My First Giveaway

My friend Channy leads a small group of our youth on Wednesday nights. Recently they have been studying Crazy Love, Overwhelmed by a Relentless God , a book by Francis Chan. She recommended the book to our Bible Study group and oh my goodness!

This is an excerpt from the back cover: "Does something deep inside your heart long to break free from the status quo? Are you hungry for an authentic faith that addresses the problems of our world with tangible, even radical, solutions? God is calling you to a passionate love relationship with Himself. Because the answer to religious complacency isn't working harder at a list of do's and don'ts -- it's falling in love with God. And once you encounter His love, as Francis describes it, you will never be the same.

For quite some time I have felt something in my soul that I just couldn't put a name to. Like I didn't have this God thing down pat. Oh I love God with all my heart , I believe in Him and I believe Him, but maybe there was something more; that I needed to go deeper. I wasn't content with where I was with God. And it didn't have a thing to do with God. It was all me. I am not the only one who has felt this way. My friends Leah and Channy were talking to each other recently about these same feelings. Channy termed it restlessness. That is exactly what I have felt. A restlessness to take my relationship with God to a deeper level. You see He is already there, has always been there. He's been waiting for me! That just astounds me. The Sovereign God of the universe desires a deeper relationship with me.

This book is incredible. It will change the way that you view God and the way you view how He feels about you. Leah, Channy and Spence are facilitating an online discussion group on Crazy Love here if you would like to check it out.

So that brings me to my giveaway. Yesterday while I was in LifeWay, the Lord prompted me to give a copy of Crazy Love away. I pray that it will bless you as much as it has me.

If you would like to be entered into the drawing for Crazy Love please leave a comment by Friday, April 3rd. Make sure you leave contact information. Here's the highly scientific way that I will pick the winner: the first comment will be number 1, the second number 2, and so forth. My sweet hubby will then draw the winning number out of a hat and I will get in touch with you and will send your copy of Crazy Love the following week. I hope you are impressed by the high degree of professionalism that this drawing will entail.

Watching My Mouth

My Scripture memorization continues this week with another verse that pertains to my mouth. I love this one. It lets me know that I have God's help in watching what goes into as well as what comes out of my mouth. And I need a lot of help so who better to ask than GOD?

Set a guard over my mouth, O LORD; keep watch over the door of my lips. Psalm 141:3

I have truly been blessed by learning Scripture and hiding God's Word in my heart and only wish that I had begun this years ago. However, it is never too late to begin. I pray that you are being blessed as well.

A Facelift

I have had several people comment that they liked my new look. I have to give a shout out to Patty and Holly at Crown Laid Down Designs for the facelift.

If you want a complete blog makeover or just a little tweak here and there they can do it! Their button is on my sidebar.

I love my new look and am sorry that it has taken me so long to give them proper credit. Thanks Patty and Holly.

Memory Verses

I have felt the Holy Spirit leading me to memorize Bible verses focusing on my mouth. Specifically, what words come out of them for obvious reasons and because I am trying to lose weight, what goes into it.  Does anyone else have trouble with your mouth?

I love the Word of God and I desperately want to apply it to every area of my life.  So for the next several weeks my Scripture memorization will be all about using my mouth wisely.  My next verse isn't really about what goes in or comes out, but it fits perfectly with the theme.  It is all about consuming myself with God.

"Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him." Psalm 34:8

Lord, help us to learn Your Word, and to hide it in our hearts.  Help us to apply it to every area of our lives.

One True God

I heard this song for the first time this afternoon . Apparently I have been hiding under a rock. But I had my praise on in the drive-thru line at the bank. A beautiful description of our God.



Mark Harris - One True God
From the album Windows And Walls

I don't have a God I can put on a stand
Or a God I hold in the palm of my hand
I have a God that's holding me
And I don't have a God that I can create
In the place I live with the money I make
I have a God, He made everything
So I don't need a temporary man made deity
When I got the real thing I got the real thing


He's the Lord of all the earth
The maker of all things
He alone is the one true God
Kingdoms rise and fall
But even through it all
He remains The one true God


I don't have a thing that I got on my own
I don't have a care that I carry alone
But I have a God who's carrying me
I don't have sin that He doesn't forgive
And I don't have a heart that is worthy of His
But I have a God who still loves me
So I don't need a temporary man made deity
When I got the real thing I got the real thing


Who is this King of Glory
The Lord strong and mighty
Who is this King of Glory
The Lord strong and mighty
Who is this King of Glory
Who is this King of Glory


Label: Provident Music Distribution

Road Trip

While we were in San Antonio we took a little road trip to Gruene which (as their website says) is conveniently located between San Antonio and Austin. I love to go there if I am in the area and thought I would share some of my photos with you.

We had lunch at the Gristmill Restaurant which I love. It is situated on the banks of the Guadalupe River and they have several decks for outside dining.

The entrance to the Gristmill Restaurant.

A black squirrel was dining there that day as well.

But my very favorite place to go in Gruene is Buck Pottery.

Here are the beautiful pottery pieces that I have collected from Buck Pottery over the years.

I fell in love with the Texas Mountain Laurel. It is full of beautiful purple blooms that smell like grapes.

Promotion

 On February 25th my parents and I flew to San Antonio to participate in my sister Sharon's promotion ceremony.  She has been in the Air Force for 21 years and was recently promoted to Colonel.  She asked me to give the invocation and my parents to change the rank on her shirt.

Her husband Bob and her stepson Conner and her boss Colonel Naomi Lawless changed the rank on her jacket Colonel (Ret.) Laura Alvarado  was the Presiding Official of the ceremony. 

Colonel Alvarado spoke on the importance of being a servant leader and how Sharon served those that worked for her. She spoke of Sharon's many accomplishments in her Air Force Career. Then Sharon spoke to us for the first time as a Colonel.  I cried through her speech too. She might be a Colonel, but she is still my little sister and I am so proud of her.

Sharon's husband Bob, our Dad and Mom, Sharon, Conner and me.

Congratulations Sharon!  I love and miss you.

Stuck In San Antonio

I am sitting in the San Antonio airport waiting for my plane.  It was scheduled to leave at 6:33 p.m.  It is now 8:15.  My parents and I came out to participate in my sister's promotion ceremony(more about that later).   Yesterday our flight was scheduled to leave at 12:33 p.m.  It was delayed due to the bad weather in Atlanta.  It was repeatedly delayed several times and we got an update hourly.   We actually made it on the plane, but before everyone could board, they asked us all to get off of the plane.  Finally after waiting for five hours  they decided to cancel the flight.  The Atlanta Airport was closed.  If we actually made it onto a plane and took off for Atlanta, there was no guarantee that there would be a gate to accommodate us.  We might have to sit on the runway for several hours with no food or bathroom.  Or we might have been diverted to another destination like Birmingham.  There's nothing wrong with Birmingham, but we would have been stuck there as well.   So here we are again. Waiting.  But the word that keeps running through my mind is provision.  It was one of the subjects of my Bible Study last week. 

We are studying our functional idols in "No Other Gods".  Sometimes we find it hard to turn loose of our functional gods because of their provision to us.  We must rely on God and God alone to meet all of our needs. In Genesis 22, God asked Abraham to sacrifice Isaac, his only son.  Abraham didn't know all of the details and assumed that God would raise Isaac from the dead.  He knew that God's promise of making him a great nation was made possible with Isaac.  He told Isaac that God himself would provide a lamb for sacrifice.  But God provided a ram.  God's provision isn't always what we think it will be or should be. But it is always the best for us.  We have to give up our functional gods and the provision that we think we have with them.  God's provision for us is perfect. Sometimes we can't see the perfection of His provision until later. 

So I am thankful that while God didn't provide a plane for us yesterday, we had a place to stay. We called my sister and she picked us up again and we went back to her house.   His provision kept us from sitting on a runway for several hours.  His provision gave me an extra day with my sister.  His provision is perfect.