man-made vs God!

This past week I was reading Isaiah 46 where I was greatly reminded about the greatness of God over any man-made idol. Check out what I saw...

Bel and Nebo, the gods of Babylon, bow as they are lowered to the ground.
They are being hauled away on ox carts. The poor beasts stagger under the weight.

*"carrying" God around with you will never be heavy.  You will not stagger under His weight.  In fact He tells us that His burden is easy and light.  Matthew 11:30!

Both the idols and their owners are bowed down.
The gods cannot protect the people, and the people cannot protect the gods.
They go off into captivity together.

*following God promises protection.  He says over and over again in scripture that He will take care of you, you do not have to be afraid. Psalm 18:2!  AND He promises freedom to those who trust in Him and allow Him to be their God. Galatians 5:1! 

“Listen to me, descendants of Jacob, all you who remain in Israel.
I have cared for you since you were born.
Yes, I carried you before you were born.

*He knows everything about us, from when we were being formed in our mother's womb. Psalm 139! Idols know nothing about you!

I will be your God throughout your lifetime—until your hair is white with age.
I made you, and I will care for you.
I will carry you along and save you.

*Idols can do nothing to care for you.  Deuteronomy 31:6!

“To whom will you compare me? Who is my equal?
Some people pour out their silver and gold and hire a craftsman to make a god from it.
Then they bow down and worship it!

*Idols we have to create ourselves, give them some kind of value and name in our lives.  God is God without anything from us or anything we have ever done!  He is eternal!  The gold and silver will fade away, but God is never changing! Romans 1:20!

They carry it around on their shoulders, and when they set it down, it stays there.
It can’t even move!

*I just love this picture.  You set the idol down and it can't move.  You want it to go somewhere else, you have to pick it up and move it.  But God... always there, everywhere!

And when someone prays to it, there is no answer.
It can’t rescue anyone from trouble.

*God hears us when we pray.  Psalm 34:6!

Remember the things I have done in the past.
For I alone am God!
I am God, and there is none like me.


*And I love how the verses end.  There is no one like God.  And how great it is to remember all that He has done!

This psalm was such a good reminder for me to be aware of where I am tempted to put things before God.  Nothing can compare to Him.  And nothing is like Him.  And so when I am looking to others or to things to take His place, to meet some need, to get help.  I will be disappointed.  And I need to make sure I am going to the source of all good, of love, of joy, of justice... FIRST for everything!  So thankful that God is who He is!

(A little note:  I am not saying that people can not meet needs that we have.  I absolutely believe that God uses people in our lives.  But they can not be put before Him!)

*picture from a google search

Video Thursday : My Few Moments of Fame

How ya doin'?

On July 3rd Todd Wagner, the pastor of my church, gave a message that stirs me, challenges me, and calls the church to be what God calls the church to be.  It is worth your hour(ish)!!!

http://www.watermarkradio.com/index.php?id=153&channel=237&series=248&message=1

"While He died to make men holy, let us live to make men free..."

HOW YA DOIN'?

The Meltdown!

This past week I got to go to Florida to stay with my good friend Tracey Beckwith, her daughter Hannah, and a few of Hannah's friends. It was a very relaxing week.  I will post sunset photos later.  

But first I wanted to put in one of my highlights... 

We were informed of these amazing grilled cheese sandwiches in Seaside.  So Tracey and I ventured over and ordered one.  We ordered the smokin' turkey.  It had pepper jack cheese, turkey, avocado, bacon, and this chipotle ranch on texas toast.  Can you say... AMAZING!!!

They sell them out of an airstream and the name of the place is... The Meltdown on 30A.  It's located on highway 30A.  Their tshirts said... "I had a meltdown on 30A."  Made me chuckle.  I really wanted one but they did not have my size :(

Anyway... if you are ever there... you should try one... they are unbelievably good.  And then just down from there is a place called Frost Bite.  I got a Lemon Meringue Pie snow cone from there.  Sorry no pic, I ate it too fast!  But it too was YUMMY!

Video Thursday : Why Community?

Such a great picture of why we need community and to be willing to get in the mess with people.
Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 1 Peter 5:8

Making the Invisible... Visible!

This website is called Invisible People: Homeless Has a Name .

This story was the first I heard...

And then found out that Carey even has a blog... It's called... Tale's From the Driver's Side.
Genius name since she lives out of her van with her 2 daughters.

And their is a Facebook page... We Are Visible.

I don't think I will say much more...

No Really... I Feel Crazy!

I've been feeling crazy as of late!  Now a few of you may say... what's new.  And to this I say... TRUE TRUE... but I promise, I feel crazy because I don't feel my normal crazy!
Lots of things have been thrown around... I might be perimenopausal, which means I might be getting close to menopause, which then means I am getting closer to the reality I may not get to have my own kids.  And yes this lead to some tears.  But after one set of blood work two different doctors said they don't think that is where I am... but... we aren't done figuring it out.

And then this week...

I have been stuck with needles way more than I planned, I've peed in a cup and layed in a tube where I felt like I was in WWII with machine guns all around me. (translated MRI) (Checking on this little thing that we found in 2008, that may have been there since the day I was born and we are just making sure it has not grown and is not messing with me now!)
At the end of all of it I broke down into tears because I'm just tired.  I want to know what is going on with me.  I want to know what it is so I can process and deal and move on.  I don't even know that I care what it is as much as I want to know so I can get on with it.  But I realize I don't maybe totally mean that.
I'm not sleeping well, my memory is foggy, my thinking not always clear, I cry at weird things, I cry at very logical things, at times I'm perfectly happy with my life, at others I feel great fear of what might be forever.  I have moments that I could just curl up on the 120 degree concrete and sleep and others I feel like I could go walk a marathon.  All just so confusing and frustrating!
So here's the great news... I'm out... I'm off for the weekend hanging with my Aggie girls and then next week... headed to Florida to just chill on the beach with Tracey and Hannah. YAY!  I think my brain, my body, and I know my veins need a break.
If you feel lead to pray... please pray that there will be ANSWERS!!!

Video Thursday : Just A Little Laughter

Video Thursday : Jacob's Turn

Love the part where Jacob's mom says... "... but I think he already knew that, I was just catchin' up!"

A New Favorite!!!

I just wanted to be sure and share with all of you this amazingly great ice cream that I just discovered!  It's called AmeriCone Dream by Ben & Jerry's!  It is vanilla ice cream, caramel swirled in, and chocolate covered waffle cone. It is DELICIOUS!
And at Kroger on Northwest Highway and Plano Rd they have the little bitty ones for $1!
Ok, that is all... now go getcha some!

Fun Surprise!

Fun surprise yesterday!  I saw on Facebook that my cousin would be in Dallas painting a mural.  I messaged her to find out where, what, and when.  Found out that she was given one of the pillars in the Bark Park in Deep Ellum to paint.  She is gifted.  You can check out her website at originalyouth.com.  

I thought I was just going to stop by and say hi for a few minutes, but ended up ditching my idea of going to the pool and sticking around and helping them paint.  It was really fun and relaxing (at least as relaxing as you can be in 100 degree heat!)

Here are some pics of what it looks like.  There are lots of painted pillars down there... go check it out.

LOVE LOVE LOVE the bones in the tree!

 Here is Sarah!

Aren't they so cute :)

We also went for a late lunch to Serious Pizza.  And it was a seriously large pizza... check it out!

It really ended up being a fun surprise in my day to get to just hang out with Sarah, her hubby and their friends.  Thanks Sarah for letting me play with y'all!

Just For Today!

I told a friend the other day... "I am tired of always be the one with the drama!"  This came from her asking me if I was going to share where I am emotionally and physically with my team at work.  I told her I wasn't sure, she asked why, I answered the above, and she responded... "make sure it isn't pride that keeps you from sharing!" It's a hard toss up.  There is for sure pride wrapped up in not always wanting to be the needy one.  Always having something to cry about or share.  And then there is the fact that I am kinda over having the drama.  I was thankful when another friend pointed out, "it's not like you are bringing the drama on yourself."  But none-the-less, I am kinda over it.  Over this feeling of things being so hard and heavy.
Which got me to thinking about this idea of having what we need for today.  This past April, when my year from down below was coming to an end I thought back over the last year and was just a little overwhelmed.  I remember thinking... "how did I survive that?" "I'm not sure I could make it through all of that again."
A friend reminded me that we don't have to try and survive a year at a time.  God gives us exactly what we need for today and that we are to just take it one day at a time.  I remember being so encouraged by a truth I have known for a long time but had just experienced in full force.
I don't have to try and survive this whole year today.  I don't even have to take on this whole week today.  I just need to trust Him for what I need TODAY and leave tomorrow to tomorrow.

Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and He will give you everything you need. “So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.
Matthew 6:33-34


The faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease.
Great is His faithfulness; His mercies begin afresh each morning.
Lamentations 3:22-23


What a gift.  What a blessing.  I am so glad that God set it up this way.  When I trust Him with each day, and really with each moment in the day, He will give me what I need and He will bring Himself great glory.
I want my life to reflect the God of the Universe that loves us and is intimately acquainted with us and is involved personally.
Oh Lord... please glorify yourself through me TODAY!

This Week... BLAH!

This week has been hard.  I have not been sleeping well at all, which in turn has made me really sloshy in the brain, and also fairly emotional.  I kinda think my hormones are all out of whack, which does not lead to very fun times!  And not being very "with it" has created a hard time of "wanting to" spend time with the Lord.  I am a huge journaler and love to spend time in the morning with Him.  And mornings being tough has created a hard road.  Now this also leads to me having a shorter fuse and not being very patient or fun to be around.
WOW... can you tell it's been a fun one??  So, I am very excited for a long weekend and plan to spend lots of time in the sun and lots of time just being.  I think maybe my brain needs a mini vacation.
But I was reminded today of a few really good things.  I am in the midst of doing Breaking Free for the 4th time. And this morning during the video session Beth was reminding us that our "want to" does not always match up with what is best for us.  And so she said... "pray for God to heal your "want to!"  I thought this was pretty brilliant.  Because as I said earlier... my "want to" feels a little broken right now.
The other really great reminder was that God insists on a process because the end result is relationship.  I loved this.  Love that God knows that my relationship with Him really is what is best for me.  And so, things in my life can do one of two things... push me away from Him or draw me deeper in.  I am praying that this season of feeling a little "psycho" will draw me deeper into Him.
Thankful that in the midst of a BLAH! week... He can still teach me!

PS: I went to find a picture for this day and found out there is a Facebook fan page called...
I regularly get Mushy Brain Syndrome
The picture is from their facebook page.