Four Questions: Hope verses Faith

How is hope different than faith?
 
What does it mean to have put our hope in Jesus? 


What are we hoping for if we already have salvation?

Doesn't the bible say that hope does not disappoint us? 


I was going to go all theological in order to answer these questions precise, to the point and absolute.  I got out my bible dictionary, my Where To Find It In The Bible book, different versions of the bible, and of course the lap top with unlimited resources at my finger tips. I studied for a few hours and well, mostly I got a bunch of facts and statements that were void of emotion. How can I even begin to answer these questions in such a way that leaves my hearts cry and personal experiences out of it. Then again there are some very specific facts that are important. So here goes my shot at it. 


Think of your self as a car, the shell of the car, Faith is your engine, Hope is your gas and hopefully Jesus is who is driving you. 


Bad analogy of who you are personally, but as far as what the difference between faith and hope is, it works. Faith and hope work together like inhaling and exhaling. Hebrews 11 says it this way "Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about the things we cannot see. By faith we understand that the entire universe was formed at God's command, that what we see did not come from anything that can be seen."


Hope is often a verb. Faith, according to the dictionary, is commonly a noun.
Hope drives us forward, keeps us going.
Faith holds us stead fast and keeps us securely on the right path.


Faith:  Belief in God,  belief or trust: belief in, devotion to, or trust in somebody or something, especially without logical proof.


Hope: Trust, to desire especially with expectation of getting what you want.

The difference between hope and faith is that our Belief in God never disappoints us. Our hope in specific out comes, we desire God to work out, often can leave us disappointed. We are after all his children and often do not know what is best for us. But there are other factors to weigh in to the out-come of events and circumstances. The will of God is perfect and wonderful. But everyone living in this world has free choice. The ability to live in and out of the will of God. For example a drunk driver runs over a small child. That was not God's will for someone to get drunk and murder an innocent child. "NO!"  But God does promise us that ALL things are made for the good of those who love him. So when we place our hope in God, even after catastrophic events, He is faithful and will stand by us, loving us through hard times, give us strength, and use that child's death for the good. I do believe this is why we have Mothers Against Drunk Driving Associations.

^{Proverbs 13:12} Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a dream fulfilled is a tree of life. 

Psalm 119:116
Lord, sustain me as you promised, that I may live! Do not let my hope be crushed. 

The Lord fearfully and wonderfully made each one of us with hopes, dreams. He does not wish to crush those things he created in us to reach for.  Our hope is like our dreams large and small. We hope that tomorrow will come, that it will be even better than today. We hope for the desires of our heart to be fulfilled, whether that be to find a husband, or to run a mile, or to sing the national anthem at a baseball game. Our faith tells us we are adored by God. Our faith assures us he is with us and wants to be involved with our lives. Our faith reminds us to listen to that still small voice that guides us and directs us. Our faith believes the words of the bible are true. Our hope takes the steps necessary for our faith to be active. In James it reads that faith with out works is dead. It could have very well said that faith with out hope is dead. We need our hope in the Lord!  We need to know His ways are better than ours. That he will bring to pass our dreams come true. YES we have Salvation. But oh, we have so much more than that. We have a best friend to lead us and guide us and walk with us through adventures of a life time... our life time!

I have hope that one day my arthritis will no longer hinder me. I have hope my children will come to love the Lord as much as I do or even more!  I hope to ride a motor bike on a country road and feel the wind whip my hair as I speed...yes past the speed limit. I hope to be an author of a book that changes peoples lives. Some of my hopes have already come true. I had faith and hope that God would hear my prayers for my dad  during open heart surgery.... he lives. I hoped one day to be a teacher of children. I taught at a public school. I am blessed to be able to homeschool my kids. I continue to teach kids at church as well. I hoped to one day have close friends I could call dear to me. I have several. I dreamed one day to run a race and beat the asthma that tries to stop me. I have run several now. 

 Romans 11:33-35  Oh, how great are God’s riches and wisdom and knowledge! How impossible it is for us to understand his decisions and his ways! For who can know the Lord’s thoughts? Who knows enough to give him advice? And who has given him so much that he needs to pay it back?

So this is what we do: 

Lamentations 3:24-26  I say to myself, "The LORD is my portion; therefore I will wait for him." The LORD is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD. 

Psalm 33:20   We wait in hope for the LORD; he is our help and our shield. 

Psalm 33:22  May your unfailing love rest upon us, O LORD, even as we put our hope in you.

Psalm 130:5   I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in his word I put my hope.
Micah 7:7
But as for me, I watch in hope for the LORD, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me.
1 Thessalonians 1:3
We continually remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.

 This is what we are promised by putting our hope in the Lord:

Psalm 147:10-12      His pleasure is not in the strength of the horse,  nor his delight in the legs of a man; the LORD delights in those who fear him, who put their hope in his unfailing love. 

Isaiah 40:31
but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. 

Jeremiah 29:11
For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

 

"Three grand essentials to happiness in this life are: something to do, something to love, and something to hope for." - Joseph Addison

What can I DO? Nothing it has already been done!

 

Mark 10:17-22

The Rich Young Man

 As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. "Good teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?"  "Why do you call me good?" Jesus answered. "No one is good—except God alone. You know the commandments: 'Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, do not defraud, honor your father and mother.""Teacher," he declared, "all these I have kept since I was a boy." Jesus looked at him and loved him. "One thing you lack," he said. "Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me."  At this the man's face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth. 

This young man did not see his need for Jesus. He thought he had what it took to earn his way to heaven. When Christ set the bar too high for him to reach he went away realizing he did not have what it took to earn his way to heaven. He still did not realize his need for a savior. 

Mark 10:46-52

Blind Bartimaeus Receives His Sight

Then they came to Jericho. As Jesus and his disciples, together with a large crowd, were leaving the city, a blind man, Bartimaeus (that is, the Son of Timaeus), was sitting by the roadside begging. When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!" Many rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, "Son of David, have mercy on me!" Jesus stopped and said, "Call him." So they called to the blind man, "Cheer up! On your feet! He's calling you." Throwing his cloak aside, he jumped to his feet and came to Jesus." What do you want me to do for you?" Jesus asked him.  The blind man said, "Rabbi, I want to see." "Go," said Jesus, "your faith has healed you." Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road.

The blind man knew of his need of a Savior! The blind man knew there was nothing he could do to earn his sight. He knew he had to rely on his savior's mercy.  

Lord God bring me away from the businessman mentality, and back to the beggar's. May I remember, when seeking you, I have nothing valuable to barter with. There is nothing I can do for you or give to you as payment for you hearing my cries for help.  Lord when I come to you empty handed I can acknowledge how profound your mercy, how mighty your love, how complete your joy is for me; How free you have died for me to be!

Zephaniah 3:17 He will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing!

Quote from the book HE LOVES ME by Wayne Jacobsen  

"When you are tempted to stake your relationship with God on your own goodness or your sacrifice, don't even try. Picture the bar so high that you'll never find a way to clear it. Approach God on the basis of your own efforts, and you will always go away disappointed and disillusioned. But that is not bad news. What it means is that God has fulfilled in himself everything he would ever require of us. Abandoning our own attempts to establish our own worthiness is central to the power of the gospel. Learn that, and a door stands before you to the very heart of a loving Father. 

Matthew 9:13 "I desire mercy, not sacrifice.  For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners!"

 

Be Bold! You Carry the Inheritance of the Lord!

What does it mean to carry God's inheritance?
The Lord's Inheritance... Something we have inherited? Or something God inherits from us?

Psalm 37:18
The LORD knows the days of the upright, And their inheritance shall be forever.
Psalm 33:12
Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, The people He has chosen as His own inheritance.

BOTH are true! Have I got your attention? There is treasure to be unburied! Shovels ready... Lets Dig!

What is an inheritance? : the reception of qualities by transmission from parent to offspring ,the acquisition of a possession, condition, or trait from past generations, a valuable possession.

A Word Picture: A man with a dream invests his time and interest in learning all there is to know in order to full fill his dream. Over the years he is blessed with a family. As God allows he continues to pursue his dream, investing his time and money. His dream comes true for him because of his investments he has made, giving of himself to pursue his dream...This dream could be to become an engineer, or simply to be the best father to his kids, or to serve God with all his Heart. At any rate, he has something to pass down to his kids. His kids have an inheritance, whether that is money or the qualities he has passed down such as honesty, how to love unconditionally, a sailboat and the skill of knowing how to sail...etc. My point: in order to inherit something someone had to have made an investment.

Investment: Something paid for in advance in order to reap from at a later time, such as property with potential purchased for a price.

What has God invested:
Philippians 2:6-8
Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death— even death on a cross!
^{1 Peter 2:24} He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed.

What is God investing: According to the bible and my own life's journey he invests daily his time, wisdom, power, grace, mercy, love, kindness, joy, patience, goodness, holiness, strength, truth, knowledge, and Himself. Can anyone say they have ever given more to invest? NO!

Is His investment in me worth it?
John 15:¹³-14 "Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends..."
Deuteronomy 31:6
Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.

John 15:11 I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.

Apparently He knows we are worth it. His love, words, and deeds prove it!

The inheritance he has passed down to us is such a precious gift! The gift of eternity and so much more!

What is God's inheritance?
<sup>We are his inheritance, but not just you and I.

John 3:16-17</sup> "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him."
Exodus 34:9
"Lord," he said, "if I have found favor in your eyes, then let the Lord go with us. Although this is a stiff-necked people, forgive our wickedness and our sin, and take us as your inheritance."

^{Galatians 3: 26} For you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus.

Is this something I chose or did he choose me? Both

Isaiah 43:10
"You are my witnesses," declares the LORD, "and my servant whom I have chosen, so that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he. before me no god was formed, nor will there be one after me.

1 Peter 2:9-10 "...you are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light.Once you had no identity as a people; now you are God’s people.

Yes! He chose us... But we also choose to accept his invitation to be his children. We choose to pick up our cross daily by remembering whose we are and what we are. We are HIS, We are Forgiven, Free and dearly loved. We live to be faithful daughters and sons; we serve our father the King.

Luke 9:23-24 “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross daily, and follow me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it. "
Lets go back to John 15:9-17 and review some clips: "Remain in my love. When you obey my commandments, you remain in my love. I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow! This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you. There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. You didn’t (first) choose me. I chose you.
This is my command: Love each other."

After reading all these scriptures I bet you can guess what we are to be investing toward God's inheritance.

^{Matthew 28:19} Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Galatians 5:22 The Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

Matthew 5:13
"You are the salt of the earth. "

Matthew 5:14
"You are the light of the world."

John 15:
This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you.

Can I succeed and not "drop the ball?"
^{Philippians 4:13} For I can do everything through Christ,who gives me strength.
Romans 8:28
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

Luke 1:37
"For nothing is impossible with GOD."

Life's Recipes

I made a cake from scratch. The day I made it God spoke to me through the process. He showed me that my life needs to be lived like a recipe. When I live it each day right, at the end of the day, as I lay my head on my pillow, I should feel good about the day lived out. It should taste sweet or yummy, be filling, satisfying, and complete, with no main ingredients left out.

So Now I am asking God for the recipe, my recipe. I want to live each day on purpose, embracing each moment and be satisfied with each of the precious days he has given me.

"This is the day the Lord has made let us rejoice and be glad in it."

At first I thought..."OK...I can do this...learn a recipe... memorize it and boddabing...fine living!" Then the duh... factor set in. The: nothing is that easy, came into play. 'Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.' It is a fact that every day's recipe for my life will not, nor should it be, a cake recipe.

My life is a cookbook of recipes. Some of them have gone very wrong. Those batches of cookies, burnt and smelly get trashed, not stored as left overs to rehash on later days. No, rather they are days taken to the cross to be erased and forgiven. Some recipes are tangy with a dash of sweet. Some are days packed with the truth of God....salty, sour, yet some how so good, like a nice yummy dill pickle or a snack of lemons and salt. No sarcasm intended...I really do love both those things...mmm:) Some days are sooo very sweet, like a Chocolate Bavarian Cream pie or an all you can eat do-nut parade. These would be those kodak, precious moments with my kids and my hubby, or days spent with family and friends when just spending time together is the only agenda.

My Point in all this; What is my agenda? What is each days recipe to follow precisely? Imagine a chef in his kitchen, hard at work and play, as he designs with a purpose, with a pinch of this, a smidgen of that, and a few hand fulls of sweetener.... boddabing a master piece (or peace) is born.
This is how I want my days lived.

So how? Where do I begin? By realizing first and foremost that I am not the chef. By following the directions the Master Chef has written for me to know. I follow his lead and tune in my minds radio station on to his voice each morning, afternoon, all day long. Listening and following his directions is what will give each of my days a happy ending.

When I lay my head down on my pillow; on the lap of my Lord each night I want to be comfortable there. I don't want to be squirming like a restless child, nor do I want to be ashamed of the mess I made in his kitchen again. I don't want all those shoulda, coulda, but didn'ts, to haunt my minds peace. So, no matter what, knowing my hands are not his hands, and my ways are flawed no matter how hard I try, I end my day at the cross. I lay it down and no matter how my recipe turned out that day, each day My Lord, and Yours, He loves us. He loves us when we are bitter, sweet and sour, even burnt and smelly. He holds me and assures me he has a new recipe for me tomorrow. A new day to start fresh and clean. With a clean kitchen and fresh new ingredients to work with:) He has a new day for me to live tomorrow. And he has a new one for you too dear friend!

Lamentations 3:22-24

²² Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed,
for his compassions never fail.

²³ They are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.

²⁴ I say to myself, "The LORD is my portion;
therefore I will wait for him."

Ephesians 2:8-10
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

Random Thoughts, Food for thought, A tid bit of wisdom

If you enter the rat race, even if you win you are still a Rat!
Live life on purpose, choosing not to give into winning the race of life no matter what it cost. Cause it'll cost ya! Finishing the race with integrity intact, is better than forcing our way into a winners circle undeserved.

Christ said the first will be last and the last will be first in the Kingdom of heaven.

He also said all have sinned and fallen short.. the only way to winning is to admit we do not have what it takes to win and accept HIM as our LORD and Savior!


Ok so after we got him we can still lead others to him and feel like winners.... right?


We do not lead people to Christ. He calls them unto himself.

We are living breathing letters, living breathing representatives read by all men seeking to know who Jesus is!

We are in other words living breathing proofs of failure to be perfects. We are proof that all need a savior. And we gladly point the way to the one with it all figured out, the one who has all life's answers. And we wouldn't think of taking credit or pat ourselves on the back cause it is not us who deserves praise but him who is ALL glorious, wonderful, loving, the Great almighty ALL in ALL, Christ Jesus!

2 Corinthians 3:2-3 (New International Version)

You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, know and read by everybody. You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.

1 Peter 3:15 (New International Version)

¹⁵But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect,

Even if we claim Jesus as our Savior it is easy not to let him be Lord of our Life.

Transformation occurs when we see God moving and join Him there.

Functional Atheism

Mark 8:34
Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.

Aligning our inner most being with God is not easy. Our words, our desires, our spontaneous reactions to situations, simply put, will collide with God's will and His ways. We, in our pursuit of him, following after him deliberately, are going to fall short. As Christians we must face our "Functional Atheism." What we say and what we believe often clash. Darkness seeps out and the light of faith remains hidden inside. We are meant to shine in this world needing HIM.

We believe God is in control. He works all things for the good of those who love him. So even in hard times we can praise him. Through every thing in our life we have hope because of him who is in us. We can do all things through Christ whom gives us strength. We, by his grace, can have strength to get through the hardest times, and through him we know neither heaven nor earth angels nor demons, nor any thing else can come between us and the love the Lord God has for each of us. We know, we know he always comes through for us.

Yet thoughts in our head come out our mouth in the form of functional atheism. "If that happens I will be soo mad." " If this happens I do not know what I will do!" "I will just roll over and die if that happens to me." " I don't know why people have to put High fructose corn syrup in everything... and Lactose... they say it has no milk then they slip in Lactose and my son gets sick.....oooooh I could just punch some one.... it makes me so mad!" "Health insurance is so expensive I just know soon I won't be able to afford it, I don't know what's to be done." "OH NO, I was around so and so and they were sick I am bound to be sick too."

We speak words of such anger, utter hopelessness. Why? Do we not truly believe God is with us always through thick and thin. Do we not trust in him with all our heart? We could speak words of encouragement, thinking on things above as it is written. We could be speaking life, instead we let slip out darkness and lost hope. I know that know no matter what, God is with me, and he will get me through the toughest times. I should be praising him for his faithfulness. I could be saying " God is faithful and I know no matter what I face he will get me through it."

So I take up my cross. I fall on my knees at it's heaviness and ask for forgiveness for the words that have slipped out of my mouth causing doubt instead of faith to be built up in the people I know and love. I acknowledge my inability to live with out the cross I hold, carried and died upon by my Jesus for me. I thank him and accept his forgiveness and feel the heaviness lift from my shoulders. He after all conquered, paid for, my sin which the cross represents. I stand and lift my head and see His love...so deeply for me. He sees me not with human eyes but with eyes of fire. He knows everything I will do and everything I will accomplish. He knows the mistakes I have made and the ones I have yet to make. He knows my faults and chooses to love me anyway. He sees things in me I could never even fully comprehend let alone understand.

There is something in each of us planted by God. Our value, he grows to it's full potential every time we let him. Everytime we fall on our knees and acknowledge we do not have it all figured out and we need him, Every time we look to him and ask for his help, every time we do not do things by sight but rather by faith in Him... we grow and who we are in Him grows. We are not more loved by him than before. We are not more valuable than before. But we are closer to him and begin to live out being-loved by Him. We move beyond the oppressive demands we impose on our selves, beyond the idealistic claims of the ego that tells us who we should be, must be, ought to be. As we draw close to our father we embrace his unmerited, unconditional love for us and live victoriously in it. Victory not from never failing, but rather from learning we can keep on keeping on, hope is to be had in every circumstance, love lives on after death, no matter what, He is who He is, and keeps His promises. He will bring to completion what he has begun in each of us. He will grow us to our full potential and not give up when to most, all seems lost.

I choose to live my life outwardly more hopeful. I shall rely on his words and bring my own thoughts captive before they spontaneously slip out as darkness instead of light. I choose to each day draw closer to my Father whom loved me so much he sent his son to die for me. I pick up my cross and follow Him. I will rely on his wisdom, his Spirit to guide the words I let flow from my lips. I will rely on his Love for me in order to teach me how to let my hands actively love others, helping, instead of hanging at my side idle.

In my modified words of Martin Luther King JR.
"If I can not drive may I run, If I can not run, may I walk, If I can not walk, may I crawl, if I can not crawl, may I no matter what , make sure I keep moving forward." May I keep on keeping on, letting Jesus do his work in me and through me!

Philippians 4:4-9 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.

A Night at the Laundromat

Washing machines are my view, empty ones all in a row. I imagine them swishing and swashing, swirls of colors or whites. No label reading , size comparing; just clothes doing what all clothes end up doing. They get thrown in with a crowd to be washed all together in no particular favorite ranking order. Kinda degrading thinking of it in that way...

You might be wondering my circumstance. Am I sitting, stranded, car broken down, with out two quarters or a cell phone? No. I chose this place. I drove past the Starbucks, and all the other local cafe's. I drove my car into the Laundry Land's parking lot and deemed this place perfect. The place I was in fact looking for now found. No, I do not have laundry anyone can see to wash and dry and fold neatly into a tiny round basket. No, I am not looking to hook up with anyone. I am, in fact, here to practice my invisibility ability. You see while I might not have physical dirty jeans to be dry cleaned (Who does that) I do, however, have a heavy duty sized load of mental laundry to sort out.

I thought of going to a church and sitting in a pew hoping no one...the janitor, stray pastor, or prayer warrior would notice me practicing my not so super invisibility power. Nothing against those people, I just need The BIG DADDY of us all to help me with my Laundry and no one else will do. I was about to give up my search for a perfect place when "ting" God showed me this place. The local laundromat is my answered prayer. Open till 10pm, you don't have to wait to be seated or feel like you have to order to stay seated. No latte to drink, after hours that coffee should be indulged, to temp me. Here I sit, Me, My Pencil, My Pad, My Bible all ready to clean my dirty laundry. Where to begin? What category to start sorting out first.
"God do your best...Have at me."

I begin with Sins Needing to Be Forgiven: Lord I snapped at my kids more than once today, in fact more than ten times... My patience grows thin and instead of rely on your strength and love I have said things both out loud and in my mind that have hurt the ones I love. I don't understand things, situations, instead of seeking truth, I made assumptions, wrong assumptions that caused discord instead of peace in my marriage as well as other relationships.

My Worries: my kids, my husband, my family, my friends, their health, their education, their spiritual everyday Joy, their salvation, their financial security, their marriages, and mine.

My to do list: Time. Time with you God. Time with my family, and friends. More time to teach my kids. Time to full fill my homemaking to do lists. Time=love=Time well spent. So God give me time for what matters most and help make what does not matter not seem so important so it won't keep taking up so much of my time.

Lord forgive me my faults. Wash me clean. Help me start new again each day. Lord fill in where I am lacking. Make me a better mom than I am. Create in me a pure heart, stand in my gaps and grow in me the ability to be the wife my husband needs, the daughter and sister I am meant to be. Teach me dear Best Friend, how to be a friend to others in genuine ways. May you build my love for others on your solid rock. That those who call me friend may see you and know you more through me.

I praise you God for All you have done. I PRAISE YOU GOD! You took me from feeling like a Zero to now knowing, because of you I can be a Hero. I don't need a cape, or the ability to fly, or even the ability to sing so high glass shatters. All I need is you and your love to share with the world.

Thanks be to God my King my everything! Amen

In the words of Max Lucado
"God does not want our heads to keep HIS love from our hearts!"
So in the words of ...me, "Therefore we should do our mental laundry daily and not let it stack up and keep us from the one we need the most!"

Lord I lay it all down so that the one (that being you God) that over came the world can over come mine as well!

To all who read this, Good night, Sleep tight don't let the bed bugs bite or smelly mental laundry ruin a good nights sleep :)