It's A......
BOY!!!! My sister, Amber, is having a boy!!! I am very very excited but it doesn't even compare to the excitement that JEFF, her husband has!!!! Can you blame him? He's been in a house of girls for the last 6 years!!! :)

What Are You Into?
I say if you're not obsessing about something, you might not be into it quite enough.
-Chris Thile

I was thinking about this quote that Chris Thile, mandolin virtuoso of Nickel Creek, said, and I was thinking how this could apply to our love for our Savior! :) Just something to chew on!

Going to the Doctor and She's...
*singing to the tune of 'Going to the Chapel'...*
My sis goes to the Doctor today (she's pregnant) and she MAY be able to find out if she is having a girl or a boy (if the baby cooperates :) *praying for a boy, praying for a boy for Jeff's sake* :)

Words Cannot Express
I was listening to this song last night and it really ministered to me.

Listen To Our Hearts
(written by: Geoff Moore, Steven Curtis Chapman)

How do you explain, how do you describe
A love that goes from the east to west
And runs as deep as it is ride
You know all our hopes
Lord, you know all our fears
And words cannot express the love we feel
But we long for You to hear

So listen to our hearts
Here our spirit sing
A song of praise that flows
From those you have redeemed
We will use the words we know
To tell you what an awesome God You are
But words are not enough
To tell you of our love
So listen to our hearts

If words could fall like rain
From these lips of mine
And if I had a thousand years
I would still run out of time
So if You'll listen to my heart
Every beat will say
Thank You for the life, Thank You for the truth,
Thank You for the way

PRAISE GOD!!!
I got my backpack in the mail yesterday from Roundtop Ski Resort in PA (where I left it on Saturday night) with all my valuables still in place ... keys, wallet, cell phone, knitting needles... LOL! What a relief!!!!

Saved by Grace, Live by Grace
I was reading in Galatians 3 this morning. Verse 3 says

Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?

In light of yesterday's post, I feel like God is really emphasizing the IMPORTANCE of reliance on the Holy Spirit to make me holy. I remember we went through this in True Life a while back, and at the time I wrote the following after reading Galatians 3:3.

Are we so foolish
To think that we can receive
Righteousness on our own
Living as if
The work HE accomplished
Was not already done

Save by grace
Live by grace
Saved by grace
Live by grace

Depending On the Holy Spirit
Just some thoughts from some reading today...

You depend on the Holy Spirit because you simply can't overcome your sinfulness on your own. You need the strength of the Holy Spirit. You can express your dependence on the Holy Spirit for a holy life in two ways:
1. Through a humble and consistent intake of Scripture
2. By praying for holiness.
By Jerry Bridges in The Chase

As I have mentioned before, my 7th graders and I are reading through The Chase by Jerry Bridges in the mornings before we start Algebra class. Each morning the Lord challenges me with a new truth. Today was particularly challenging b/c both are areas that I can tend to 'let go' in my time with the Lord. I forget the importance they hold in trying to live a life that is holy and blameless before God. Yet, when I was thinking about it today, I was thinking, HOW prideful that is of me to think that I COULD do it on my own. It was a convicting thought, and one that challenges me to press on.

I think that at times when we fail in these two areas time and time again, we can get discouraged and let the unfaithfulness define who we are. (displaying self-condemnation in our attitudes and thoughts such as, 'I'm just an unfaithful believer. God is disappointed in me.') That discouragement can lead to spiritual depression, that can cause a desire to quit the race and give up the fight. This is the enemy speaking lies, and us believing them. But the truth is we are covered by the grace that JESUS CHRIST made accessable to us! Jesus has covered our unfaithfulness, AND our past unfaithfulness does NOT have to define our present or future actions! God's grace leads us to repentance and obedience! God is GOOD! Let us press into HIS good, holy, precious, loving character by knowing Him more through His Word, and asking the Spirit to make us holy!

The Joy of the Lord
The Lord encouraged me with these Words yesterday and this morning, and we sang this song in chapel this morning. It was exactly the words I needed to be in my mouth and heart!

I WIll Enter His Gates
I will enter his gates with thanksgiving in my heart
I will enter his courts with praise
I will say this is the day that the Lord hath made
I will rejoice for HE HATH MADE ME GLAD

He hath made me glad
He hath made me glad
I will rejoice for He hath made me glad!

Psalm 77
1 In thee, oh Lord, do i put my trust: let me never be put to confusion.
3a Be though my strong habitation, whereunto i may continually resort:
5a For thou art my hope
6b My praise shall be continually of thee
8 Let my mouth be filled with thy praise and with thy honour all the days
9b Forsake me not when my strength faileth

Psalm 77:11-13
I will remember the works of the Lord: surely I will remember thy wonders of old. I will meditate also of all thy works, and talk of thy doings. thy way, oh God is in the sactuary: who is so great a God as our God?