Gratituesday

As Trish Berg described it today in her post, life sometimes comes up with some blind curves. Sometimes you know that the road of life has potential blind curves and you do nothing to prepare for them. They end up catching you off guard, unprepared. Those are the kind that I get so frustrated with myself about. That is the kind of blind curve I am in right now. I just don't know how tight of a curve it is yet. I know that God is faithful and trustworthy. He hears me and yet His ways probably are not my ways. I have witnessed His loving provision in the past. Yet, I don't feel worthy of His care and concern. My rebellion and wretchedness is so great that I feel selfish, self-centered, a bit of spoiled brat coming to Him with my pleas. But I still want to have faith and trust that He will guide me through this nasty stretch of road to a straight and more scenic and relaxing drive. God is good.

John Piper in Future Grace writes, "There is a sense in which gratitude and faith are interwoven joys that strengthen each other. As gratitude joyfully revels in the benefits of past grace, so faith joyfully relies on the benefits of future grace. Therefore when gratitude for God’s past grace is strong, the message is sent that God is supremely trustworthy in the future because of what he has done in the past. In this way faith is strengthened by a lively gratitude for God’s past trustworthiness."

God is a faithful God. He has never changed, nor will He ever. When I can see or remember God's faithfulness in all circumstances, it should be easier for me to give thanks.

"Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." 1 Thess 5:16-17

That same verse in The Message says: "Be cheerful no matter what; pray all the time; thank God no matter what happens. This is the way God wants you who belong to Christ Jesus to live.
Today I am grateful for:

19. Another day with a job.
20. Energetic children.
21. A picture by DD that says she loves me because she is my little girl.
22. A day of building puzzles with my little man.
23. A day of prayer and crying out to my faithful Savior.
24. Psalms 25.
25. Bloggy friends who pray for me.
26. Winning a gift basket of Johnson and Johnson cocoa butter oil and lotion. Mmmmmm! I need that. God is good.

God Who Are You? Bible Study

Who is God to me? This is a question I have been mulling over all week as I have undertaken this great online study. I don't know if all of my thoughts will totally make sense to anyone else.
Who is God to me? I have thought how I have viewed Him over my 40 plus years and how I view Him today.
God has always seemed larger than life to me. He is this huge presence that is watching me and keeping up with my good and bad deeds. He is ready to punish me or make things difficult when I don't do what is right. He provides for me wonderfully when I do what is good and right. I was afraid of Him - He knew my thoughts and words before I even thought or said them. With all of this though, I knew He loved me and I loved Him and wanted to please Him.
Then I understood more about the Trinity and the songs, "Jesus Is All the World to Me" and "Anywhere with Jesus", became my themed songs. I sung them all the time. What comfort and peace I felt when I sang these songs to myself and thought about the words. Jesus was my forever friend- He was my everything.
Now, I view God as my Creator and giver of life. He provided a way for my salvation. He is the only one that can provide me with the security and comfort that I need. He is the only one that can know me through and through. However, I still disappoint Him by not trusting Him totally. I take back control of my life decisions over and over thus falling into sin. I am stubborn and willful and do lots of things I know are not beneficial. I deserve any punishment, discipline, negative consequences as a result of my decisions. I still fear Him but also so love being able to crawl up into His lap and lay it all before Him. He is the Great Comforter- My Daddy - My Forever Friend.
I know of His great love for me because He has given me an amazing man for my lifelong partner in marriage (one I don't deserve) and after so many years of infertility, in His perfect timing, God has given me two awesome and beautiful children. I have been blessed by my Heavenly Father for reasons I don't quite understand because I am not deserving. I just know that despite my own failings, He never fails me- He is still all the world to me and I will go anywhere He leads me.

God Who Are You? Bible Study

An online Bible study is getting underway this week! If you stumbled into my little blog, you can learn more about the study, download the study guide and view the weekly video here.... http://www.titus2atthewell.com/ I am anxious to join in as I really feel the need for feeding from God's Word. It is funny how I can be involved in ministry and lead ministry and even studies, yet I don't seem satisfied. Perhaps it is my own weakness that I don't take the time I need to really commune with God. I am getting chapters read and notes made for the next meeting. It has all become just another to do on my endless lists. My prayer is that this study will be a time without deadlines, a time when I can escape for a little while to the computer to watch the video and then spend my few minutes of quite time thinking, reading and praying about who God is amd how He fits into my life.

I am Mary Lynn, a so called stay-at-home mom of two (ages 4 and 6), Little Man is still at home and busting with energy and enthusiasm for all things mechanical, bouncing, and with wheels. Little Princess is in kindergarten. She is a very good student but would prefer to be home wearing her tiaras and playing with most things girlie- growing up is hard - for her and mommy. I am married for the last 18 years to my Prince Charming and best friend. I consider myself extremely blessed with a wonderful family. Currently, I keep way too busy with leading a MOPS ministry. I am retiring after this year as my season of life is changing rapidly. The majority of my "free" time is spent leading the early childhood ministry at our growing church. Getting everyone scheduled, and getting worship and small groups set up for Sunday services is a full time job. I have been put in a place where I can serve and influence in an area that I feel passionate about. However, I often feel torn between being a better mom and wife without the distractions and obligations elsewhere and using the talents and opportunities God has given me to lead other children to a life changing relationship with their forever friend, Jesus. My prayer is that I will be able to intentionally take time each week to watch the video and make the time of reflection and prayer a priority.

Multitude Mondays

Too often I allow external and internal worries and struggles interfere with my pursuit of Joy. It is these times that I truly need to count my multitude of blessings to be reminded of how much I am loved and provided for my God. God is faithful, loving and merciful. I am grateful for that as I am by my own judgement not worthy of His love, provision and mercy.

8. God's faithfulness, love and mercy.
9. A hard working husband.
10. A husband who has a good sense of humor
11. Kids that enjoy one another.
12. God who keeps my family safe when I am not there.
13. A job that hubby enjoys.
14. A warm home.
15. Funny children.
16. Children who are very verbal and problem solvers.(Watch out school system)
17. A home full of love.
18. Late night and early morning hours of silent prayers.

God is good and provides for all my needs. Even when I focus on my own struggles and worries, He is forever faithful to me and my family. Thank you, God!

Win Rosetta Stone for your Family!

Surround your family with language. By taking them there!

Travel to Paris, Madrid and Barcelona with Homeschoolers from all over the United States. Join Rosetta Stone Homeschool, Heart of the Matter and Fusefly on the inaugural Homeschool Language Learning and Networking Trip August 2-11, 2010. Become immersed in new lands, explore history, culture, art and community. And truly speak to the world. For more details visit www.RosettaStone.com/Homeschool/LanguageLearningTrip.

Hurry, registration for the trip ends February 15, 2010.

For your chance to win a Rosetta Stone language product, please visit Heart of the Matter. Entries are being accepted until February 1st.

http://heartofthematteronline.com/win-rosetta-stone

Multitude Mondays

I have been on the search for joy for so long now. I think part of my problem is that I am so busy trying to survive the day and get everything done, that I don't take time each day to intentionally name the the things, my blessings, that do bring me joy. If I would take a few minutes and thank God for the good things in my life, I think that the joy would be uncovered. It has been there all along, but my rush to do life's daily events leave me frustrated, overwhelmed, impatient and full of mommy guilt. So in an effort to intentionally find joy, I am going to count my blessings as the song from my childhood says, "one by one".

1. Time with my kids at the children's museum.
2. A van that is reliable and safe for travel to and from Atlanta and beyond
3. A GPS and cell phone that work and provide me with an extra bit of security in our adventures.
4. A warm pair of fuzzy socks on a chilly January night.
5. Three beautiful and gentle kitties that love my kids as much or almost as much as they love me.
6. Kids who are crazy for animals, especially their cats.
7. A hubby who is crazy for me and his kids.

Thank you, God, for the many blessings you provide me and my family each and every hour of the day. I want to intentionally seek and name the blessings so that I can give You thanks for them and teach my children to be thankful for their blessings. I want greater joy in life and it is found in You alone. Amen.

New Year's Goals

Okay,I have said this in the soooo many times in the past, "I am going to get organized in my life!". I have made charts, calendars, schedules, plans and plans on how to fit everything into a 24/7 life with 2 kids. But trying to schedule housework, scrapbooking, time with God, play and instructional time with kids, time with hubby, exercise, cooking, sleep, laundry, all the many, many tasks for MOPS and the children's ministry can't be done. Life happens. A kid is sick, daddy is out of town, a special event happens, headaches, just tired, so tired happens. I get bogged down, overwhelmed and all things slow to almost a halt. The only thing that continues to move somewhat is children's ministry because it will happen somehow each week and tons of kids are affected. So sad other people's kids get the better part of me than my own. Do you feel the mommy guilt heaped on me?

So scheduling each hour is out of the question, but I can organize each day generally and set some goals for the day. Flexiblity is important but so is consistency.
An idea from another mommy blogger is to spend no more, yes, set the timer-kind of 5 minutes on each room a day, except the kitchen, which gets 15 minutes. Do the surface stuff. No deep cleaning. That is saved for another day. After 5 minutes move on. This should be about an hour during the day and can happen at any point- morning, afternoon, evening, whenever there is time in that day's schedule. All the rooms don't even have to be done at the same time! Also, give myself permission to do something halfway. So what if all of the kids toys aren't in the absolute correct bin? At least they are picked up. I don't have to have everything completeley organized perfectly. Everything has a home,yes, but sometimes it can be a messy home.

Taking the 90 Day Bible Challenge is helping me take time to read the Bible. I do get behind, but I don't stress. I just get myself caught up and try again. Exercise and eating better is a little harder. I need to just do it early in the morning. I am eating out of the pantry and freezer for this month so whatever is there is going to be eaten.

Time at the computer is needing to be limited. This means MOPS, children's ministry and my own personal blog reading and writing (not that I write a lot here- MOPS is another story) will be affected. I believe this is my biggest time stealer. So getting a timer an sticking to it at specific times of the day is important.

So I have specific goal areas to work on. All of this, hopefully, will result in the ultimate goal of my family having a more fun, loving, patient, present, happy wife and mom and happy and clean home to rest in.

The verse I am using as my motto this year is from Colossians 3:17. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed,do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

My plan for the year is to pray this everyday at meal times(easy way for me to remember) and let all of my activities, speech and attitudes be a reflection of God's Will -to His glory and with thanksgiving to God for the challenges, blessings, opportunities and joys.

Happy New Year!