Use me God!

Well, I am very excited. The count down begins. Only about 4 hours till I see my hubby! I am excited. It hasn't been too hard to be without him, but at times I really felt it. Night time was worst. I was up till 2 each night just because I couldn't sleep. I am accustomed to him being next to me and when that person isn't by your side sleeping, snoring, occasionally moving ... you notice! lol. But I have to say... I am so happy he was able to go. He really was blessed and so were the people there. He is just ready to go! I am excited because I really felt God showing me and preparing me that this is coming soon! Our hearts desire is to serve and live for God! Our hearts desire is to be used by God! Our hearts desire is to see people come to know God. Our desire is to see people experience the Holy Spirit in a new way! Our hearts desire is to help people! I really felt God impress on me that it is here! My husband mentioned that we need to start praying about financing and about how we can do this full time, well... I have already been praying about that because I really felt it and knew that this trip would really open the door to serving God in this way. Our calling is different and we know that God wants to use the things that we went through to help and teach others, to encourage others and to just love on people! I wasn't on that trip this time, but I was praying and lifting it up in prayer and in Spirit I was there. I had a connection with this trip through the spirit. I know that God is using us in a new way. A way that we knew God wanted to use us in, but didn't know back then how it would come about. Well, It is here and I know that God is moving and wants to move among His people and to draw people to Himself. We are excited and ready to be used by God!
A song came on and the words say "I want to serve you my God , i want to give you everything!" Perfect timing for my post. That is my desire.
Here are the lyrics for that song by Shawn McDonald.
OPEN ME
Would You open up my eyes, so I can see
Would You open up my ears, so I can hear
Would You open up my mind, so I can know
Would You open up my heart, so I could love You more

I want to serve You, my God
I want to give You everything
I want to serve You, my King, yeah
I want to serve You, my Lord
I want to give You everything, yeah

Here I am with my arms open wide
Asking for You to come up, up inside
Won't You make me new, won't You make me true
Jesus, won't You make me like You, oh

Will You touch my eyes so I can see
Will You touch my ears so I can hear
Will You touch my mind so I can know
Will You touch my heart so I can love You more

Won't You open me
Won't You open me, open me
Won't You open me, open me
Won't You open me, open me
Won't You open me, open me
Make this your prayer today. Let God open your heart to what HE has for you. Give your all to Him. Give your life entirely to HIM. You will never regret it! God has an amazing plan for you and your life! Let Him guide you and you will see amazing things happen. Let Him lead you and guide you!

MIA....again....

I have been MIA. I know and I am sorry. :( I have been really busy with the kids. As you all know because I mentioned it before, The hubby went on a preaching trip to two different countries. It has been a really good trip for him. He first went to Venezuela and preached at a national youth conference. It went really well and God moved in an awesome way. The hubby said that people were crying and really getting in touch with the presence of God. God used him, and he obeyed what God told him and people were blessed. Now he is in Colombia and finishing a pastors conference there. At both events he spoke a few times. It is awesome how God chooses to use people to reach other people.
he is really excited for the day where he will be doing this full time. We both know that God has a great plan for our lives. God has a great plan for everyone's life, we just have to be willing to step out and follow God and HIS plan for our lives.
So I have been just super busy with the kids with daddy gone. They have been pretty good, but they do get a bit testy every so often. Today I spend the day reorganizing our home and changing rooms up and CLEANING!!!
So i have to get done with my cleaning. The hubby comes home tomorrow night. I am excited to see him and hug him! I have missed him, but I am so excited that he was able to go on this trip. I am really excited for what God is going to do and start doing!!!
So i will write more later. night all. for now. I will update later after I have talked to the hubby and heard how everything went.

Happy Birthday baby!

Two years ago... It was two years ago that our last little one was born. I had no idea that I needed her as much as I did. I was happy to have another girl. 4 Boys and 2 Girls was the final count. Zoe made Mira a big sister and all the boys had another sister to gush over. We decided to name our second and last little girl Zoe Faith which meant to us: life of faith. She was the beautiful end to our family. She being the blonde curly haired little girl, and such a sweet little baby. She has and always brings so much joy to people! She always did that for me as well. She was the final baby and I treated her as that. lol. She is my baby and will always be my baby. The youngest of 6, everyone has always gushed over her. Her life has brought joy in some hard and difficult times. She will never know the impact her life made on me and my life. Her life pushed me through life in faith at some of the hardest times. She was born into our family at a hard time, but she was the life that brought joy at the hard times. I love all my kids, and each one holds a special place in my heart. Zoe's life is the same. She holds a special place in our hearts. Someday I will share the entire story, but till then..... Happy birthday to my baby, who isn't a baby any more! Love you Zoe Faith. I pray that your life will be full of faith in God, and faith in the impossible that He can do!

Sowing and reaping.

Galatians 6:7-9  "Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up."

Sowing and reaping. Some do not hold to this principle which is talked about in the Bible. The Bible seems clear to me, especially after reading a verse like this in the Word of God. There are a few places the Bible talks about sowing and reaping. It is a farming principle which God uses to convey a Spiritual truth. The Bible talks about when you plant your seeds into soil that you expect to get a harvest from those seeds planted. That is what sowing and reaping is. It has Spiritual significance in our lives. The verse above shows this at work in our lives. The first part says that "a man reaps what he sows". This is so true. If you plant watermelon plants you are not going to expect to get tomatoes from it. Are you? It is true in our lives if we plant spiritual things into our lives by praying and reading the word and spending time with God, you are going to get some good and positive things in your life. You will be closer to God and you will walk in faith more and trust God more, etc. If we sow what the things of our sinful nature, the word says we will reap destruction. But if we sow to please the Spirit from the Spirit we will reap eternal life. I always say that the things in this natural life do not last, it is only what you do for God and the eternal that will last eternally. If we are more concerned with this natural and the sinful nature and that is the only thing that we work and live for, we will have nothing to show eternally and it might just destroy us. In turn, if we are living for the eternal and living for the Spirit we will reap a harvest eternally.
This portion ends by basically saying DONT GIVE UP!! Do not become weary or tired of doing good and at times it seems like we do get weary and tired of trying to do good and work for the eternal purpose. In time we will see the harvest from what we have planted! No matter what we plant we will see a harvest, but what do you desire to see a harvest in? The eternal Spirit filled things or the natural/sinful nature. I know that for me I want to see an amazing glorious harvest. One that is filled with the eternal Spiritual things. I desire the Spiritual more than the natural!

I haven't been around this weekend. It was a busy but good weekend. It was really neat actually. As a minister there are things that you can do that some others cant. One of those things is being able to officiate weddings. Through Facebook, i saw a friend from high school ask if anyone knew of someone who could officiate her wedding. I told her my husband can. After that she contacted me and asked if he would be available, and it worked out great because it was right before the ministry trip coming up so he was available. Well this weekend was the wedding. It was really neat being there and being apart of their day. I love weddings and just the picture it represents to me and to other Christians. It is a covenant to stay together through the good and bad, through the hard and easy, through it all. But it is also more than that. It is a picture of the relationship between Christ and the church and how it should be.. It is a picture of unending love, and faithfulness. In our human mind it can be hard to really understand since we are imperfect being and we have a tendency to lie, or cheat or be more interested in our own selfishness, than to be concerned with being selfless.... God's love shows a selfless love.
Through the ten years of being married we have definitely learned a lot. I am pretty certain that going into I had no idea what marriage truly was, and that I really had this fairy tale dream about it like most do. Well, when that fairy tale ends and your facing the storms that hit, you better know that there is more to marriage than the lovey dovey feelings... You vowed to God that through the good and bad you wont give up. It is a SACRED covenant. Most people don't see marriage as that and when life hits they want to run, but my husband and I remembered that covenant through the hard and decided not to give up. Now, we are stronger than ever and we now truly know what marriage is all about. It is about not giving up on each other, it is about showing Gods love even when you don't feel like it, it is about showing the world a different kind of relationship where God's interests are greater than our own. It is also about showing Gods love through our relationship. I have learned a lot and know that through it, God take what we learned and have us help others who are in that same spot as us or to help those so they wont go through some of the things we have. I am excited to see what God has for me and my husband. God has done an amazing work in us and in our marriage. I am so blessed to have him! He is an amazing man of God and I know that we are just starting to see what God's plans are. We are not perfect, but God uses those imperfection in us and turns them around for His glory and to win people to Himself. This year is 10 years of marriage for me and my hubby and we look forward to many more amazing years together serving the God who saved us and gave His life to us! We are excited to be able to serve Him with all that we are and give our lives back to Him! Our relationship and marriage is nothing without God in the middle. My advice is this: Keep God first in every area of your life ESPECIALLY your marriage!!! Get a firm foundation in Christ first and keep your focus on Him!!! When we focus on God all other areas line up to Gods plan and will! It is when we take our eyes off of Him and His will that we start to fall and get off track in other areas.

Pray!

I am writing today because this morning I have been in prayer for a few different people and situations.
  I have to say that I have not always been so diligent in my prayer life. I have had times where it was little and far between. I have to admit something... it isn't something that I am happy with my self about at all. I  have been one to use a phrase and not follow through. I think many have done this and been guilty of it too. The saying "I'll pray" or "I'll be praying for you" is used so often and becomes a Christian slogan almost. I used to say it all the time, but when it came down to it... I didn't. I feel bad for being guilty of that, especially when in ministry, but if you don't learn and change, that is the bigger offense. Since then I have learned the power of praying. I have learned that when we pray God hears, listens and moves on our behalf. I know this because I have seen God work and move when people pray! Prayer is a vital part of our relationship with God. He wants us to communicate with Him. He wants us to take time out of our day to talk to Him, let us know what's on our hearts, and give it up to Him! It says in Matthew 11: 28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."  How do we go to Him? How do we give Him our burdens? By praying and letting Him know. He wants us to give our cares and worries and concerns to Him! We just have to pray and give it to Him and then have faith that He will see it through!!! Prayer and faith together is a powerful combination!!!
Now when I say "I'll be praying", I stop and take the time to pray. I know first hand what praying can do! I have seen God move in mighty ways and I know that prayer is my connection and communication to the almighty God!! Take time today and pray for those things that people have asked you to pray for, or those situations that you said "I'll be praying" and actually do it! It will make a difference in their life and your life!!!

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. Philippians 4:6

Keep speaking!

Acts 18:9  "One night the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision: “Do not be afraid; keep on speaking, do not be silent."

This verse encouraged me today. I read it and I knew that it was God speaking to me. I am a mom of 6 kids and get very busy with the little ones. My husband has been more active in the area that God has led us into, and I do what is asked of me for now. I know that God has a plan and a timing for everything. I know that God has given me a voice and wants me to use it, it just has been on hold it seems like. Someone recently prophesied over me and I was taken back. It was God speaking through Him and I know it. He said that I have been feeling like everything has been put on hold and like I don't have a voice, but he said that "you will speak again, get ready!" That encouraged me more than anything. I know what God has called me to do, but at times things get in the way and put it on hold and sometimes people discourage it because of what we "are supposed to do" in their eyes... Well, if God has given you a vision and plan for your life, don't get rid of it! God will use you and you will speak again! As as mom and ministry woman it can seem like a lot on our plates! but stay in tune with God and He will lead you to where He needs you to be! The call of God cannot and will not be revoked! He doesn't take back His call, just stay in tune with Him and He will lead you where you need to go. Don't be afraid and obey when He calls! Keep speaking and don't be silent. God has given you a voice for a reason and He will use it in His time. Be encouraged. God's call is there even when life seems to busy to be used in the way He called. HE will make the way!!!!