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Are you full of hope.  Full of the Word.  Full of wonder.  Full of questions? 

One time a friend told me, "I never question God, I just figure he knows best."  Well, God made me full of questions and it includes asking him a few.

As I started reading through the bible this year I have loved reading through Genesis and the study I am using starts in Luke.  As I read, I have had so many questions about Adam, Noah and Abraham.  The word is so alive as I read it and wonder what God was up to....and what his plan is for me. 

Also, I am reading through Luke, when Jesus started his ministry when he was 30.  How he called the 12 disciples.

So here are some of the questions I am full of right now.....

• Did Jesus know his ministry would start at age 30?
• Did Jesus know he would die three years later?
• Did Jesus know how much it would hurt to be on the cross?
• Did Jesus remember what it was like in heaven when he was with God the Father?
• Did Jesus know how he would walk with God on the earth?
• Did Jesus have any real concept of pain before he died on the cross?
• After all the miracles Jesus did in the presence of the disciples, how could they doubt?
• People in the gospels believed in demons.  How many people today are demon possessed?

My list goes on and on.  I am excited to read and wonder but be full of hope. 

As I read Luke, I am paying close attention to how Jesus was close to the Father.  I believe that if Jesus knew all of the answers above, he would not have needed to pray so much, so often and be alone.  I think he knew his only hope was in God's presence, but he had to seek it all of the time, relentlessly.

My theme this year is "I'll run until I finish the race."  I want my family to finish strong and finish well.  I have learned the hard way that this strength comes only through our weakness. In addition to recognizing I am running a spiritual race, I may actually sign up for a real race :) . 

The only way to finish a race strong is conditioning.  So my conditioning is reading through the entire bible, praying with my family, and relentlessly pursuing God's will, on my knees, desperate to know Him above all.

Happy New Year.  Enjoy my new favorite song. 

I always say God's timing is perfect.  I never know when I turn on the radio what great thing I may hear on my favorite Christian talk radio station.  Many times I get delayed then I turn it on and think, wow, if I had been in the car 15 minutes ago or 15 minutes later I would have missed this.

Well, today I was listening to Family Life with Dennis Rainey and Bob Lepine.  The neat thing is they were interviewing a woman named Sharon Jaymes and she is the author of a new parenting book a friend gave me on How to Be a Great Mom and Raise Great Kids.

A quote was shared during this broadcast that really struck me and it was about managing yourself...mind, body and spirit. Especially your spiritual life.....

Here is the quote:  "Most of your unhappiness in life is due to the fact that you're listening to yourself, instead of talking to yourself.   The main art in the matter of spiritual living is to know how to handle yourself."  That's ultimately what you're talking about here, is knowing how to handle yourself.

So many times people just let life happen to them without truly engaging in a relationship with God.  God has really been teaching me about really listening to Him and being led in all things.  I am trying to look at predictable patterns that work and do not work and how to be more effective.

In fact, my latest prayer has been, "Lord teach me a better way.  How can I be a better mom, wife, friend and disciple. God show me how to be more effective in all I do."  But more imporantly than that, I am just learning to trust God when I do not always see how things are going to turn out.

Also, I am really worshiping the Lord a lot.  Our family listens and sings a lot of praise and worship music.  Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.  So I am excited to see what God has in store for myself and my family.  Life is full of many ups and downs and uncertainty.....but that makes the certainty of God so much sweeter.

I am so thankful for a Savior because I have needed a lot of saving :)

I always like to share a video.  My daughter and I have been practicing this together for her to sing as a solo.  Love this.

Recently I heard someone say you should focus on what God is about and what He is for, not about trying to argue but trusting God to give us what to say in due season to bless in His Power.

I am always intrigued by Christmas Cards as so many are just useless.  Like cards that say Happy Holidays.  Well....what Holiday.  How can it be happy if there isn't one.  Why not say Merry Christmas.  I find it maddening that so many people want my money for gifts under the tree but don't want to let me call it Christmas. 

The beauty of faith is that no one can take away our freedom of thought, our salvation and our heart to worship God and love others.

So I am praying that people will look for meaning in Christmas.  That it will be more than a Holiday.  God says He draws all men unto him.  Draw us Lord and let us respond to your calling.

Recently I have been focusing on blessing others.  Finding kind words or helping someone.  I try to show my kids how to find something nice to bless someone whether it be their hair, smile, or painted fingernails.  Just asking someone how they are really doing knowing that you really mean it.

I have found that giving freely of my time and blessings is the greatest blessing of all. 

Be blessed this Christmas and remember that JESUS is the reason for the season.

I recently heard this song and loved it.  I love to end with a worship video.  Enjoy as this is what Jesus is longing for.

Several times I have been thinking about something and wish I could see or think in three dimensions.  I want another angle on something or I need another perspective.  Many times God is that third dimension for me.  Where I can go beyond myself and my limited thinking.

Also, I think it is important to surround ourselves with sound teaching.  Listening or reading what other's have to say is not a substitute for our own relationship with God, but it can provide another view.

God reveals himself in so many wonderful ways and I love to read the excitement others have when sharing their experiences.  I have listed some resources on my blog and I hope you will enjoy them. Batterson, Jentezen and Moore are a great place to start.  Do you have any other resources you would like to share.

Also, I have been searching for new, deeper worship songs that can really minister to my family.  We all love to sing and there is nothing like a good song to touch the heart.  Here is one of my recent favorites.  I love to preview songs on You Tube since it has become quite expensive to buy so many songs.  Enjoy this simple song that is so profound.

We all go through tough times. At times I have heard people say, "Oh my problems are small compared to this or that."  God cares about each one of them.

I love reading God's word.  I have learned that when you read it in the good times, you are more prepared for the harder times.  So many people are short on answers but the word of God is the answer.

I love seeing how God works through other people's lives that are truly seeking God.

The three devotionals that I love to read are Mark Batterson at www.evotional.com, Beth Moore at livingproofministries.blogspot.com, and Jentzen Franklin.  They all have very different styles of blogging but I know they all love the Lord and value biblical truth. 

For many years I was jealous of other people and what God was doing in their lives, but I came to the realization that God's plan for me is straight from Him and is for no other.  I have learned to not covet other's dreams above God's dreams for me.

I pray you enjoy these resources for yourself.  I encourage you to explore how God is working and moving and that you seek God above all. Read Matthew 6 and Ephesians 3 for a great reminder of who God is and just how much He loves us.

Love, Carol

I think it is very important to have a solid group of resources to count on in your spiritual walk.  These resources should be spiritually sound but stretch us in many different directions.  I like to read blogs, books and listen to music of many different faiths.  I don't want to be guilty of "group think" on issues on one hand, but on the other hand, everything must line up with the word of God.

In the coming days I will be sharing some highlights of these resources and how you can use them in your life. I know they have been a huge blessing in mine.

On that note, here are some of my regular favorites:

Blogs:

Mark Batterson (pastor,author) - National Community Church:  www.evotional.com

Jentzen Franklin (pastor, author) - Free Chapel:  http://www.jentezenfranklin.org/blog/

Beth Moore (speaker, author, bible study writer) - Living Proof - http://livingproofministries.blogspot.com

Family Resources:

Focus on the Famiily:  www.focusonthefamily.com

Family Life Ministry - www.familylife.com

Music:

Jason Upton - www.jasonupton.com

Hillsong Music - www.hillsong.com

Casting Crowns - www.castingcrowns.com

Worship Music - www.worshipmusic.com

Favorite Ministries:

Samaratains Purse - www.samaratainspurse.com

Life Today - www.lifetoday.org

So many times I have wanted to be eloquent or profound.  To say something that would impact a lot of people and reap a great reward for the Kingdom of God.  I am learning that the most effective ministry is based in humility.  Of sharing our total desperation to trust in God.  I am nothing apart from God.  Thank God for the vine.  Read John 15 about the vine and the branches.  I am learning total dependence and depravity.  In our weakness God is made strong.  I feel like my life has given God a lot to work with.

I thank God for his healing power in the deepest part of my soul  and spirit.  I love you Lord with all of my heart, soul, mind and strength.  Show me your glory Lord.  I am desperate for you and surrender my life to you.

Have you wholly surrendered your life today, laying down your pride.  Lay it down or it will be taken from you :) to truly walk in Him. 

I love reading Streams in the Desert.  I often feel in the desert and these wonderful devotions are a reminder of Paul teaching us to be "content in every situation."  I pray for this often. 

Enjoy a new devotional every day here:  http://www.crosswalk.com/devotionals/desert/

Songs of Praise Rise From Affliction

"Just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints" (Rev. 15:3).

The following incident is related by Mrs. Charles Spurgeon, who was a great sufferer for more than a quarter of a century:

"At the close of a dark and gloomy day, I lay resting on my couch as the deeper night drew on; and though all was bright within my cozy room, some of the external darkness seemed to have entered into my soul and obscured its spiritual vision. Vainly I tried to see the Hand which I knew held mine, and guided my fog-enveloped feet along a steep and slippery path of suffering. In sorrow of heart I asked,

"'Why does my Lord thus deal with His child? Why does He so often send sharp and bitter pain to visit me? Why does He permit lingering weakness to hinder the sweet service I long to render to His poor servants?'

"These fretful questions were quickly answered, and through a strange language; no interpreter was needed save the conscious whisper of my heart.

"For a while silence reigned in the little room, broken only by the crackling of the oak log burning in the fireplace. Suddenly I heard a sweet, soft sound, a little, clear, musical note, like the tender trill of a robin beneath my window.

"'What can it be? surely no bird can be singing out there at this time of the year and night.'

"Again came the faint, plaintive notes, so sweet, so melodious, yet mysterious enough to provoke our wonder. My friend exclaimed,

"'It comes from the log on the fire!' The fire was letting loose the imprisoned music from the old oak's inmost heart!

"Perchance he had garnered up this song in the days when all was well with him, when birds twittered merrily on his branches, and the soft sunlight flecked his tender leaves with gold. But he had grown old since then, and hardened; ring after ring of knotty growth had sealed up the long-forgotten melody, until the fierce tongues of the flames came to consume his callousness, and the vehement heart of the fire wrung from him at once a song and a sacrifice. 'Ah,' thought I, 'when the fire of affliction draws songs of praise from us, then indeed we are purified, and our God is glorified!'

"Perhaps some of us are like this old oak log, cold, hard, insensible; we should give forth no melodious sounds, were it not for the fire which kindles around us, and releases notes of trust in Him, and cheerful compliance with His will.

"'As I mused the fire burned,' and my soul found sweet comfort in the parable so strangely set forth before me.

"Singing in the fire! Yes, God helping us, if that is the only way to get harmony out of these hard apathetic hearts, let the furnace be heated seven times hotter than before."

I was having a bad day this past week.  Feeling sorry for myself, grumbling out loud to myself in the car.  Then I drove by a man with no legs sitting in a wheel chair.  I felt convicted and the Lord brought this verse to mind:

Philippians 4:12 (New International Version)

¹²I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.

Some people are type A and some people are type B.  I want to be type J - Jesus focused.

Lord forgive me when I do not trust in you completely.  You have always been there for me and my family.  Let me always remember the man with no legs and learn to be like Paul, content in all things.  I know I must seek you first above all things.

I am one of those people who is always looking for a lesson or a "moral to the story" in everything.  I always see lessons I can learn through simple things. 

For example, I received a $25 Starbucks card for my birthday.  I gave up my regular trips to Starbucks a long time ago so it is always a treat to get one.  On the way home from church today we stopped at Starbucks and I bought the largest coffee Frappucino they make and shared it with my husband and daughter.  (I really didn't want to share but felt guilty being the only one with a drink, LOL).

I thought about God's grace and when we receive a lot of it, we spend a lot of it.  I was lavish in buying a $4.15 drink because I had plenty to spend.  When we have a lot of love, we give a lot of love.  But what about those times when things are tough, we tend to tighten up our finances and not spend as much.  We eat at home all the time, skip the trips to Starbucks and get stingy with our money because we have be careful and make it last.

I think many times we get stingy with sharing our faith, sharing God's grace and sharing God's love and forgiveness.  It is easy to share it when we have plenty but much harder when we don't receive a lot of it.  I am challenging myself to always give freely as I have received from God and not ration based on what I receive from man.

Today I took my girls to the pool for a girls afternoon out.  My youngest does not swim so I was holding on to her.  She was having a great time but knew I would never let any harm come to her.  She knew I was her lifeline but was secure. 

God used this simple picture to remind me that he loves me and when I am swimming in the deep end, there are still times of joy and that He will never let me go.  When my other two girls were swimming, they would swim on their own but always say, "mommy, make sure you don't go to far so we can grab on to you."  Again, God reminded me He is always there to hang on to and his presence is always close.

God is teaching me deep, profound things in simple ways as I press on to be the best wife, mother and friend I can be.