I'm going on a Faith Journey

I am about to embark on an 8 month journey. It begins with Faith. In our parents of adolescents group last night someone made the comment of making an honest effort to build on the traits in the following verse.

2 Peter 1: 3-9
His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and goodness. Through these He has given us His very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.
For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self control; and to self control; perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge
of our Lord Jesus Christ. But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins.


He asked; "Can you just imagine what our homes would be like if we could really get this verse and characteristics therein; in our heart soul and minds? To make an honest and conscious effort to build on these traits on a regular basis?" A light bulb went off he suggested 30 days per trait and I am so there! I need this journey to keep me focused on Gods goals for my life and not my own. Mine; time and time again, fail; but His love and plans never do. I want to be prepared for whatever He has in store. Please keep me in your prayers as I seek Him more on this journey and that my eyes be opened to the many things He wants me to see.

1. Faith- 2. Goodness- 3. Knowledge - 4. Self Control - 5. Perseverance - 6.Godliness - 7. brotherly kindness - 8. Love

My journey begins with Faith; I'm not too surprised; looking at the list it is clear It will require a ton of Faith to effectively be prepared for what is to come.

My Mom gave this beautiful gift to me last year...

Emotional Environment...

I have been taking a class at church for the past 3 weeks in raising adolescents. It has been confirmed by our pastor that at about the age of 11; parenting becomes a whole new ball game. I was thinking I was losing it as a parent- losing the relationship all together that I've wanted to have with our daughter and most importantly not realizing the kind of relationship she desperately needs from us at her age and going forward.

I wont get into any detail about the different techniques I have been learning on communication because quite frankly they are still sinking in. Our pastor said at the beginning of this class to come prepared to learn and prepared to change. I am changing...and I am seeing results.

This past week stuck out to me enough to write about- because I know my friends will probably relate; and might even decide to ask themselves to wrestle with the same question.

It was about our emotional environment. The emotional environment of our marriage determines the emotional environment our kids live in. Interesting and so true.

We were told to think this week in detail about the emotional environment we want our children to grow up in.

The emotional environment I seek for our family...

The 1st statement that comes to mind is to be Emotionally Secure.
When in an emotional state to stand Faithful!

Isaiah 40: 29-31
He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.
Even youths grow tired and weary,
and young men stumble and fall;
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 grow faint."

I heard this verse read by Charles Stanley and described as "Our Faith is our set of wings"! :) That just makes my heart smile. He also said "God wants us to soar...not sit".
It is my prayer that our family will live by and soar on our faith!

Allow tears, learn to take those tears to our Lord and pray. To be the kind of family that can also take those tears to each other and lift each other up in prayer.

Teach empathy no matter how little someone's problem may seem to us.

To have Patience to go through with one another what we may not have the patience to understand- the patience to make ourselves take the time to try and understand.

Allow God to open our eyes to see how each other deal with emotions differently, so we can be a family that lifts and builds one another up - to be encouragers & motivators of
each other REGARDLESS of what we "feel" like doing.

It is my prayer that one day with continual seeking of Gods word, prayer, work and effort that these attributes will come naturally.

I feel so blessed to be part of such a family building church!
It's not only a place to come and learn, but a place to be motivated and inspired to change- I thank God for placing our family here!

Shiannes' 11th Birthday Party...

Shianne's only wish for her birthday was to have a birthday party...her wish came true!!! Thanks to my beautiful Mother who helped make it a success!!! I Love you Mom! The Birthday Girl couldn't have been happier- she ABSOLUTELY LOVED IT!!! :)

Happy 11th Birthday to our beautiful daughter!!!

"Never knew a smile could be so beautiful, or an imagination could be so big, or a little girl could grow up so fast. Happy Birthday to our daughter who we love soooooooo much!"

Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day!

Question: "What does the Bible say about racism, prejudice, and discrimination?"

Answer: The first thing to understand in this discussion is that there is only one race—the human race. Caucasians, Africans, Asians, Indians, Arabs, and Jews are not different races. Rather, they are different ethnicities of the human race. All human beings have the same physical characteristics (with minor variations, of course). More importantly, all human beings are created in the image and likeness of God (Genesis 1:26-27). God loved the world so much that He sent Jesus to lay down His life for us (John 3:16). The “world” obviously includes all ethnic groups.

God does not show partiality or favoritism (Deuteronomy 10:17; Acts 10:34; Romans 2:11; Ephesians 6:9), and neither should we. James 2:4 describes those who discriminate as “judges with evil thoughts.” Instead, we are to love our neighbors as ourselves (James 2:8). In the Old Testament, God divided humanity into two “racial” groups: Jews and Gentiles. God’s intent was for the Jews to be a kingdom of priests, ministering to the Gentile nations. Instead, for the most part, the Jews became proud of their status and despised the Gentiles. Jesus Christ put an end to this, destroying the dividing wall of hostility (Ephesians 2:14). All forms of racism, prejudice, and discrimination are affronts to the work of Christ on the cross.

Jesus commands us to love one another as He loves us (John 13:34). If God is impartial and loves us with impartiality, then we need to love others with that same high standard. Jesus teaches in Matthew 25 that whatever we do to the least of His brothers, we do to Him. If we treat a person with contempt, we are mistreating a person created in God’s image; we are hurting somebody whom God loves and for whom Jesus died.

Racism, in varying forms and to various degrees, has been a plague on humanity for thousands of years. Brothers and sisters of all ethnicities, this should not be. Victims of racism, prejudice, and discrimination need to forgive. Ephesians 4:32 declares, “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.” Racists may not deserve your forgiveness, but we deserved God’s forgiveness far less. Those who practice racism, prejudice, and discrimination need to repent. “Present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God” (Romans 6:13). May Galatians 3:28 be completely realized, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”

Recommended Resource: Bible Answers for Almost All Your Questions by Elmer Towns.

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