Timing

God's timing is always perfect. We can be confident in this. I am very thankful for His perfect timing in every aspect of my life. Even when I don't agree with His timing, I know that He is the one who made it. He is the one who spoke and created time. Trusting in Him should be enough. I shouldn't ever question His timing. Thank you Jesus!

Jehovah Jirah

As I lay in my comfy bed and type this I am reminded today of how much God provides. This year especially have we seen this so true and real in our lives. It is so easy to forget that even our next breath is a gift from God. I am thankful for life and all that God fills it with. Whatever it is that we need He already knows. Nothing is a surprise to Him. Thank you Lord!

Also since I didn't get a chance to say what I was thankful for yesterday, I just wanted to give God thanks for some friends of ours nephew who had been diagnosed with cancer and undergoing chemo therapy has had the tests come back and he is cancer free. Thank you Jesus! YOU deserve all the glory God!

Four days of thanksgiving

See, I told you I would mess up. I didn't expect it to happen so quickly though ;) Okay although I have gone MIA the last four days I am here and ready to blog about what has been on my heart. So here it goes, for November 10th, I was so bummed I didn't get on here and write about what I was thankful for. It was and is a big one. I am thankful for HOPE. Romans 4:18 says this, "Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed." The Bible also says "faith is being certain of what you hope for." And again, "Those who hope in the Lord, shall renew their strength..." Christ is my hope, He is the prize. Even when circumstances go against everything I know about God and who He is, I will "walk and not grow weary" because my hope is in Him.

Which leads to the next thing that I am thankful for and praise God for. It is the wonderful truth that I do not have to hope in myself or my own ability to do or not do something. I know the reality is that I am human and I will always come short, no matter how hard I try. "For all have sinned and fall short of the gory of God." I am definitely included in that "all". Oh but to know Him and His promises, to listen to His word brings faith, and faith comes from hope.

Next, I am so very thankful that God does not fit in my limitations. He does not fit it my box. He is like an ocean with no floor, with no shore, He is limitless. I could go on and on with this but my words will never be sufficient enough. So I will just continue to praise Him.

Lastly(for today), I am giving my God thanks for my husband. I am thankful for marriage and what it stands for, for the sanctity of it. I am thankful that God Almighty knew what He is doing when He picked Steve for me. God has sustained us through so much, He has brought us through many low valleys, and He has placed us on the mountain tops together. I consider it a joy to be his wife and I love him dearly. Thank you Jesus!

My Strength

Today I have been thinking a lot about what my friend Rachael said she was thankful for last week. I wanted to share it because I could not agree more with this statement: "I am thankful that I don't have to be the strong one". We can rely on the strength of the Almighty. I am His child, and all I need to do is trust in my Father, trust in the strong one. I don't have to pretend that I have all the answers or have it all together at all times. The truth is that I am a helpless soul who has no strength in and of myself, but my strength comes from the Lord. Thank you Lord that you don't leave me helpless. You reveal to me my helplessness so that You can show me Your greatness, thank you for that Lord!

Presence

Today I am thankful for God's promises that He will never leave me. I am so thankful that He is with me always. No matter what circumstances this life delivers, I can count that He is there with me in the midst of them. I never walk alone...Thank you Jesus!

Health

Today I am thankful for my health and the health of my family. I'm grateful to Jesus for healing Nathanael's little body earlier this year and for keeping him healthy since then. I don't want to ever take for granted the life, health and every breath that He gives me. Thank you Jesus for being my creator and healer!

Family

Today, I am thankful for my family. That including the family of God. My brothers and sisters in Jesus. I am thankful for the support from them, and for the encouragement. I am amazed at how God works in our lives and how His love towards us gives us all a common bond. I love meeting all sorts of different people and yet serving the same Lord. We all come from different backgrounds. We all have a story to tell that is all our own, but when it comes down to it, we have the same king. There is such fellowship there in bringing glory to God. Thank you Lord for intricately working in us all to bring glory to Your name!

Prayer

Today, I am thankful for prayer. I am thankful for the open door to God. For the lengthens He had to go to bring us into fellowship with Himself. I am thankful for the power that torn the veil, so that you and I can know Him. What a blessing. What power there is in prayer, united, in one accord. There He is with us. Thank You Jesus for making a way!

Thanksgiving

Philippians 4:6-8 "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God which surpasses understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things."

I'm back...and thankful! It has been a very long time since I have blogged. But I keep my account open because I knew the reason I started this blog in the first place was for good reason. I wanted to record the goodness of God because I know how quickly I forget. Silly I know, but I need to write it down.

Last year at this time I remember doing the month of thanksgiving. Where everyday I would share something that I was thankful for. I remember wanting to continue it on even past the holiday of Thanksgiving, because there is so many reasons to be thankful. I couldn't squeeze it all in to one month! After thinking about that today it occurred to me if for the rest of my life, if I lived to a ripe age, everyday if I were to say something that I were thankful for, still that would not be enough. I'm going to need heaven for that, eternity. That is how much God deserves my thankfulness.

So for the time being, I have decided to do this for a year, and this blog will be where I record it. I know I will probably fail (just warning you ahead of time), but that never means that God fails. I can't wait to see what the Lord continues to reveal to my heart of all the different aspects of Himself, and to share them on here and why I am thankful. So here it goes... Wait can I start off with two things that I am thankful for today? Well, I'm going to.

First, I am thankful for God's trustworthiness. He is beyond worthy of my trust. Thank you Jesus for showing me that You are trustworthy throughout this past year. You are always deserving of my trust, but especially this year you have shown me in so many beautiful ways. Thank you Jesus! Psalm 84

Second, I am thankful for the good report that Daisy Love Merrick's scan came back all clear today...the cancer cannot be seen. I am thankful for your healing on her body and for the work that you are doing through her and her amazing family. Bless them Lord! Keep them in your perfect peace. Thank you Jesus!

The testing of your faith

"Beloved, do not be amazed and bewildered at the fiery ordeal which is taking place to test your quality, as though something strange (unusual and alien to you or your position) were befalling you. But insofar as you are sharing Christ's sufferings, rejoice, so that when His glory [full of radiance and splendor] is revealed, you may also rejoice with triumph [exultantly]" 1 Peter 4:12-13 Amplified Bible

Wow, I just read my last post. Little did I know of the trail that was about to come our way when I was writing that. I have a feeling this is going to be a really long post, so bare with me.... There are a few things that I want to make record of so that I don't forget.

First of all, let me do a recap of the last month plus. On March 2nd, our 3 year old son, Nathanael, finished a 7 day course of antibiotic for a double ear infection he had. He was taking amoxicillan. The next day was a Wednesday, and that morning I noticed a strange rash on the back of his ear and down his neck. By Friday it had continued to spread all over his body, and so I decided to take him in to urgent care to see what was going on. They told me is was most likely a reaction to the amoxicillin, and that is would clear up in about 4-5 days. The next day was one of my close friend's bridal shower, so the night before I was up pretty late getting ready. Around 11:30pm, I went in to check on the boy and he was warm, really warm. I took his temerature....103.8 under the arm, which meant his core temperature was 104.8. I then went to get some ibuprofen from the store and we put him in the bath and those both helped in lowering his temp. For the next few days he still was battling this fever, and it just wouldn't break. We thought maybe he had the flu or something like that. Monday morning came and we decided to take him to see the pediatrician, there they listened to his chest and knew something wasn't right. We were sent to go get a x-ray done. They x-ray showed he had pneumonia in his left lung. They gave him a shot of antibiotic, rosephin (sp?) and a nebulizer with breathing treatments to do every 4 hours. We were in shock. Pneumonia??? He had no signs of it, which was so strange. Regardless we were just dealing with the news and went home thinking it would get much better. His pediatrician also wanted us to come back the next day to get a repeat x-ray done to see how he was doing.

That night was still bad, really bad. He couldn't sleep for longer than 10 minutes at a time. That morning was Tuesday, March 9th. My mom had come over to help and she asked me what seemed like a very obvious thing to ask. "Should he be feeling much better after yesterday?" And the awnser should have been yes, but it wasn't, and that is when I called to see if we could come in earlier. They suggested we go to Loma Linda Childrens Hospital. We took him to the ER, and I will try to keep this as short as I can.....There the did an x-ray again, and that afternoon we found out he had a severe pneumonia of his left lung, and empyema. Empyema is when the the fluid leaks out from the infection into the surrounding cavity of your lung. By the next morning they decided to do a VATS procedure, which is a video assisted thoracoscopic surgery. By that afternoon he was going in for surgery to get all the fluid out, and then would have a chest tube for any extra fluid that needed to drain out. He had the surgery done, it went really well. While he was in surgery, family and friends that were there with us all had such a sweet time in prayer, just leaning on our Savior. Even now, remembering back to that point, it was hard, so so so hard. I can't even describe to you the heaviness I felt on my heart during that time. When Steve and I went to go see him in recovery, the first thing he said was "I love you mom". I'll never forget that moment.

After that it was recovery time, and just waiting to see if any of the cultures they took grew anything so that they could know what bacteria to target with the antibiotics. Forgive me because I started losing track of the days. I believe it was Saturday or Sunday we found out nothing had grown, so they had to keep him on both antibiotics he was on. We also were told that he had c-diff, a stomach infection that you can get from being on a lot of antibiotics, so he had to be in isolation and couldn't leave the room. After the chest tube was removed, he started having fevers again. So we were battling the fevers once again. At that time Infectious Disease Specialists got involved, and they thought it best to keep him on the antibiotics he was on and to add a third one. After they added the third one the fevers started going down, they were gradually getting better, and that takes us to Friday, March 19th. Thay said we would most likely be discharged by the following Monday if his fevers didn't spike again. We were excited and ready to go home. That Saturday, March 20th, was our 6th wedding anniversary. We got to go out for a couple of hours, but our minds were still back at the hospital.

Monday came, and we were going home, yay!!! Nathanael had a picc line in so he could continue his course of antibiotics at home for two more weeks. While at the hospital they trained me on how to give them to him. I was prepared to have it be somewhat like having a newborn for the next two weeks. We were home Monday evening through Friday morning, when Nathanael broke out in a rash from head to foot. I couldn't get ahold of his pediatrician so it was off to the ER again. I figured he was having an allergic reaction to one of the antibiotics. It was pretty scary, see him break out like that and start to swell. In the ER they decided to switch one of the meds. The one they thought he was having a reaction to. We were admitted again because his white blood cell count was down. So we were back in the hospital for at least the weekend. Saturday morning he had a reaction again, and in the afternoon they wanted to pre-medicate him with Benaydryl and Atterax to see if that would help. It didn't, that was the worst reaction he had up until that point. It was horrible, so we decided to stop that antibiotic as well. And he started on another one that night. Oh and I forgot they pulled his picc line to see if he had infection. So then we were at Tuesday, March 30. He was given a new picc line and was going to go home we thought that day on two antibiotics to finish off his course. We thought wrong. They came back with his blood tests results and they weren't the numbers they wanted to see. I was bummed to say the least. They thought he might possibly have a virus which comes out in a rash, and said we wouldn't see those results until Friday. So we were staying there, possibly for Easter weekend. That night he started itching really bad again after a completely new antibiotic. By that time I was done with the whole thing. He was doing really well, except for these reactions he was having. I just wanted the antibiotics to be done with. I knew they were necessary for the infection in his lung to be wiped out but I hated that he was having to go through all of this. I asked Wednesday morning if they could be stopped and Nathanael be monitored to see how he would do. We waited all day, and that afternoon we were given the news that his blood work came back normal. Everything looked good, and he didn't need to finish the antibiotics! They pulled the picc line again and we got to go home. He has been fever free since Saturday, the 27th. He had a follow up appointment yesterday and still sounds good in his lungs. So far so good :) We got to spend Easter at home as a family.

Okay, now that I have record of all that took place, actually there was alot more, but I'll spare all of those details. Now I wanted to take record of all that the Lord did during this time. First things first, I have come to see how weak and frail my faith is. I am human, and although I didn't ever doubt God during this time, I surely became reliant on myself. Time and time again I discovered that I didn't have the strength enough to get through. My flesh failed. God did not fail, He can not fail. Another important lessons learned, that the body of Christ is phenomenal. The prayers that were offered up on behalf of Nathanael and us all, were astounding. What a blessing to be apart of something so wonderful. I will never be able to thank everyone that has prayed for us during this time, but I pray many blessings on all that did. And if you were one of those who uttered sweet prayers up to God and you are reading this now thank you so very much. You are precious and your prayers are precious. I also realized the importance of prayer together, in one accord.

The Lord really spoke to me through song during this time and I want to share a couple of times he did. The first time was when we were sitting in the hospital room and we had the christian radio station on, and a song that was playing said this, "He is with you in the ICU, when the doctors don't know what to do, He is with you." This brought me to tears because it couldn't have been more true. One day as Nathanael lay sleeping in the ICU hospital bed, I had a vision, a picture of Jesus sitting right there with us. He was sitting on the foot of the hospital bed with his back towards me and his hand laying gently on Nathanael's leg. He was with us!!!!! The second time was the last Tuesday when we were supposed to be going home, and Nathanael"s blood work came back abnormal, and they said we would have to stay. That morning when I was waiting outside the room while the were giving him another picc line, I remembered Psalm 121. I put it on my facebook status because I just couldn't get it out of my mind. "I lift up my eyes to the hills—where does my help come from? My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth." Later that evening I left to go home for a couple of hours. I was at the end of my rope, my strength had failed again, but then God stepped in. The whole drive home my radio was turned down, but when I turned it up this song was playing....

God, my God, I cry out
Your beloved needs You now
God, be near calm my fear and take my doubt
Your kindness is what pulls me up
Your love is all that draws me in

I will lift my eyes to the Maker
of the mountains I can't climb
I will lift my eyes to the Calmer
of the oceans raging wild
I will lift my eyes to the Healer
of the hurt I hold inside
I will lift my eyes, lift my eyes to You

God, my God, let mercy sing
her melody over me
and God, right here all I bring
is all of me
Your kindness is what pulls me up
Your love is all that draws me in


I will lift my eyes to the Maker
of the mountains I can't climb
I will lift my eyes to the Calmer
of the oceans raging wild
I will lift my eyes to the Healer
of the hurt I hold inside
I will lift my eyes, lift my eyes to You


'Cause You are and You were and You will be forever
the Lover I need to save me
'Cause You fashioned the earth and You hold it together, God
so hold me now


"I will lift my eyes" by Bebo Norman I will try to add these two songs to my play list on here so you all can hear them too.

It was gorgeous day and the mountains were so visible and beautiful that day. My help comes from the one who created those mountains, and created my Nathanael too. A peace that could only come from the Creator, came over me. It was glorious. My God is glorious.

So here we are at home, almost for a week now. Still I am dealing with fears that come and go, just a constant reminder of how feeble I am, and how much in need of a Savior I am. 2 Corinthians 12:9

Words

My LORD is good with words. Not only is He good at communicating, He is the master. The ways in which He speaks to my heart are amazingly unique to me. But the ways that He can speak to you, are so directed towards you and not anyone else. I love that.

I have such peace in knowing that the one true God is capable of such great things. Things far greater than I know at this time in my journey. I pray as I grow in grace, I come to realize these "great" things, as not me just knowing he is capable, but experiencing it in my own life. I want to experience his greatness more than I already have. The good news, he wants to share it with me, and you too.

I started reading 'Victorious Christian Living' by Alan Redpath, today. Thanks to my dad and his supply of books, I didn't have to go out and buy it. I know that this is going to be a blessing to read. In the first chapter he says this, "My dear readers, at the very outset of your consideration of this book, I ask you to consider carefully your own spiritual experience. Are you in the wilderness of defeat, or in the land of victory? Is your life a constant struggle against the powers of darkness, with constant defeat, or is it a victorious war waged in the power of a Risen Lord?" Am I willing to go there? My first response is "Yes, I want to go there!" I want to live that victorious Christian life, where there is no denying that Christ lives in me. Where there is no denying that He is a great God.


Right now, I feel like the rich young ruler in Mark 10: 17-22. I am ready and willing to step out and say "Yes, I want to go there!", but am I willing to count the cost? Are you willing to count the cost? I was talking with a very dear friend on mine on the phone earlier today, and we were talking about wanting all of these results in our lives. For example, wanting to be healthy and fit, wanting to be a prayer warrior, wanting to be successful at this or that, wanting, wanting, wanting.... And we came to the conclusion, that yes, we do indeed want all these things, but we really don't want to go through the process of getting there. We just want to be there already. God designed life in such a way whether in the spiritual or physical, that you don't just "arrive". It requires discipline, it requires giving up of your time, it requires a whole lot of "dying". *Sigh* But dying is no fun....no it's not that great, but living, truly living as God planned, is so much better. It is so much better than living that old dead life because it is freedom, and that is were we experience God's power. Taste and see that the LORD is good. Just a taste and we will know that that life, that resurrected life, is the one we are meant to live.

Thank you Jesus, for being so good with words.

Be Still

"Be still and know that I am God"

Some devotional books that I've been reading (again), really jumped out and grasped my heart this morning. Just wanted to share them.

From Streams in the Desert:

"I do not believe we have even begun to understand the wonderful power there is in being still. We are in such a hurry, always doing, that we are in danger of not allowing God the opportunity to work. You may be sure that God will never say to us "Stand still", "Sit still", or "Be still," unless He is going to do something. This is our problem regarding the christian life: we want to do something to be Christians, instead of allowing Him to work in us."

From My Utmost for His Highest:

"Suppose God wants to teach you to say, "I know how to be abased"- Are you ready to be offered up like that? Are you ready to be not so much as a drop in a bucket- to be so hopelessly insignificant that you are never thought of again in connection with the life you served?"

That one hit me real hard, I don't know if I am ready to be that "poured out". My spirit is willing, but my flesh is not. Lord, help me.

And lastly, from one of the most blessed little books that I adore so much called 'God Calling' by two listeners. Each day is something that the Lord Jesus spoke to these woman who remain anonymous. Here is today's entry:

"Walk with Me. I will teach you. Listen to Me and I will speak. Continue to meet Me, in spite of all the opposition and every obstacle, in spite of days when you may hear no voice, and there may come no intimate heart-to-heart telling.
As you persist in this, and make a life-habit of it, in many marvellous ways I will reveal My will to you. You shall have more sure knowing of both the present and the future. But that will be only the reward of the regular coming to meet Me.
Life is a school. There are many teachers. Not to everyone do I come personally. Believe literally that the problems and difficulties of your lives can be explained by Me more clearly and effectually than by any other."

Just give Him a chance. Call out to Him. He so desperately wants to speak to us in our present lives.

Individuality

Psalm 139:14 "I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well."

I LOVE this scripture. It just speaks volumes to me. When I stop to think about all the people that I have been privilege to meet, I love how each one is so uniquely made by the hand of God. I just adore how no one person is the same as the other. Just think God formed YOU in your mothers womb. AMAZING.

On a related note, baby Eden was born today, to my cousin Shazia! Congrats to them :) Praise God for that precious new life.

Overwhelmed

Psalm 61:2,3 "From the ends of the earth I call to you, I call as my heart grows overwhelmed; lead me to the rock that is higher than I. For you have been my refuge, a strong tower againt the foe."


It seems lately that the Lord Jesus has been calling me back to times in my life that he has spoken amazing truths to me. I have shared a few on here already, and again I am priveledged to share something else. I know it's not just for me. When the Lord speaks, he speaks to all of his children.

My personality is one that can tend to get overwhelmed easily. One night as I was sitting in my Philippians class at the Bible college, around eitgh years ago, I started to feel overwhelmed, one of the many times this has happened to me. I was completely overwhelmed with the thought of all the people who had yet to hear the gospel, overwhelmed with the "work" that needed to be done. I don't know how to explain this feeling other than it seemed like a real heaviness upon my shoulders. And then came words from my sweet Savior, "Don't be overwhelmed with all of that, be overwhelmed with Me".

My primary goal, as Paul wrote in Philippians 3:8-10, needs to be to Know HIM. As I become overwhlemed with him, all of the other "stuff" faids away.

If you find yourself overwhelmed today, turn to the rock that is higher. He will overwhelm you with his goodness, his grace, his power, and so much more. All that he is, He wants to pour out on you, to fill you to overflowing. Praise God. He is all we should overwhelm ourselves with!

You're Beautiful

A song by Phil Wickham:

I see Your face in every sunrise
The colors of the morning are inside Your eyes
The world awakens in the light of the day
I look up to the sky and say
You’re beautiful

I see Your power in the moonlit night
Where planets are in motion and galaxies are bright
We are amazed in the light of the stars
It’s all proclaiming who You are
You’re beautiful, You're beautiful

I see you there hanging on a tree
You bled and then you died and then you rose again for me
Now you are sitting on Your heavenly throne
Soon we will be coming home
You’re beautiful, you're beautiful

When we arrive at eternity’s shore
Where death is just a memory and tears are no more
We’ll enter in as the wedding bells ring
Your bride will come together and we’ll sing
You’re beautiful, You're beautiful, You're beautiful

I see Your face, You're beautiful, You're beautiful, You're beautiful
I see Your face, You're beautiful, You're beautiful, You're beautiful
I see Your face, I see Your face
I see Your face, You’re beautiful, You’re beautiful, You’re beautiful


Today I remembered something. The week before I got married, I was trying to wrap my mind around the amazing fact of Christ being our bridegroom, and the church being the bride. As I was praying, it came to my attention how sad if a bride were not completely and utterly captivated and so much in love with her soon to be husband. And so lovingly, I felt that the Lord Jesus allowed me to feel for a brief second that that is indeed what He has felt so many times. It broke my heart, and if you are a born again Christian it should break yours too. He gave up everything for us, and loves us far beyond anything we could ever imagine in this life. Do you love Him back? The Bible says we love him because he first loved us. I think it's time that we allow the love of God to flood our lives so that we can love him in return. "I want to know you" should be the cry of our hearts. When we see him all we can say is "you're beautiful". That is the response when we allow God to infiltrate our lives. But it's a choice. And, just like in any relationship, it involves giving up of ourselves and our own desires.

Lord, reveal to us how great your love is. How wide, how deep, how far it reaches, beyond all we could ask or think in our finite minds. You are great God, and your love towards me is great. God I pray our desire would be to know YOU. In Jesus name, Amen.

1 John 4:9 "This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only son into the world that we might live through him."

Out of the mouth of babes

This morning Nathanael grabbed my bible and started "reading" to me. He is three and can not read. But I'm pretty sure he gets the idea of what the Bible is all about, after hearing this statement. He said "Okay mom, say this after me, The Lord is God, and Jesus loves me". He just melted my heart, and I had to share. Happy Saturday everyone, have a blessed day!

Living Victoriously

What a week. WOW. Where to begin.

There have been some mountain high times to this week, and then some all time valley lows. BUT God is still God. Regardless of circumstances, HE IS GOD. That seemed to be the theme of this week.

I keep hearing Him whisper in my ear, "Remember who I am." And He keeps reminding me that He created the heavens and the earth. He is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. It is He who split the Red Sea, so that His people could walk through on dry land. He is Almighty, powerful God. Jesus, who conquered sin and death; He is my God, and I am His child. What an amazing thing. If that doesn't blow your mind, than what will?

What do you fear? That question kept coming up throughout this week as well. Another theme. But really what do you fear? Psalms 111:10 says "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom..." It was brought to my attention that I was fearing other "things" in this life. The truth is there is nothing to fear, except God. Fear God. Do not fear poverty, sickness, or even death. None of these things can separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus, our Lord.
This is how we live a victorious life. We are not shaken when things happen because our hope and foundation is in that which can not be uprooted. Romans 15:13 says "May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." That is my prayer for us all, that the hope we have been given with overflow into our everyday lives. We don't have to wait to get to heaven in order to be victorious, we can be victorious right now.

I am rejoicing because I have been given an amazing gift of hope. I see God's hand in ways He is providing for us. Our heavenly Father is holding our hands as he leads us along this journey of life.

One last thing to share that was such a blessing for us to hear is that some of our dear friends were graciously and miraculously given a house to rent. And it's very close to us :) Thank you Lord for providing this place for them!

Well, that was a bit all over the place, but I hope it is an encouragement to someone who reads this. God blessings to you until next time, Joanna

Good News

I've never cared for writing all that much, but I would prefer it over speaking any day. So here I am starting a blog in this year of 2010.
I am really starting this for a number of reasons. A couple I would like to share today. The first one being, I am a follower of Jesus Christ. He rescued me, and I hope this can be used as a tool to rescue some other lost soul in this world.
Second, I've heard and seen a lot of bad news lately. You know what I'm talking about. You turn on the news and see it every day. Death, war, disease, catastrophes, financial downfall. We are all subject to these things. This world is full of them, everywhere you turn. And so, this morning I was contemplating all of this and decided I want to start sharing some good news, while I am here and able.

This last Friday, the first of the year, I left with my son to go run a few errands. As we were out driving, I was pulled over for not coming to a complete stop behind the crosswalk line. As the officer came up to my vehicle I was bummed to say the least. He asked for my license and registration, and went back to his vehicle. As I am sitting there waiting, I heard my son's sweet voice say "Mom, are you okay? You gonna get a ticket Mom?" I responded, "I'm okay sweetie". What seemed like forever passed by. I was trying to justify in my mind why I didn't deserve this ticket, "I came to a stop, just not before the line" I was telling myself. It didn't seem fair, but I was fully prepared to get citation that afternoon. Then he was there at my window again. "Miss, I'm only going to give you a warning today." he said. My heart dropped, I was so thankful I wasn't going to have to pay, or have it go on my driving record.

As I drove away with Nathanael in the back seat saying "You okay mom?", I couldn't help thinking about grace. I was shown grace that day by that officer. I had broke the law, and I deserved that ticket, and yet I was driving away without one. Which brings me to the next part.

We all have a death sentence, that's the bad news. Measuring up to God's law is not possible. The ten commandments for example, we all fall short of obeying them. The Bible says that we have all sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Just like I was there trying to justify why I didn't deserve that ticket, we try to justify that we aren't that bad of people. We may have sinned in our lives, but not to deserve death and eternal separation from God, we tell ourselves. Sin is sin , whether it is a white lie, or homosexuality, or murder. It is all breaking of the law, we deserve what's coming to us. But not so long ago, a baby was born of a virgin. His name is Jesus, God in human flesh. He was born into this world, to save us from our debt. We were found guilty, but Jesus Christ took our blame. He bore it on a cross, and took on our death sentence, and then rose from the grave three days later. That is the glorious good news! We are found blameless now. We don't get the ticket, not only that, but our slate is wiped clean. It doesn't count against us on a record somewhere.

All we are asked to do is believe that Jesus did that, and we are called sons and daughters of God. We are adopted into His family. Hallelujah to my great God and His amazing reigning grace! I hope and pray as I continue this blog that I can spread some joy. Thank you for reading, God bless you, Joanna