Thankful

Hey everyone! I haven't posted anything on here lately and I just wanted to share with you how God has been working in my life.

First of all I am excited about 2009 and what God is going to do in my life. There will be valleys to walk through and mountains to climb and times to soar like an eagle and other times when I'm sure I'll feel like I'm crawling face first in the dirt, but I am certain that I will not be alone through any of them. What a comfort to know he'll be there too. I serve a God who will not leave me, fail me, nor will he leave me defenseless. He will give grace at the appointed time and strength when I am weak. Exodus 14:14 even says "The Lord will fight for you and ye shall hold your peace".....that means be at rest......I can rest while HE fights for me....wow...what a Savior!

I had the family over for lunch today (16 of us) and I had such an overwhelming sense of gratitude. We all love each other and accept each other (I must say I learned that part of loving people from Paul and Karen) and it was wonderful just to be together. I couldn't help but think of how blessed I am as a woman to have all these amazing people in my life. We all love the Lord, love to serve Him and love to bring Him glory. I loved serving them lunch and making their afternoon a little less hectic. They just showed up and ate and relaxed. What a joy it is to serve others! (If you haven't tried it....you should!)

I had to be back at the church for choir practice at 4:45 and Ben went with me. What a joy that was! Not only was I praising my Savior through song I had the great joy of knowing Ben was experiencing this with me! We are learning the song "Lord you are Holy" and it is amazing. The words are powerful and so true. It just brings me to a place where I want to just tell the Lord how much I love Him over and over again. Just snuggle up next to Him and rest in His arms for a while. I hope it ministers to people the way it does to me.

I stand amazed at how good God is to me. Believe me, I know I don't deserve it...not even a fraction of the good in my life do I deserve. God is so gracious. God is so kind. I am overwhelmed at the goodness of God.....it really does make me want to know Him better. Please Lord help me not get caught up in the petty things of this world, but keep my eyes focused on you. Eternal things are all that warrant concern....help me keep this in the forefront of my mind. Help me love those who are hard to love, help me be extra gentle to those who get their feelings hurt easily, and help me be willing to put pride aside and make amends even if it really isn't my fault if it will make you smile. Lord let it all be about you this year. That's my heart's cry because.........I am THANKFUL!

What about you?......................