from those verses. God's love for me can never be severed! I chose these verses as our memory verse for last week (for the girls, Ben and Brian and I) because I really started looking at them in a new light and just had such a desire to commit them to memory. I know that all scripture is written for our benefit. The word tells us that. So I started looking at all the things God had inspired the Apostle Paul to pen down in these 2 verses. God in his power to know all things knew that we would be sold the false bill of goods that these very things COULD separate us from His love so he had Paul pen them down to remind us that NOTHING can separate us from his love.

We don't have to fear death, because not only are we promised a home in heaven and eternity with our Savior, he will go with us through the process. His love will never, not even for a second leave us during death.

We don't have to fear satan (principalities and powers) because God's love will still be present for us and there is not power great enough to separate us from it! No, in life we don't have to fear that our failures will be so great that God's love will be severed......He reminds us, no dear child....I'm still here....I still love you!

There's no physical place to high or to low that he won't go with us. Hallelujah! He then just states, "nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." That's it! NOTHING....EVER...will separate us from the love of God. WE are IN CHRIST JESUS!! The scripture tells us no man can pluck us out of His hand.

Verse 37 of this same chapter says "Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us." How can we be conquerors in this life? Because we can bank on the fact that God will never stop loving us!

Love is a powerful thing. We love our spouses, our children, our family and friends. We are emotionally driven beings. I work along side Doug in the good times and bad because I love him, and because I KNOW he loves me. How much more it drives me to work for the Lord knowing He loves me and ALWAYS will. The scripture also says "We love him because he first loved us"....Thank you Jesus....I am humbled at that fact.

Praise Him
Praise Him
Jesus our blessed redeemer!

Don't ever let satan tell you God doesn't love you. If you are His, you have a promise you can stand on...His love will never be severed!

Special Pictures

These were taken Easter morning @ church after the service by our dear friends Mark and Renea. Just wanted to share. :)

Our Beautiful Hope

Love and Joy

Those words are so simple to say but sometimes hard to have! This world uses the word "love" all the time, we do it too; we say I "love" hamburgers, I "love" that dress, I "love" that song, Honey I "love" you, etc. The list could go on and on. And some days we have joy and somedays it is just the name of the girl down the street! lol! A preacher I just heard recently said that up until a few years ago he didn't know who Dow Jones was but he figured he was Baptist because one day he's up and the next day he's down!! Wow....how funny.....how true. We are like that aren't we? But God knows and understands our humanity.....he is however, Elohim...Creator.

Did you know that Matthew 5:46 says "For if you love those who love you, what reward can you have? Do not even the tax collectors do that?" That verse means that when you love someone who is a Joy to love, easy to love, God doesn't receive one ounce of glory. Not one! Do you know what your purpose for life is? It is to glorify God. The reason is, anyone can love someone who is a joy......it is those "testy's" that Beth Moore talks about that are the difficult ones. But it is through those people that God does receive glory because the world looks at us and knows that if we can love people like that, we have something bigger at work in us that they do in them.

Now, let's look at joy for a second. The Bible commands us to be joyful. And commandments are not about choice, they are about obedience. Joy is a choice. Yes, you have to choose to be joyful. It is a decision about how we respond to life's circumstances. For instance. I had a dentist appointment yesterday at 8:30a.m. I went ahead and took my shower, got ready for work and went on to the dentist and thought I'd be out in 45 minutes and on with my day. Well, first of all let me say that did NOT happen. I was in the chair for 2 hours. The tooth in front that he was working on, he had to use a wet drill.......BOY DID THEY NAME THAT CORRECTLY!! I was soaked! When they set me up for a break, I had mascara and eyeliner down to my cheek bones, my hairsprayed bangs were wet and stuck to my forehead and my shirt collar was wet where it had run down my neck and dripped on my shirt. I could have been upset and angry but instead I was tickled so much I could hardly sit there. I was a sight to behold! At this point, the dentist then says.....I think I have some goggles in my car and proceeded to run outside and get them.....this was a kind gesture but a little late.....lol.....I'm not kidding ya'll it was a funny experience. Not to mention I had to go to the bathroom because my coffee was talking to me and I had to go with paper napkin around my neck and front lips packed with gauze and racoon eyes and wet hair....AND the bathrooms were at the front of the office so every door I passed people saw me.....I do hope there weren't any small children in there to be frightened! lol! But the point is, I chose to be Joyful.

Paul preached about the children of Israel last night and we are so much like them. You'd think we had twin sisters named grumble and mumble the way we act sometimes. Lighten up ya'll, laugh at yourself, choose to be joyful. Life is to short to be angry and bitter. Bring some glory to the Savior by choosing the joy in life and Loving the testy's in your life!

I'm seeing the Top Side of the tapestry....

There is a story that Paul has told from the pulpit on several occasions about a man who went to a oriental rug factory. The rugs were everywhere and lots of work was being done but the owner wanted his guest to see the "most" beautiful work in progress. As the guest looked up at the loom he was not impressed by the beauty at all, he thought to himself that it just looked like a tangled mess of threads with no design or purpose. The owner could tell by his facial expression that he didn't quite understand and he said "follow me"..they went upstairs above the loom and the rug and looked down on it and the guest was amazed at the beauty he beheld. It was the most beautiful rug and intricate design he had ever seen. It was the same rug, it just looks different from up above than looking up at it from below.

When God moved us here 2 1/2 years ago I knew it was His will. Doug and I had a peace and witnessed many, many confirmations of his leading; but I will admit I never thought Hannah could be as happy here as she was in GA with Kaylea. I never thought Hope would be able to overcome her shyness enough to make friends and fit in. I really never financially expected to do as well as we were in GA because the cost of living is higher here. But after traveling back to GA this past week and experiencing the longing to come home (to NC), and to see that longing in both my girls was a blessing. I feel like I'm up above the tapestry God was weaving and I now see the beauty that I could not behold before. Hope is not only more outgoing, she is in the top 6 of the JROTC program at RCHS. She has met Ben and is in love, she knows what career she wants to pursue and where to go to get the degree to do so. Hannah has so many friends here that are loyal and loving and she has fit in to the point it is hard to believe she hasn't always lived here. We have been blessed financially and are amazed ourselves at how the Lord has worked. I have witnessed 1st hand the sovreignty of God in my life and for that I am grateful. I do still miss Danita so much and I know Hannah does Kaylea but we still have them as our friends and love them just as much and have a whole new life too, with new friends sent from God and new ways to serve Him.

I love David's words when he says "my cup runneth over", I agree with David 100%~!!!!