Wake up my Heart!

Scripture of the day - Jeremiah 29:11-13: "For I know the plans I have have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart." When I was back at a women's retreat 2 months ago, I was reminded of how much my relationship with my God and my man are tied together. When I met my husband, I was not a Christian. Had you asked, I would have told you I was, because I had always believed in God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit, but I was missing some very crucial pieces. However, shortly after meeting Nathan, we had a long conversation (as they all were then!) and spent time discussing my future plans. I was planning to move back to Wisconsin because I felt I should...but something didn't feel right with those plans. And then Nathan said the words that changed my life forever,...

Last week a chapter of my life closed. It felt weirdly final as I left Barnes Jewish Hospital for the last time. Our current insurance won’t cover anything there…not to mention it is 8 hours away! To really put the stamp of closure on it, I used my last parking garage pass. As I walked to my car Proverbs 3:5-6 kept running through my head, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.” I am at a funny stage in my life. I think I am actually healthy! Crohn’s Disease in in check. My uterus seems to be cooperating with our home remedy treatment. I am sleeping at night. I can eat. But it is times like this that I am used to waiting for the other shoe to drop. Waiting to see blood when I go to the bathroom. Waiting for something unexpected to go wrong. Just waiting. But God doesn’t want me to wait. He wants me to trust him and NOT attempt to glean what I can from my own understan...

Scripture: Genesis 2: 16-17 And the  Lord  God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden;   17  but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil,  for when you eat from it you will certainly die.” In doing a current bible study I am reading a New Bible Commentary which adds an incredible amount of insight to Scripture. The point made about the verses above was a light bulb, of seemingly epic proportions - it made me understand sin in a whole new way. The writers' comment was that "Throughout Scripture, the essence of sin is to put human judgement above divine command."  Isn't that it? We decide on an almost (or for me - really daily) basis to put our judgement above what God tells us to do. This can be in the form of worry (your Heavenly Father tells you not to do it...so why do we?) Or it can be in the form of something big like one of the seven "deadly" sins. Anytime we sin we are doing something wrong a...

Scripture of the Day:     “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace.  In this world you will have trouble.  But take heart! I have overcome  the world.”  John 16:33 Spicing things up today with a song lyric that reminds me of that verse! MercyMe has a song called "Greater" that I absolutely love. Lyrics are:  "There are days when I lose the battle...grace says that it doesn't matter because the Cross already won the war." I have bad days. Days when I yell at my son more than I should and my patience has run out before I get out of bed. Days when the future seems dim and it is hard to focus on putting one foot in front of another. Days when I am so focused on seeing the plank in other's eyes that I can't see the one in my own. Those are days when I lose the battle. What I find most refreshing about the verse and the song is that they remind me that it is OKAY to lose the battle. Christ already won the war by saving our souls....