Monday, August 24, 2009

Proverbs 17:17






"A friend loveth at all times, and a brother is born for adversity."

Thursday, August 20, 2009

Once Upon a Time...

...a little girl with dark, soft curls was born to a young father and his bride on August 20th, 1992. It was Sunday morning and the sun did indeed shine brightly. No wonder this girl was called Sunshine throughout her life! You know, of course, that was not her real name. The girl was adored by her whole family and grew up always being taught about the love of God and the story of Calvary and what Jesus did for her there. Until about 1 1/2 years ago, she did not fully understand that story - the significance of it. She made some mistakes along the way, and wandered from the good path that her parents had set for her to follow, a narrow road it was. But her loving Lord showed her all the sins she had committed, how sad she had made Him, and with shocking horror, she discovered that those sins - those mistakes - were what nailed Him to the cross of Calvary. The young girl let the Lord lead her back to the right path on which she finally accepted His gift of salvation and is now living a life blood-bought and saved by grace. She is living blessed and ever-sincere on following Him. If you ask her why she loves her Lord so much, she will reply with passion, "He's the one who freed me from bondage. He paid a debt I was not able to pay - though it caused Him great pain. He won a victory I could never win. He did it all for me." This young girl knows she does not love Him as much as she ought, she may never be able to love Him that much. His love for her puts her love for Him to shame. But she will never forget the price He paid for her - and she will never stop being greatful. She is greatful for another year of life - as today is her 17th birthday!

(Drum roll please...............) It's my birthday! The Maiden of the South was born today, August 20th to two wonderful parents. Ü I am indeed greatful for another year of life and am looking foward to all that's going to happen today..... and in the upcoming year.

So far, I've been called by 5 people - one of whom is my friend from Illinois. She called me at 8:37 AM - the exact time I was born 17 years ago! And when she finally got me on the phone (she called right when 2 other people called - haha) she put her phone on speaker and played me Happy Birthday on the guitar, while singing! What a talented friend I have... that was one of my favorite parts of the day so far. I've never had someone who's half way across the country sing me Happy Birthday! Then I went over to a friend's house and rode her horse - yes, I wanted to ride on my birthday! So it was just me and Savvy (the horse) running across the countryside, and the dog, who tagged along!
Later today I'll begin traveling to a far, far away place..... (lol, still in Texas) with a bunch of my family members to a restaurant that I've never been before, but my grandparents say it's really good..... so I'm takin' their word for it! It's a Texas Grill house....... now, I don't know if y'all have Montana Grills, or Ohio Grills, supposidly not a New York Grill, but a Texas Grill house is strictly superb!!!!!!!!!!!!! We're talking steak, chicken fried steak, chicken friend chicken, ribs, you name it (in the meats, of course). haha!! And while there, I'll get to open *presents*!!!! I'm also expecting a little surprise at the end.... but nobody's suppose to know that! :> Maybe I'll get a surprise chocolate cake 'n ice cream deal (because everyone knows how much I adore chocolate!).


Earlier, the best daddy in the world (*ahem* my Daddy!) came in from a hard day's work and handed me a bouquet of yellow daisies! They're gorgeous!!! And they smell sweet and mellow..... like a summer day. Well, there may be more later, but if not, "Happy birthday to me, happy birthday to me!...."


Thank You Lord for giving me life, for allowing me to be born a free girl in the best place on earth - America! And in the best, most sovereign state - Texas...... And thank You for letting me be born to two parents who will never quit their stations as followers of the King of kings and Lord of lords. Thank you for every breath of life that I take for granted, for every sunrise and sunset I've ever seen, every loved-one, every friend, every blessing.......

Monday, August 10, 2009

What Happens in God's Time

Lately, God has been testing our faith as a family. I won't go into deep details but I will give you one instance where our faith has been tried, and God has done a work soooooooo great!! (I was planning on posting this like, four days ago..... yeah.) Here's the story.



One day we decided to get a new used van. So we went to the dealership and bought a blue Dodge-mini. But..... we didn't pray over our choice. We did not include God in our search. And we've been paying for it ever since! We had this blue Dodge mini-van for over 5 years, and the thing gave us problems all along. Around the beginning of this year is when all the big problems started. It began with an oil leak, to the transmission being totally shot - worthless - useless. (*big, sarcastic smile*) Dad took it to the shop time and time again.... still, the piece of junk wouldn't get better! We were spending a lot of money, with added gas expenses, topped with other things we were still trying to pay off. Until then, I was the encourager, aiding everybody on to believe and have faith in God. My faith was now being tested. We prayed for a long time, and twice, we actually considered two different vehicles! Once it was a Honda mini, next a Honda Pilot. Ahhhhhhh..... I loved, loved, *loved* the Pilot!!! But neither of those worked out. Besides, a Pilot was a rather insensible choice for this family of six - so we thought! I know we could have managed, but anyway... Mom and Dad looked and looked and looked (!) on the internet for another vehicle that wasn't gonna break down on us, but it seemed like they'd have to travel half way across the country for a good used one. And with gas expenses like they are - yeah right! So, eventually, we gave up. Well, not really. But we gave it all to God. We decided to stand still and let God move. Then one normal day, as my Mom was just wishfully checking out vehicles, she found a black Honda Pilot in the town right next to us! No way, it's just a fluke. Dad and Mom decided to take us kids and go check it out anyway. So they did, and they thought it was a pretty good deal. Until..... a car salesman-friend of my Dad's told him that it was really worth $4,000 less, and that his dealership could find us one for the lesser amount. Oh no! You gotta be kidding me!!! We gotta wait!? Until... the dealership we had started with, called and offered to lower the price exactly $4,000. They had some how found out what my Dad's friend was planning to do for us. Oh yeah, we're getting this Pilot!!! Until... we found out that there was an oil leak. Dad was going to call it off if the problem couldn't be fixed. We all agreed that we weren't going to take anything that had a problem. We wanted it whole. So, Dad took it to the shop..... v`oila! It was fixed, stayed fixed, and.......... we got a new vehicle! We got this totally awesome Honda Pilot, that God just set in our lap! We gave the whole situation to Him, and He worked without any effort. It makes me think - maybe He was just waiting for us to let Him have it. Through those five years we have learned as a family to include God in everything we do - not just in our choice of a new vehicle. This is just one situation of many where God has answered our prayers. Maybe God's just waiting around for you to give Him a situation in your life so He can fix it. And he doesn't just want your faith in Him - He wants the whole, entire situation. Just sit back, be still, maybe even close your eyes, and let God move!

*Thanks to Mom for making sure I got all the information correct! (haha)