Sharing the Writings of My Mom

My mom has recently started a website, sharing her thoughts and life lessons.  Mom has always had a desire to write; encouraging and challenging others on a variety of topics.  She has many years of experience being a wife, mother, friend, teacher and now grandmama!  She is my greatest mentor and constantly pushing me to grow in all area's of my life.  I am excited to be able to share her wisdom with you all through her website.  She is an excellant writer, vividly painting a picture through words.  Her one desire is to glorify God whether it be writing about faith, home making, femininity, parenting, marriage, or whatever God has pressed her to share.
Mom is blogging regularly (much better than me... ;-) and I guarantee you will be blessed by her writings.  So steep a cup of tea and read an article or two... and please leave her comments!  I know they encourage her as they do any writer.  May your day be blessed.

A Mom's Many Lessons in Living Above the Noise and For the Glory of God

Behold, the Lamb of God

Behold, the lamb of God

Who takes away our sin
Behold the lamb of God
The life and light of men
Behold the lamb of God
Who died and rose again
Behold the lamb of God who comes
To take away our sin

Broken hearts--behold our broken hearts
Fallen far--we need you
Behold the lamb of God

Son of God--emmanuel
Son of man--we need you
Behold the lamb
The hope of man
Behold the lamb of God

-Andrew Peterson

Merry Christmas and a blessed New Year my friends! 

I pray your Christmas week is a joyous celebration of Emmanuel; God with us.  May this coming year be filled with the peace of resting in the blood of His cross and may we each rise up with renewed fervency to serve our King as humble servants.  May we proclaim to the world with our mouth, hands and feet: "Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing." Revelation 5:12

May Christ be constantly in our vision; the lamb of God, the life and light of men.

A Baby Born to Die

I love Christmas time.  Ask anyone who knows me only a little and they will tell you that it is my favorite time of the year.  Everything about it brings me great joy; the beautiful decorations, the happy cheer in stores, the ringing of bells, the yummy treats, the elegant colors, the many surprises, the expectancy of family all being together.  While schedules are always so busy during the holidays, the air seems to be filled with such peace and joy.  I love it. 

But as I sit in my room tonight by the twinkling lights around my window, I have on my mind something which makes all the delights of Christmas become as dust in comparison; my Lord Jesus Christ.  The Savior who came as a babe.  This year I have been dwelling on Him much more than any other Christmas.  I can't get my mind off one incredible fact... this Baby was born to die.  The sole purpose of His coming was to die, to hang on that cross for our sins.  He came ultimately to suffer and die, to face the Father's wrath in our place.  This is reality, this is truth, this is the beauty of the Savior.  And this is Christmas, we would have no reason to celebrate the birth of this baby if He did not die.

One of my favorite Christmas songs is Bebo Norman's "Born to Die".  The last verse so beautifully portrays the depth of what Jesus' death has done for us; depraved sinners.


"And the angles filled the sky
All of heaven wondered why
Why their King would choose to be
Be a baby born to die
...
To break the chains
Of guilt and sin
To find us here, to pull us in
So we can join in Heaven's song
And with one voice around the throne"

Because of His death we are free, the chains of sin are broken.  And because we are covered in His blood we will come before the throne of God with no guilt or shame.  All praise and glory to Jesus, our intercessor - the baby born to die. 

"Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners - of whom I am the worst... Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever.  Amen."  I Timothy 1:15, 17

And so as you and I enjoy the delights and blessings of Christmas, may He remain our North Star.  May the incredible beauty of our Jesus be fervently pressed on our hearts and minds.  May we die to self so that Christ may more fully live in us.  May our celebration be worship to the King of Kings, the Savior who was born to die

The words of C.T. Studd

He has shackled my shame...

Earlier this week I had the opportunity to attend a Shane and Shane concert.  Which was so exciting and such an amazing evening!  I am so blessed by Shane and Shane, a band who does not seek worldly acceptance but sings for the glory of our great God.  Their lyrics are filled with truth and continually set my eyes on the glorious work of the cross.  Sadly, this is a great rarity among Christian bands.
I've always enjoyed the Shane's music but it wan't until this summer at Ellerslie that I really came to love their songs.  We sang their songs all the time for our worship and often discussed the lyrics.  I love when I know a song so well from singing it that I'm not just listening to recordings for my entertainment but actually hearing the words and worshipping God. (in the car by myself is the best place for this... :-)

Children  from "His Little Feet", an orphan choir. 

So because of having recently gone to the concert, I've been listening to Shane and Shane all week.  Loving the old songs and finding new ones.  I have had so many songs I want to post but I can't decide which one.  But the lyrics of "Liberty" keep running through my mind.  And as I reread through the song this morning I decided to post it.  This is truth; there IS liberty in Christ, He has WON and shackled our shame!  Oh what unspeakable joy and peace there is resting in the work of our Jesus!

The Lord is the Spirit
Where the Spirit of the Lord is, now
There is liberty
And the Spirit lives inside of me
Where the Spirit of the Lord is, now
There is liberty, there is liberty,
There is liberty

For freedom You set me free
And yes, I am free indeed
You rewrote my name
And shackled my shame
You opened my eyes to see
I am free

When the spirit of the world
Comes to kill me and enslave me I will say
There is liberty
For the chains of sin that once entangled me
Have been broken, now I'm singing 'cause I'm free
There is liberty, there is liberty,
There is liberty

The storm rolled in
It was dark in the land
As the Son of Man
Was crucified
You don't take his life
He laid it down
He paid the price
And shed His blood

It is done!
The veil is torn
He has won
And I am free

For freedom You set me free
And yes, I am free indeed
You rewrote my name
And shackled my shame
You opened my eyes to see

I am free

-"Liberty" by Shane and Shane from the album "The One You Need"

Peace through the blood of His cross

--I am in no way any sort of Bible scholar or educated writer.  This is simply my feeble attempt of putting to words what God revealed to me this morning and the extraordinary beauty that I am seeing the Gospel is.--


"All things were created through Him and for Him." Colossians 1:16b

This verse began my morning bible time today.  Such a simple passage yet do I fully comprehend it's depth?  ALL things exist for Him.  You and I exist for Him.  The reason we were created by Him is for Him!  For His glory alone.


"For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell, and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross." Colossians 1:19,20

It was that last sentence that stopped me.  How often have I read through these verses and never seen, or rather understood, this statement of the cross.  Christ has made peace through the blood of His cross.  As the following verses say, that through His death we are presented holy and blameless in His sight.  This is the peace of His blood on the cross.  Do we live in this peace, confident and firm in having been reconciled to Him?

"And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight..."  Colossians 1:21,22

It is this that fills me with complete awe and leaves me speechless at what Christ accomplished on the Cross.  I, a depraved, wicked, sinner have been made presentable and blameless unto God!  The King of Kings!  No matter how hard I try, how good I am or how much I desire to glorify God, I can not even be presented to Him without having been made blameless through Christ's blood.  This is the abundant peace Christ has offered us through His blood.  But we must continue on to the following verse:

"...if indeed you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard." Colossians 1:23

We must continue in unbending faith to grasp hold of this peace.  Stand firm in this truth that He has reconciled us through His death and be grounded in the hope of the gospel.

I praise God for revealing to me at a deeper level the power and peace of the blood of the cross.  It amazes me that the clearer I understand the Gospel, the more overwhelming and vast becomes.  Oh what a God we serve; mighty, powerful and glorious beyond our imaginations!
May you have peace and joy resting in Jesus today.

My prayer to be a decision woman

“Father, make of me a crisis man. Bring those I contact to decision. Let me not be a milepost on a single road; make me a fork, that men must turn one way or another on facing Christ in me.” 

~Jim Eliott

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