Unfailing Love

The Lord showed me these verses last night and I just feel the need to share them with all of you as well as words from a song I heard.

You are still Sovereign, even when the darkness surrounds me.
(from a song I heard last night)

Verses the Lord gave me:

Psalm 143:6-8

I spread out my hands to you;
my soul thirsts for you like a parched land.

Answer me quickly, O Lord; my spirit fails.
Do not hide your face from me
or I will be like those who go down to the pit.

Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love,
for I have put my trust in you.
Show me the way I should go,
for to you I lift up my soul.

BibleMap.org

I've started this new thing called "Stumbling". While doing so I've come across the following website which I think it really cool and I'm adding to my resources on my sidebar.

Bible Map

You can choose any book of the Bible and chapter and see on a map where the passage is referencing. I have always loved maps (I used to draw maps of islands I would make up as a child and I also used to love drawing floorplans of our house!)

Check it out. It would be great for research, but also is just fun to play with.

If you want to see other great sites I've stumbled across click on the My StumbleUpon Page logo/link on the sidebar.

Whatever it Takes

Last week Dineen wrote an article at Spiritually Unequal Marriage called The Most Dangerous Prayer. That same day I journaled about this. I've been feeling the Lord's prompting to share this with my blog readers.

At first I resisted (which is why it is a week later and I'm just now posting this.) I argued that this is just something too personal for me to share. Then the Lord reminded me how I am at times frustrated and lonely feeling because I think I'm going through things that others are not. We keep these "private" things hidden from the world and so many times we may be going through the same things, but thinking we are in it all alone. Yes, we have God. But He created us for fellowship with one another and tells us to bear one another's burdens.

So with that said, here is the prayer I journaled that day and the response the Lord gave me. I pray it gives someone else comfort, peace and the courage to step out in faith.

I strongly recommend you read Dineen's post first The Most Dangerous Prayer

Father,
I am falling to my knees asking what I have always been afraid to ask in the past. Asking for the one thing that matters more to me than anything else aside from You. I'm completely surrendering my husband to You, trusting in You fully to take us both through whatever lies ahead. Lord, I am asking that You do whatever it takes to bring my beloved to saving knowledge of You, to a full relationship with You as his Lord and Savior

These are the verses the Lord gave me in response to my prayer

Ephesian 3:16-19
I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you being rooted and established in love, may have power together with all the saints to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ and to know this love that surpasses knowledge - that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

Psalm 73:26
My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

When One is Enough

When One is Enough

I came across this article through another blog tonight. Even knowing how much the enemy has deceived and twisted this nation's views of life, this article still amazes me. I was horrified and have no words to describe how this makes me feel, other than it brings me to my knees to cry out for mercy from our Lord.

This article shines the light on how we as a nation have become so centered on ourselves. Please be warned this is disturbing. I hate to be so harsh, but the bottom line is this - abortion is NOT about a choice, no matter how you want to try to "logically" think it through. Abortion is the murder of innocent, defenseless babies.

This is a real article about a woman who finds out she is pregnant with triplets and decides three babies would be too inconvenient. Now I will admit, having triplets would be overwhelming, however that does NOT give us a reason to take a life.

My youngest child was not a planned pregnancy. We had two children, one girl and one boy. That was what I had always wanted, we were done having children. However, just before Austin turned one we found out we were pregnant again. Yes it was overwhelming! Yes it still is overwhelming at times! However, Jesse is a precious miracle blessing for us and we love him dearly. We can not imagine our lives without him. He is a human life, a blessing from God. Period. Only God has the right to determine when that life ends, not me. And especially not in order to make things "easier" for me.

Pro-Life Sites

As some of you may noticed, the silent cries of aborted babies has been heavy on my heart lately. This is actually something that has been on my heart for many years. As I've become a mother myself (I have three little darlings) and miscarried once, this has become an even heavier burden for me.

I've been looking into different organizations/movements lately as I feel the Lord leading me to take a more active stand. I believe we should take a stand for the Lord, however we must be careful not to be "in your face" obnoxious. That never changes anyone's minds and in the end, the only real way to end abortion is not to change the laws, but to change people's hearts. (Don't get me wrong, I want the laws to change, but realistically I know this will not end the killing of innocent lives).

Here are some sites I've come across lately that I wanted to share with each of you which I will be adding to my sidebar.

Bound4Life
This is the movement I wrote about awhile back. It is a grassroots movement that does silent sieges and is actively praying for the Lord to end abortion and change people's hearts.

Operation Outcry
This is a project "to end legal abortion by exposing the truth about its devastating impact on women and families" They are dedicated to exposing what they believe are the two largest lies regarding abortion. That it is safe for women and that it is not a baby being aborted. They are working to accomplish this through prayer and the testimonies of mothers who have been affected by these lies. This is a project of the Justice Foundation. (Thank you Carla for this link!)

A Cry Without A Voice
This site is still under construction, but you can read more about it here until the site is up and running. This is led by a women named Rebecca Porter. Mothers who have aborted their babies choose a pair of baby shoes and attach a card of commemoration. These shoes have been on display in the US, Israel and Holland. When I read this page and saw the picture of the shoes and card Rebecca did for her son, I wept. We've been told so many lies about how abortion is a choice that harms nobody. We can't even begin to imagine the extent of the damage physically, emotionally and spiritually that is caused by this "choice".

Abort73
This is a bit more "in your face" than the other sites, but I'm listing it because it has some very valuable information regarding the truth behind abortion and what it really is. Please be aware there are some very graphic images and information on this site, however I think it is information we all really need to be aware of.

If you are aware of other noteworthy sites, please let me know. I'm going to start a "Choose Life" Resources section on my blog.

Bella - Pro Life Movie

Bella is the first movie produced by Metanoia films whose mission is "to make movies that matter and have the potential to make a meaningful difference in people's lives." This film which has a powerful pro-life message has received the top prize at the "Toronto Film Festival, Peoples Choice Award.

Even with all the acclaim and the praise from critics, this movie is not being widely shown and is receiving a bashing from pro-choice individuals/groups and Planned Parenthood activists.

This movie needs our support. I'm including the official website for the movie where you can watch the trailer and see which theaters the movie is being shown. You can also find more information on how you can support the movie.

Bella - Official Movie Site

I plan to go see the movie and I'll let you know what I think afterwards. But if you get a chance to go before me, please let me know what you thought of it.

Seeds Planted

My previous post was regarding what the Lord taught me this past weekend at a Children's Conference. If you have not already read that post, please do so. This one will make more sense.

Beginning Monday morning I started getting up early in order to have a short devotional time with my daughter each morning. The original plan was to pray, spend time quietly listening for God and reading the Bible for about 15 minutes each morning. I figured we would start small and God would increase our desire. Each day has ended up being between 20 and 30 minutes.

This is teaching me to be patient because Tyler does not always respond the way I think she should. However, I am already amazed at how fast she is growing just over the past four days and her response has encouraged me. She still does not want to pray herself so I do the praying. It has been hard to back off and not try to force her to pray. But instead I've prayed and then after had her spend some time just being quiet listening for God to speak to her.

So far she has told me that God has told her that He is always with her, always watching over her and loves her more than anything in the world.

I've also found some great books that have stories from the Bible at her reading level with great illustrations. I read the scriptures from my Bible, she reads the book and then we talk about what is means. I don't just explain it to her, we talk through it together! It is amazing what she understands and seeing her perspective on things. (Visit my My Life blog for more information on the books, I'm going to do a post there on them.) So far we been going through one about stories Jesus told. This includes the one about not hiding your light, storing your treasures in heaven, and building your house (life) on the Rock of Jesus and God's Word.

However, this morning was the most encouraging. Tyler did not have school because they are doing parent/teacher conferences (she's doing great in school by the way!) So this morning I got up and figured I would do quiet time with her tonight instead of in the morning. I was going to let her sleep in. I went into the kitchen to get my coffee and heard a quiet voice behind me ask, "Mommy, aren't we going to have our quiet time today?"

That warmed my heart so much!!! And not only does she seem to be figuring it out, my days are starting out so much better. I can see a difference throughout my entire day, just because my perspective at the beginning of the day has shifted.

An example to our Children

I attended a Children's Equipping Conference this weekend. During this time the Lord spoke very clearly regarding a few different issues in my life, one of which I want to share tonight.

The conference focus was on the 6-12 year old children. My daughter is six and so I was very excited about this conference. I desparately want to see my children know the Lord, but I don't want it to be forced on them and I want it to be real. However, I went into this weekend with expectations as to how my daughter would react and interact with others. If you had asked me prior to the first night, I would have denied it, but looking back I now realize I did have them.

At one point I was actually getting angry and frustrated because instead of going up with the other children during worship, she was sitting in her seat and actually fell asleep at one point. Then all of a sudden it hit me, God spoke to me. Not in an audible voice, but it was Him nevertheless.

"Let it go, my daughter. She is in my hands and I'm drawing her to me. The seeds are being planted even if you can not see it."

This was Friday night. On Saturday the speakers addressed specifically the issue of parents letting go. But that is not all God said to me. I have a bit of a control issue that the Lord is revealing to me. I've known it for awhile now, but He is showing me how deep it runs. So in my normal fashion, I figured I knew better than Him and started to argue.

"But God, she's not even trying. She's falling asleep! How can seeds be planted when she is not even awake?"

That's when He really struck deep.

"How will she know how to seek me, if she does not see it modeled for her? Let it go and just seek me yourself. That is all I require of you. I will do the rest. Let it go."

That brought me to my knees. My responsibility as a parent is to show my children who God is in MY life. They watch us and learn more from what we do than from what we say.

Who has ultimate authority?

I've been seeing a lot of posts in the blog world and comments in the news regarding the statements made by James Dobson regarding the Rebulican candidates and his choice to possibly vote for a third party candidate. If you are not aware of this statement, you can read the transcript from Dobson's appearance on Hannity & Colmes here.

I was originally not going to get into this, but the Lord has laid it on my heart to speak up. I know many of my friends will not agree with me and I respect that. I totally understand where they are coming from and until recently I thought the same way.

I have to go out on a limb here though and say that I support James Dobson in his choice. Here is why:

Being Pro-Life is a very important issue in my life. I will be the first to agree that we can not legislate morality, only a change in the hearts of Americans will change our laws and more importantly the actions of our nation. However, I can not in good conscience support someone who is not actively pro-life.

Now I know many will say you must vote for the "lesser of two evils" because if we throw our votes to a third-party candidate we are giving the election to the worse of the two. I have always thought this way and agreed 100%.

However, the Lord has been teaching me something lately and it has come up too many times in too many situations in the past days for me to ignore any longer or for me to keep to myself.

I have made a decision to give up trying to control my life. It is all an illusion anyway. Only God can do that. Therefore, I've committed to trust Him in everything I do. If I have made a commitment to value human life, to oppose abortion - how can I then compromise and vote for someone who does not give the same value to human life?

Yes I know that means Hilary Clinton could very well win the election and I would NOT want her as the president of my country. However, by voting for someone who is not actively pro-life, am I not telling God that I don't trust Him, that I know better than he does? That I'll commit myself to something, but only if it makes sense to me. As soon as I feel things may not be going the way I think they should be going, I'll falter and do what I think is best. What do I really know compared to God?

Is my God really not big enough to ensure a third party candidate wins if that is what He chooses? And if Hilary does win, does that mean God is no longer in control? (Maybe Hilary in power is what we complacent Christians in this country need to wake us up and cause us to take a stand for our God!)

Last night in my house church we watched chapter 19 of The Gospel of John with our kids. One part of the scene really stood out to us adults and we talked to our kids about it.

Jesus has been brought before Pilate who is questioning him. Jesus is not responding so Pilate tells him "Don't you realize I have power either to free you or to crucify you?"

Jesus answered, "You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above."

(John 19:10-11)

God is in control, even when it appears that things are out of control. I have to trust that in the end, He is the one who gives the ultimate authority. I may not always understand it, but I serve a God who is all-powerful. I don't need to try to take control, I don't need to compromise in order to "help" Him. He already has it all planned out.

This is not only a matter of me learning to trust God though. I want to raise my children to know the Lord, to love Him and to trust Him. I say I trust my Lord, I talk the talk to my children. Can I walk the walk as well? They watch what we do much more than they listen to us.

So this election, I will be taking a stand a bit different than I have in the past. There are certain issues in this election I feel the Lord has told me are critically important. These are things that are so important I am not to compromise my beliefs in order to try to control what happens in the election. I am to vote based on these issues and trust God to take care of the rest.

Bound4Life

You may have noticed that I have a new link on my sidebar that looks similar to the picture above. This is for a site called Bound4Life. Bound4Life describes itself as a grassroots prayer mobilization movement. The movement is most know for:

"Silent Sieges" - these are done in front of courthouses and abortion clinics. They are not protests, they are silent prayer meetings.

When LIFE is written on a piece of red tape and placed on our mouths, we are identifying with the silent cries of the unborn and of those who have no voice. Our stand is not a protest, but a silent prayer meeting. We make our appeal to the Judge of the earth and ask Him for speedy justice to be released. It is a plea— “Oh, that God would subpoena the conscience of America!” ~Bound4Life

Life Bands and the PRAY, VOTE & OBEY covenant - The red bands with LIFE written on them remind those who have taken the covenant to pray for the end of abortion. They are making a covenant to vote only for those who are actively pro-life. They are also making a covenant to obey God in acts of compassion and justice. There is a 22 word prayer they pray and is imprinted on the red band:

“Jesus, I plead your Blood over my sins and the sins of my nation. God, end abortion and send revival to America.”

Our vision is to mobilize millions of people lifting up this prayer to God day and night for the ending of abortion. ~Bound4Life

I highly encourage anyone who feels the leading of God to take a stand against abortion to check out this site. I'll be the first to admit that I don't believe we can legislate morality. The hearts of this country must first change and then the laws will change. However in the meantime I will NOT support those things that I believe are a direct affront to my God and human life. I believe this movement may be the way to do it. They are not depending on themselves to make a statement. The strength of this movement is in prayer. Prayer for the nation, for God to change the hearts of this nation to end abortion. They are not obnoxious in your face, instead they show compassion for those who have been fed the lies of the Enemy.