Highway 78

Aaron and I are packing our bags again today to make the long drive south on Highway 78 towards home. The drive is long, and very DARK at night. We are always so thankful when we finally make it to our destination. This weekend that is to my mom and dad's house to celebrate my birthday! Last weekend, Aaron and I were with his family. They are so sweet. They celebrated my birthday there, too! MIL made me delicious Southern Beef Stew, YUM! A personalized "L" shaped birthday cake and that's all I didn't have anymore sweets that night and S'mores by a fire later in the evening. I have been dying to have S'mores ALL winter. I had two then thought I was going to be sick. Don't you love that feeling?

 I've gotten 22 out of 28 things for my 28th year. The closer I get to 28 the harder it becomes. This is not to say there aren't a million things I should and need to do to better myself spiritually. It's sort of challenging to sit down and list them all out. I will keep thinking.

Tomorrow morning my mom and I are headed to the local cupcakery to pick out my birthday cup cakes! I expect them to be very delicious! Think "GiGi's Cupcakes"! Thanks, mom! Tomorrow is going to be sort of my last hoorah in the sweets/dessert department. I have really been thinking about how I gave up Dr. Peppers and all other soft drinks. I can most certainly give up sweets and desserts. I won't completely eliminate refined sugar out of my diet completely, at least not right now. However, I know doing so would really put me over the edge in my weight-loss journey. When I work out consistently during the week and eat well and eat enough, I feel really good and the number on the scale even goes down. BUT my middle area just isn't changing much. Hello, sugar! Doesn't sugar cause you to gain/keep weight in your abdomen?

Daddy is grilling pork chops for me tomorrow! I LOVE when he grills pork chops. He said he special ordered some thick cut chops from the butcher. He's such a sweetie pie.

Well anyway, tomorrow I am going to enjoy that those cupcakes, and probably a waffle at Waffle House in the morning. After that, game over. If you see me at the next bridal/baby shower/birthday party and my eye is twitching or I run and hide while I hyper-ventilate, it will be because I'm trying to say NO to all those goodies luring me to them. Ha, as if they have some sort of super powers...

Sunday, Aaron and I have our second job try-out. We are excited and thankful to God for the opportunity. In our minds we think we know how we would like our future to look. Ultimately, God knows what is best for us and where we will be the most effective. I am so thankful for THAT!

Have a blessed weekend "all" you readers! Seriously, the fact that anyone reads what I have to say makes me all giddy inside!

Leading Up to the List

I just want to cry when I think about the past 27 years of my life. Happy tears, of course! When I try to think back and figure out how I got where I am today, I can only think about my God and His wonderful, merciful grace and love. My life has been relatively easy and carefree. God blessed me with a mother and a father who provided my every need and beyond while under their roof.

Sure my little 9-year-old world was rocked when my family moved from Illinois to Alabama. We moved from an awesome house to an even better one. For many years I enjoyed great friendships in two places. I was able to be near my maternal grandparents.

My teeth are straight. I had a car to drive the day I turned 16. I never remember being behind on the clothing trends at the time, although I am now. Ha ha! I had a cell phone like everyone else. Besides all this my parents loved me daily and supported and encouraged me. (They still do!) They taught me right from wrong. They have shown me what real love and dedication is in marriage. So have my grandparents. Even today I know my parents would do anything for me and my husband. It's a shame that when we are younger we don't really want to be friends with our parents and we think they are so "obnoxious". The older I get the more and more I want to be around them and ENJOY it.

Now, in my adult years, in marriage, God's blessed me with a second family to call my own. I have the greatest family-in-law anyone could have. I pray all married people could have in-laws like me. The greatest blessing of all is to share in the fellowship of Christ with your physical family. My husband's family is amazing. They support us and love us. They care for our spiritual well-being. They are simply fun to be around, too! Oh, and they gave me my sweet Aaron. :)

How did I get the husband I have? It's a wonder. It's hard to wrap my mind around God's providence, but I know it's real. If I never moved to AL, if I never dated that one guy, if I never obeyed the gospel, if I never dumped (or got dumped by, I can't remember) that one guy... well you get the picture. Now thanks to my awesome husband and his desire to serve God we are at MSOP and I've experienced some of the deepest, most genuine friendships I've ever had.

All these things are just the tip of the ice-berg in the "ways God has blessed me" department. It would take me days and days and a reallllly long blog post to list every way God has blessed me. On the other hand, how long would it take me to list the ways I have returned the favor? Not that God is counting every good thing I do, He certainly knows and it is important to Him for my salvation. This brings me to my "28 things for my 28th year". I want this list to be spiritually focused. I want to make my 28th year my best one yet in my Christian life. I want to bring as much glory to God as possible. Now that I am to this point in this post I realize it is getting a little long. Stay-tuned for the complete list: 28 things for my 28th year. Hopefully I'll have it up by my actual birthday on Saturday. I have 10 so far. 18 to go. There is a lot I can do for God and others so I'll have no problem completely this list.

Thanks for reading.

Heaven Will Surely Be Worth it All

Often I'm hindered on my way, burden so heavy I almost fall
Then I hear Jesus sweetly say, Heaven will surely be worth it all

chorus: Heaven will surely be worth it all, worth all the sorrows that here befall
After this life with all its strife, Heaven will surely be worth it all

Many the trials toils and tears, many a heartache may here appall
But the dear Lord so truly says, Heaven will surely be worth it all

chorus

Toiling and pain I will endure, till I shall hear the death angel call
Jesus has promised and I'm sure, Heaven will surely be worth it all.

chorus

Just wanted to share a song today. AJ and I traveled to see his family this weekend. It was his little brother's birthday on Thursday. He is a ripe, old 19! 

We were listening to gospel hymns on the way down including the one above. I am often hindered on my way, but I am so thankful that I have the promise of Heaven when this life is over. That alone is worth any and every sorrow on Earth. 

For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding [and] eternal weight of glory; 2 Corinthians 4:17

You can have this same promise if only you will obey the Master.  

28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.              Matthew 11:28-30

6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. Hebrews 11:6

I am so blessed to be living the life I am. I am so thankful to God for His mercy and care. 

For a free online Bible correspondence course go to You Can Be Sure. Why not be sure of your salvation? 

Something worth blogging about...

I think that has been my problem this entire time. The reason I cannot post consistently is because I rarely have anything worth blogging about, besides things of a spiritual nature of course. Even then I haven't been able to keep up the "Light for Your Path" series I said I was going to have. Blogging requires creativity. I like to think that I am creative; however, I believe my creativity has been stunned. "By what?" you may be asking. I blame the television. Well, my television doesn't do anything wrong until I turn it on then somehow I find myself sitting... watching... for longer than I want to admit. Not to mention while I'm watching the TV, I'm also checking Facebook a zillion times (I already quit FB once.) and my e-mail. BTW no one e-mails me... besides the 100 websites I've signed up to receive sale advertisements and things like that. WHY? I don't know. I don't ever buy anything! So... I must blame myself. I've stunned my own creativity into oblivion! awww, man... this has by far been the greatest challenge of being at home daily. I know I'm not the only one who struggles with this, am I? I want so badly to be able to work from the home to have time to take care of my family one day. Here I am having been given the opportunity and I have the time and it's wasted.

The good news is it's a new year! ha ha! Because I couldn't change anything about myself until after the new year came, right? Anyway.

How am I going to quit my TV watching habit? Well, AJ and I have talked about getting rid of the television, but we have yet to decide to just do it. We want to keep it to watch movies of course. So now it's up to just good ole self-discipline. Wasting time while watching TV has not only kept me from blogging like I want to, but it has also kept me from reading more, learning to sew, becoming a better cook, keeping a "house chores" schedule, visiting with friends more often... studying the Bible like I should. Oh man, it's just getting worse and worse.

OKAY. Back to the bright side. Self-discipline. Right.

I'm thankful to God for the opportunity to do right again and to be a better person all around.

So from now on I am going to spend more time doing the things I want to do and need to do for God, myself, for my husband, and for others.

Now that I have gotten that off my chest... let's talk about something worth blogging about!

You know that 12 week "Total Body Blitz" I've tried to start a couple of times now? I have officially made it through week one of the program without skipping a day and doing the workouts as prescribed. I would not have been able to do it without my workout buddy though! She has been a real encouragement to me this week, especially today. She helped me run longer than I think I have in over three years. WOO HOO! Only 11 more weeks to go! We can so do it.

In other weight-loss news, I've been tracking my food and exercise on My Fitness Pal consistently again. I've also gone 11 days without a soda, too! I'm trying to go from now until AJ graduates without sweets. You might be thinking that is extreme and that I can have sweets in moderation. Well, not for me. Sugary snacks, cakes, cookies, ice cream, etc are going to be the death of me... so for now, they are dead to me.

Thanks for reading! Have a very blessed weekend. Don't forget to make your best effort to attend worship services this Sunday.

"I will extol thee, my God, O king; and I will bless thy name for ever and ever. Every day will I bless thee; and I will praise thy name for ever and ever. Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; and his greatness is unsearchable. One generation shall praise thy works to another, and shall declare thy might acts. I will speak of the glorious honor of they majesty, and of the wondrous works."  Psalm 145:1-5

Finally November

Wow, it's finally November. October just dragged on and on for me. It was probably because I failed miserably in keeping my resolutions and just wanted to get to a new month! Part of me wants to just quit the resolutions before I ever really started. BUT that is part of the reason I wanted to START doing the resolutions... because I often quit things I start. So here goes.


Gym=F. I didn't go at least four days every week. I didn't go at least two days a week. I think I exercised more regularly when I didn't have a perfectly laid out plan telling me exactly what to do each day...

Quit sugar using the "8 week sugar detox"=F. Never started. I have a problem. I need to be locked in a room for six weeks until I am no longer addicted to sugar. I wish it was as simple as just liking sweets. It's so much more than that and I won't bore you with the details.

Keep up with the "Digging Deep" Bible study=C. I sadly and pathetically get so easily distracted by worldly things.

Stick with the budget=B. We actually did pretty good with this. We, of course, did go over on our eating out budget. It was sort of a weird month with Aaron being out of town two separate times and me gone for a weekend. Excuses, I've got plenty. Other than that, if felt good to have a plan and to know where our money was going overall.

I think that averages to a D. Great.

Some people like to dedicate the month of November to NOT doing something like "No Spend November", "No Make-up November", etc. Cute play on the word "no" huh? Well I've decided to make it "No Excuses November".

No more excuses when it comes to living faithfully to God first and foremost.
No more excuses when it comes to exercising and eating better.
No more excuses when it comes to our budget.
Just to name a few...

::mood change::

I am super excited that it is November. I love the weather this time of year. I love the opportunities coming up to be with family. I love the special opportunity to reflect on the many blessings God has given me and AJ. Many people take the month of November to share something they are thankful for each day on Facebook. I think that is a great idea. Of course we are to be and should be thankful year round. God's word instructs us to be thankful. Ephesians 5:20; Philippians 4:6; Colossians 2:6,7; 3:15-17 just to name a few passages. I think actually listing or "counting my blessings" each day would help me with my excuses problem.

God has afforded me with every necessity of life and beyond so I really have no excuse.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: Ephesians 1:3

A Light for Your Path

Another beautiful Lord's day here. The sun is shining and the sky is clear blue. The heavens truly do declare the glory of God. Psalm 19:1

Have you ever heard someone tell you, "You do not have to DO anything to be saved"? Have you told someone that yourself? If someone believes this they will usually lead you to Ephesians 2:8 and say, "See? Through faith, not by works!" Obviously this person has not taken into account the entirety of God's word. We read in James 2 that we ARE justified by works and that like the body is dead without the spirit, faith is ALSO dead without works. So which is it? Does the Bible contradict itself? Skeptics would stop here and say, "YES!"

NO! The Bible does not contradict itself. Read the passage in Ephesians again. "for by grace have ye been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not of works, that no man should glory." (Ephesians 2:8, 9 ASV) "not of works, that no man should glory." What works could a person glory in? Well, works that they created by their own devices. So what type of works ARE we justified by according to James 2? Works of God. James refers to Abraham and Rahab and how they were justified by their works. Well who's idea was it for Abraham to sacrifice is son to God? Who's idea was it for Rahab to remain in her home to receive the spies? GOD. Abraham and Rahab, along with many others in Hebrews 11, did those things by faith in obedience to God. God TOLD them what to DO and they DID it. So when we are "doing" something to be saved, we are not "working our way to Heaven" as long it is something God commanded. We are simply submitting ourselves to God's will.

Please consider the following.

Mark 16:16- "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned."

Does that sound like if we DO NOT believe we can be saved? Does the word damned describe salvation? (Most people in the religious world will certainly agree that you have to believe in Jesus in order to be saved, leaning solely on John 3:16. Someone might even say, "You do not have to DO anything to be saved EXCEPT believe..." contradicting themselves.)

Luke 13:3- (Jesus speaking) "I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish."

Does that sound like if we DO NOT repent we can be saved? Jesus repeats himself just a couple verses later. Does the word perish describe salvation? (Here we go again. Someone might say to you, "You do not have to DO anything EXCEPT believe and repent..." contradicting themselves even further.)

Luke 12:8,9- (Jesus speaking) "Also I say unto you, Whosoever shall confess me before men, him shall the Son of man also confess before the angels of God: But he that denieth me before men shall be denied before the angels of God."

Does that sound like if we DO NOT confess Christ we WILL be saved?

John 3:3- "Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."

Does that sound like if we are NOT born again we CAN enter the kingdom of God?

So is there anything we must DO in order to be saved? It does not seem like according to the word of God that all we have to do is believe. It is true that God's grace in an unmerited gift to all people, but we MUST obey Him in order to recieve His gift. Matthew 7:21; Hebrews 5:9 Notice the words DOETH/DOES and OBEY.

Please consider the "whole counsel of God" when you are studying His word. Acts 20:27

A Light for Your Path

AJ and I are headed back to AR this morning. AJ preaches for a small congregation there a couple times a month.

Today I just want to share a website with you. It is called www.ucanbsure.org This website has a lot of sound Biblical information including articles and sermons written by members of the Lord's church. The website also features a free Bible correspondence course that covers very practical Bible information that all people need to know and understand. I encourage you to go to this website and take a look around, especially if you have questions about God and the Bible and the church today.

Have a blessed Lord's day!

A not-so-average week.

It has been quite a week! After something going on every night of the week AJ and I are glad to just hang out at home today. I think we're watching the Richmond race tonight. Yes... NASCAR. When I married my husband I married all his likes and dislikes... NASCAR included. I must admit that I do enjoy watching as well! We usually snooze somewhere between the first 25 and last 50 laps anyway. *Oh, Update! In case you are interested, tonight's race featured the first all electric-powered pace vehicle. If you are interested than there is no need to explain further. If you are not... there is still no need.

What is for dinner tonight at your house? 

We are having Creamy Taco Mac. I have already tasted it and it is as good as it looks and sounds.
I found the recipe over at the Sing for Your Supper blog. This is the first recipe that I have tried of her's and I cannot wait to try many more! I followed her recipe almost to a tee. I didn't use all 8 oz of my noodles (AJ and I like more meat and sauce than noodles.) and I did not use the entire cup of starchy cooking water. That may be because I did not use all the noodles. ANYHOW. It is delicious and you should rush over to her blog and try it tomorrow night. The ingredients are simple, but not necessarily low fat. I did use light sour cream... every bit helps! 

So here is my week in short. 

Monday night I went to MSOP wive's class. It was very eye opening. We heard from a lady who has been married to a preacher for about twenty-five years. She shared some of the ups and downs of their life together working for the Church. 

Tuesday night AJ and I went to a gospel meeting at another local congregation. It was awesome. We heard Brother BJ Clarke preach about the one true church. He answered the question: "Has God ever confined salvation to one location in the past?" The answer is yes. Think Noah and the Ark (Gen 6), the tenth plague and the Passover (Exodus 12), and Rahab's house (Joshua 2). Today salvation is confined to the Lord's church which is His body and He is the savior of it. (cf Eph 1:22,23; 4:4; 5:23) We must be a part of Christ's body in order to inherit eternal life.

Wednesday night we attended a different gospel meeting and heard Brother Billy Bland preach about THE last day, as in the day the Lord will return and this world ends. (cf John 12:48; 14:1-3; 1 Thess 4:16; 2 Peter 3:10) 

Thursday and Friday night AJ and I, as well as a couple other preaching students, attended a formal debate in Little Rock, AR. It was awesome to be present for such an event. Debates like this do not happen as often as they use to, but they should. The topic of the debate was "ARE MECHANICAL INSTRUMENTS IN WORSHIP TO GOD SINFUL OR AUTHORIZED?" You can find more information about it at the Gospel of Christ. 

So after a lot of driving to and from we are very happy to be home on Saturday. Although, the driving was WELL worth it. I wish every week were like this one. We were able to spend time with brethren. We were able to hear the gospel preached with authority and boldness. It does not get much better than that. 

How was your week? Do you have mechanical instruments at the church where you attend? Ever asked if it was authorized by God?

A Light for Your Path

*I have decided to start a series of posts for each Sunday which I am calling "A Light for Your Path". I got this phrase from Psalm 119:105. These posts will be of a spiritual nature. Sometimes, like this time, I may write about a Bible topic myself, but other times (probably most times) I will share with you an article or thought written by another member of the Church. I may have posts on other days of the week that are Bible related, but I definitely want to have one each Sunday since it IS the Lord's day. I hope you enjoy it and experience SOME spiritual gain.

It is the first day of the week! If you are like me, Sunday is a day you look forward to throughout each week. On Sunday mornings, AJ and I wake up and prepare ourselves to assemble with the saints and worship our Heavenly Father!

On the other hand, maybe you sleep in on Sundays and then lounge around the house in your pajamas all day. Why?!

Worshipping God is a great privilege we have as Christians! We GET to assemble with people of like precious faith, encourage and edify one another. (cf. Heb 10:24) We GET to sing praises to God. (cf. Eph 5:19; Col 3:16) We GET to approach the Almighty God together in prayer. (cf. Acts 2:42) We GET to hear a gospel sermon. We GET to commemorate the great sacrifice Christ made for you and me when He was crucified on the cross for the sins of the world. (cf. 1 Cor 11:24-26) We GET to give back to God a portion of the means He has so richly blessed us with. (cf. 1 Cor 16:2) Do you GET the idea? ha ha

So if it is not too late, get up and put on the best you have and find a local congregation of God's people and spend the day worshipping the Father!

If it is too late, you have an entire week to plan for next Sunday!
If you are not sure where to go, I will do my best to help you find a sound body of Christians to worship with in your area... if only you would ask!

"As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God." Psalm 42:1 KJV

On becoming a Christian

I wanted my first post to be about the most important part of my life. Really the phrase "part of my life" does not give it justice. It is my life; it is who I am. I am a Christian.

I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. (Galatians 2:20 KJV)

When I became a Christian I died to myself and became alive to Christ.

How did I get here?

My purpose for telling you this is to give a little background information about myself and also to maybe help someone who is seeking the truth. I have not been a Christian all my life... not even most of my life. As a child,  I went to a Methodist church. Until I was about 21 I thought being a Methodist was as good as anything. But you see, that just is not true. While my intentions were pure and I was sincere, Methodists do not make Christians... nor does any denomination.

My faith had never been tested before. Then I started dating someone who was roommates with a Christian. We were invited to attend worship services with him regularly, which we did. We also attended group Bible studies on the campus of the college we attended. After a few months I figured out for myself that there is more to being a Christian that just saying you are one. I realized that I had been misinformed my whole life. I don't fault anyone for this but myself.

I learned about the one true church and how to become a member of it. I had already heard the gospel (Rom 10:17) and believed that Jesus is God's only son and died for my sins (John 3:15,16; 8:24). I learned that I needed to repent of my past sins (Luke 13:3), confess before others (Matthew 10:32) that Jesus is the Christ, the only Son of God, and then be baptized for the remission of my sins (Mark 16:15,16; Acts 2:38) AND for God to ADD ME to His church (Acts 2:47). I did all those things and now I am a new creature, a Christian, striving to live faithfully even unto death (Rev 2:10).

I am PROUD to be a Christian and thankful, too! If you have not done one or any of the things that I did to become a Christian then you are not yet a Christian. Yes, that is a bold thing to say, but it is true! Read your Bible and find out. You should want to become a Christian! The God that created you desires you to be and prefers you to be in Heaven with Him for all eternity (2 Peter 3:9). If you have any questions please do not hesitate to ask!

Anyhow, I broke up with that guy I was dating. I am thankful that we dated since I was introduced to the Church through him. However, it is a good thing we broke up because now I am married to the best, most amazing man ever! Of course if you are married you probably think that about your husband, but I promise mine is the best for me!

And thats me on becoming a Christian.