Update 9/13/2014

This week was quite fun! Elisha is really taking off with cursive writing. She has worked hard to learn her spelling words and has passed her oral quizzes with flying colors! We went on a field trip to a Colonial Encampment. We learned all about what kinds of different jobs the people had back in the Colonial era. Life back then was not so simple, busy with blacksmithing, tradesmen, soilders from France, Brittian, not to mention our own American soilders. The Colonials we learned about were from the time Ft. St. Joseph was established where Bond Street is now. We (Elisha, Elijah, and Mommy) thoroughly enjoyed our time there. Elisha is doing great with Equine science. This week she rode on Isabelle the mini pony. She actually got her to turn around barrels and step over poles. Piano practice is going well. We hope to get her a keyboard soon. I am having a lot of fun with the kids. I will miss Elijah when he goes to Pre-K this coming week. He will have so much fun though. Brie loves her baby Big Sis got for her b-day. She says oh baby and brings her to me and says 'see'.  To God be the glory for these fun and youthful days of childhood and motherhood... and of course fatherhood. The kids loooove their daddy. We miss him during the day. We had Christian Skate Night! Daddy went out on the skate floor with both kiddos. We had fun!

Enjoy the pictures!

Elisha mucking manure, Elisha riding Isabelle, Daddy and Bub skating, Colonial Encampment:  Inkster, Blacksmith, Trapper/Tradesman, French Soilders Flint gun (yes he shot it off with blanks and was extremely informative with the history), gunsmith (his name is Larry and he is about as tall as my father in law and almost as serious but not as funny.), Historic archeology from a dig where Ft. St. Joe was. We saw the food station and it was very accurate complete with a real clay oven. Last stop was the textiles. I wish ladies could wear those kinds of clothes today and it be cool.

 

Good Morning/Afternoon Girls Niles, MI Gratitude Day 3

Read Philippians 4:4-9 S.O.A.P. 6-7

"Be anxious in nothing, but In everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your request be made known unto God and let the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."

I have been anxious to get to my in laws house and quickly upload all my responses for the Bible study. Then the Lord broke in and reminded me with this scripture how much more important my time in the Word is then to get it up quickly for everyone else. Because everyone else is responsible for their own time with the Lord. I am merely an encourager - a cheerleader so to speak. For those who may want or need some encouragement. Truly in everything when I pray and give up to the Lord all that is in my heart Thanksgiving comes out naturally and flows constant.

Whenever it's time to go to bed my children will pray like this: "Thank you God for _  ____ _____ _____ ______... In Jesus name, amen." all those blanks are names. Then I pray. Before you know it they are sound asleep  peacefully. I go to bed and sleep peacefully. When I pray during the day I ask God for His peace to Rule in my entire being. It really does. Beyond my understanding to truly explain what happens after my burdens lift. My Bert and mind are no longer focused on any fleshly manner but are more focused on the things of God and what is important to Him. It makes sense throughout my day and puts me in a right heart and perspective. 

I pray for you and I that our lives will witness and be a witness to the awesome power of our God's grace. How He efficiently removes any and all things blocking us from being free to have Thankfulness, praise, joy, love, or peace in our hearts. May our minds and hearts be without complaint or grumbling but full of focus on Jesus and how wonderful He is and how He sets us free from bondage. Gave us victory over sin and death! Death in that we live eternally with Him and not separated eternally!

The verses of this famous song ring through my head...

...it is well with my soul... It is well it is well it is well with my soul!

My goodness the day has been bright full of love from my children and husband... We are getting ready for Heaven's Gates and Hell's Flames at my church! What a way to end this amazing study!

Before His Eyes,

Leslie

So much to be thankful for!

Good Morning/Afternoon Girls Niles, MI Gratitude Week 2 Day 1-2

Week 2 Day 1-2

Day 1 - read 1 Chronicles 29:10-20 S.O.A.P. vs 11-13

S

"Yours, O Lord, is the greatness, the Power and the Glory, the Victory and the Majesty; for all that is in Heaven and in the Earth is Yours. Yours is the Kingdom, O Lord and You are exalted as head over all. both riches and honor come from You and You reign over all. In Your hand is Power and Might, in Your hand it is to make great, and to give strength to all.

Now therefore, our God, we thank you and praise Your glorious name." 

O

* All that is the Lord's is greatness, power and glory, victory and majesty

* all that is in Heaven and Earth is His

--* take that in - now Breathe...wow!

* He is exalted as head over all.

--*this prayer sounds a lot like what we now call the Lords Prayer... What Jesus taught to His disciples.

*in His hands is to make great and give strength to all

--* what hope there is in that verse!

*give God thanks and praise for clearly He is worthy of it. And we are on the Earth and belong to Him.

A

Learn from this prayer... Break it down

I bullet pointed each verse ie: 

*David admitted his willingness to submit all the things he helped build and with joy he says he sees his people also humbled and willing

I then wrote a little go-go encouragement from my bullet points...

"Let us be found Thanking and praising the Lord aloud...Let us pray for one another, our city, our country, our brethren across the Earth, our Children..."

P

I prayed a personal prayer and then I prayed one for you all...

"Thank you Lord for my sisters in Christ remaining faithful to you in studying Your word and praying daily. Help them Lord to see your wonderfulness and mercy in all they do today. At work, moving things, waiting at the drive thru, walking, riding in their cars, caring for their babies and spouses. Help their mouths, hearts, and minds to be RULED by Your peace that all words leaving their lips are full of glory to Your name. All their deeds done show forth the strength and might of Your gracious hands! 

I love you Jesus thank you for saving me. In Jesus name - Amen!

Day 2 Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Read 2 Corinthians 4:13-18 S.O.AP. vs 15

S

"For all things are for your sakes that grace, having spread through the many, may cause thanksgiving to abound to the glory of God."

O

Uh, oh, wow! This bit of scripture is rich and full of Gods truth. So much states here really sets the heart free. For times sake my focus is on vs 15. 

- pretty amazing how the power of Jesus and His mighty work on the cross set Paul free, he was forgiven much and now we see he loves much. Laboring for all and any who will believe the Gospel message He spreads!

- grace that it may cause Thanksgiving to abound to the glory of God.

- by the words spoken by Paul of Christ Jesus and Him crucified set these Corinthians free. They take the free gift of grace - are set free - the message spreads - out of it Abounds Thanksgiving to the glory of God... Didn't David pray for the generations to come to give God glory?

Alleluia it's happened, happening, and continuing. 

Imagine what our great God hears in Heaven. 

Thank your a million times a million...!

A & P

Thank you God of my salvation. Thank you for my free will which I willingly surrender to you because You have the Words of life and set me free. Because you know the better way. Teach me.

Before His Eyes,

Leslie

Come in and wonder.

Good Morning Girls, Niles, MI week 2 Gratitude

So I am falling a little behind with so much going on this week. I will be posting another blog with my responses to the scriptures. For today I encourage you to read 2 Chronicles 10-20 and 2 Corinthians 4:13-18. If you haven't already that is! ;-)

Take this weeks challenge There is power in recording God’s faithfulness in our lives and sharing it with others. This week in your gratitude journals, begin recording the different ways God has been faithful to you in your life. Pray for opportunities to share these stories of His faithfulness with those God has already placed in your life. You never know how God could work through the testimony of your story. Let’s be good stewards of the stories He has written with our lives and in our hearts.

I have been recording in my journal and it's striking me that I need to stay doing this so my children can flip through and see Gods faithfulness and goodness in our lives!

I know that you would expect more from me but to tell you the truth I need to do some more studying and I'd like to stay longer to write but I'm using my in laws Internet we don't have it just yet. I'm so thankful though we get to borrow theirs when needed. Little babies and shopping can take up a lot of time and I have lots to at my own house. I hope you won't mind reading two separate blogs tomorrow. 

Have a gloriously blessed day and ponder upon King David's words and Paul's in 2 Corinthians! Please share your thoughts on our group page!

Before His Eyes,

Leslie

Take a walk with Him today!

Good Morning Girls Niles, MI Gratitude Day 5

I apologize this comes three days later, but a lot was going on in my household this weekend. So here I am on an early afternoon Monday writing to you now. I hope you kept in the study of Hebrews chat 12. Pretty incredible how this tied in with my Pastors message on Romans 13. 

Today you will be doing Day 6 and I will have another blog up for that. For now lets continue onto Day 5.

Hebrews 12:22-29 S.O.A.P. verse 28

S.cripture

(I'm going to type the whole thing out. To good not to read a couple times over!)

"But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the Heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the first born who are registered in heaven to God the Judge of all, to the spirits of men made perfect, to JESUS the Mediator of the New Covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel. See that you do not refuse Him who speaks. For if they did not escape who refused Him on Earth, much more should we not escape if we turn away from Him who speaks from Heaven, whose voice shook the earth, but now He has promised saying, "Yet once more I shake not only the Earth, but also Heaven." Now this, "Yet once more," indicates the removal of those things that are being shaken, as of things that are made, that the things which cannot be shaken remain.

(focus/selah scripture)

Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear.

For our God is a consuming fire."

O.bserve

Just powerful. Talking to all followers of Christ. It's powerful because he (Paul) is essentially reminding every believer of whose they are and where they belong. What kind of of company we are in. Also our Heavenly home, which in this present reality is so important to remember. This is powerful in that, Paul speaks of the Kingdom of Heaven as reality because it is. We all need this reminder. I love how he addresses us as believers..."to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are registered in Heaven..." 

God is immovable and therefore so is His kingdom and we His people are part of this Kingdom. What is shareable in us is all which is not of Him. So by grace, His grace, we can acceptably serve Him with reverence and godly fear. For our God is a consuming fire - turning cold hearts of stone and melting them into loving hearts towards Him and others. 

A.pplication

Being reminded daily from Gods word and time spent with Him whom we serve and to whom we belong to. Ask God to shake out of us everything that can be shaken so that what is left cannot be shaken - which is Him, the Holy Spirit, JESUS Christ by whom we are being made perfect.

Serve our God daily by having grace by which we can acceptably serve Him with reverence and godly fear. Ask God to consume us with His light, truth, Word, and love. Tell others about Christ and His wonderful work on the cross, His resurrection, ascension, and glorious return! What that means for them. 

Make everything else wait so you can have a moment with Jesus in a quiet place together. You give Him that moment at the beginning of your day you'll have the rest of your day to do the needed what-nots. You will do it with joy in your heart, you'll be filled and recharged spiritually to go on and face the day with a renewed mind. 

P.rayer

God consume me with your fire and burn away all that is not of you. Burn in me all that is of you. Help me in the day to serve you in whatever I'm set to do acceptably to you. I revere you and have the fear of the Lord in me which is the beginning if wisdom. Teach me through out my day to love like you, to walk like you... Consume me. In Jesus name, amen.

Before His Eyes,

Leslie

He's waiting for you.

Good Morning Girls Niles, MI Day 4

Well what a bright and wonderful morning! I wish I had my camera to show you all what a perfect clear blue sky it is where I am! 

Today we study 1Thessalonians 5:12-17 focusing our S.O.A.P. on verses 17-18

http://bible.com/1/1th.5.12-18.kjv click there to see the verse today.

Let us jump to it!

1Thessalonians 5:12-17

¹² Now we ask you, brothers and sisters, to acknowledge those who work hard among you, who care for you in the Lord and who admonish you. ¹³ Hold them in the highest regard in love because of their work. Live in peace with each other. ¹⁴ And we urge you, brothers and sisters, warn those who are idle and disruptive, encourage the disheartened, help the weak, be patient with everyone. ¹⁵ Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always strive to do what is good for each other and for everyone else.

¹⁶ Rejoice always, ¹⁷ pray continually, ¹⁸ give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

S.cripture

Rejoice always.

Pray continually.

Give thanks IN ALL CIRCUMSTANCES; for this is God's WILL FOR YOU in Christ Jesus.

O.bserve

Okay so when I see the word always I need to do a little research here... Pantote is the Greek word here which also means evermore. Rejoice at every moment, every day, every week, ever month, every year... Evermore! Yes, okay so there is some major application with this!

Pray continually means the same as always... So again it's at every moment. I can remember a conversation I was having with a former boss of mine and I consciously was aware I was praying in my subconscious mind. Now a days I just pray out loud and am always asked... Who are you talking too? With a giggle I answer...God of course!

Give thanks in all circumstances.... This isn't easy for sure but... If we are asking the question... What is Gods will for me today? Look no further than these two verses!

A.pplication

When you are struggling to find work, keep your bills paid, keep a house over your head, pay for insurance, wonder about marriage, concerned for your children in whatever capacity, not sure how you will deal with a difficult circumstance, and in the midst of your suffering, trials, and struggle you ask... What is Gods will for me? Or maybe your doing well and you are in a place wondering how to serve with your talents...

STOP breathe and repeat after me: Rejoice! (find two things to rejoice in right now!) Pray (seek first the Kingdom of God, make your request known to God, approach the throne humbly with boldness, humble yourself and pray, seek, ask, knock!) Give Thanks (Thank the Lord for three things right now!) 

This is our blueprint for knowing His will in our life! What we do when we rejoice, pray, and give thanks is simple and lifts Him up, we are lifted up. We are given an increase in our faith. We feel lighter as our burdens lift and most important is that He is glorified and sought out after. Our Father In Heaven comes nearer as we draw nearer to Him. Make Him known right now for you are known to Him and His one desire is to be close with you,  help you, strengthen you, give you joy and deepen your love for Him and others!

I definitely feel the presence of the Lord very strong right now and I know this Thanksgiving and the rest of this year and my life is changed, transformed, and touched. I won't be the same after this study. Praise you Lord!

P.rayer

God Almighty... I rejoice at your truth! Halelujah! You set me free! I rejoice at your incredible love for me... Quite frankly Jesus you are amazing and I'm falling in love with you all over again! I breathe easier knowing your will for me is grand, and greater than I realize. You wait for me everyday to come and have fellowship with you everyday. Thank you. I am still and in awe of you! Thank you Lord for making a clear path before me to seek you along with hundreds of thousands of other ladies and gentlemen wanting more of you and your Truth! Thank you Lord for my sweet and precious family. Thank you Lord for my astounding church family, whom never cease to amaze me of their passion for you. Thank you Lord that this is happening... You and me everyday having wonderful fellowship! I love you Lord. Bless my sweet family and friends today as they seek you out! In Jesus name amen!

Before His Eyes,

Leslie

The leaves have turned, fallen, and the air grows crisp and cold... Winter is beginning to set in. Time for warm blankets, hot coffee or chocolate, and early morning with the Lord. Mmmm stay still, listen, He is talking to you today. Enjoy the season!

Good Morning Girls Niles, MI Day 2 Gratitude

Read Psalm 100 SOAP on verse 4-5

S.cripture

Psalm 100 "Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise. Be thankful to His name. For the Lord is good His mercy is everlasting and His truth endures to all generations." 

O.bservation

King David knew the Lord was worthy of thanks and praise and the LordHimself gave him this knowledge. Written down and passed down through the ages we have a blueprint of how to bring glory and blessing to the Lord. We also see that His truth endures to all generations. Every man, woman, and child has a chance to know His truth. his mercy is everlasting!

A.pplication

I'm going to thank the Lord for small and great today. For my bible study devotion, for my time with Him, for my son waking up in such a good mood, for my trash being picked up, for all things throughout my day! I will purposefully praise Him! I'm going to praise Him with my lips in song. In going to praise Him for my children and tell them how wonderful He is to us! I'm going to ask my children what they are most thankful for to the Lord and have them sing a song with me today!

P.rayer

My prayer today is that I will not give into grumble or complaint about ANYTHING. Rather Thanksgiving and praise will be surrendered from my heart and mouth. My prayer is that my children will whine less when they can't have what they want when they want. Rather, Lord that they will learn from my example to have a thankful heart, which is a happy heart for all they have and are given.

I pray I reflect a thankful heart of praise! In Jesus name, amen.

I pray for my group of ladies as well Lord. I pray you will take them deep in their journey with you today. Lead them and their families into a season of thankfulness and gratitude towards you and all that's around them,all that they have, all that you are doing, going to do, and have done. Bless them exceedingly and richly in your love and truth. Touch each heart today. If there is a need for healing Lord will you heal them. If there is a need for restoration please bring that to them today. If there is a need of any kind, please gracious Father meet their every need. Lavish your wondrous love and presence upon them. Bring them peace today. In Christ Jesus name, amen.

Before His Eyes,

Leslie

"Give thanks unto the Lord, call upon His name; make known among the nations what He has done." 1 Chronicles 16:8 (memory verse)