Soooooo proud….so thankful and so gloriously BLESSED to work side by side with these wonderful young people!  ( especially my daughter……) 

love you ALL!

Mama Donna

Genesis 1 

^1-2First this: God created the Heavens and Earth—all you see, all you don’t see. Earth was a soup of nothingness, a bottomless emptiness, an inky blackness. God’s Spirit brooded like a bird above the watery abyss.

Just as the ocean is deep

it is also dark.

( from the internet: a deep abyss fanfin sea devil)

Creatures live there that cannot withstand the light.

The depth of darkness is unknown to man

but not to God.

It is a “bottomless emptiness,”

An “inky blackness.”

God did not create the darkness

it was already there…

e  m  p  t  y

of

ALL

goodness

and

light.

“God’s spirit brooded like a bird

above the watery abyss.”

Definition of brood ( as a verb) : to cover, loom,

or seem to fill the atmosphere or scene,

to ponder persistently.

God swooped  in,

moving to and fro over the earth

causing it to change,

bringing light and life where there was once none.

The Spirit of God is the Bringer of Life.

It turned chaos and confusion

into His beautiful, vibrant, creation.

God is a mover and a shaker.

He is the only One

who can,

(will and does)

bring about change.

His Spirit is always hovering

and His eyes are always

searching to and fro

over the earth

looking for those

who love Him.

Do you love Him?

2 Chronicles 16:9

For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him.

It is GOD who governs the world

It is GOD who watches over our every action.

God doesn’t stand around tapping his toe,

He

RUNS

to and fro

looking

for

YOU!

He is a soul seeker

and He desires to fill

His creation with the Lifelight of His Son,

Jesus Christ.

He IS the Lover of our souls

and he does not want one lost…

not one.

It’s all about you Jesus…

Hi!

On Sunday mornings I love to watch the little kids dance and worship our Creator without inhibition.  Oh, that we could all be four years old again! Last week my heart leapt as I saw a young boy worshipping his “Daddy” in heaven through dance, song and prayer.  He was singing like he meant it and he knew every word.  His body language was one of pure praise and it was like he was the only one in the room.  Then at the end he fell to his knees in prayer.  

Sigh.

I love these kids-they teach me how to be like a child again.  Oh Lord, I ask that you would renew our hearts and minds to that of a four year old, so that we may lose our inhibitions and worship you, as you catch us up into your glorious and marvelous light! 

Thank you Lord for children and for catching me up in your marvelous Light!

I love you….

d.

borrowed from FB

A picture says a thousand words.

I watched the Book of Eli tonight.  It’s about a man named Eli who lives in the post apocalyptic period.  He heard a call from God to go on a mission to save the last known KJV bible in the world.  He guards this bible with his very life.  He has traveled by foot for 30 years.  He goes to great lengths to keep the Word of God safe.  He has spent 30 years reading it every night-hiding the Word of God in his heart.

It’s a good thing he does.

You’ll have to watch the movie to see what happens.

When I checked my mail tonight- my mother had sent me these photos of the family bible she has at home.  It is written here on the last page: Mrs. Joseph Teele, died January 16th, 1919 leaving behind 8 children.  ( 93 years ago)  I don’t know much about her but after seeing the condition of this bible I think it would be safe to say that she was a praying woman.   Our character reflects who lives inside of us.  The condition of our bible does to.

I thank God for praying Great Grandmothers, Grandmothers and Mothers. 

P.S. This was also the date ( January 16, 1919) that Prohibition began…I wonder if Great Granny sent that prayer up…while I will never know for sure, I have a feeling she did….

The wood from the cross is from the stable that Pastor Ty built for the Christmas service.  This wood came from the Harmon farm off of route 100.  The Harmon’s are church members at Hillsville. 

I really like to make things extra special so I thought that was the perfect choice of wood for Pam’s cross.  It shows life, death, persistence, perseverance and family.   The life is from the farm animals that this wood has kept corralled and safe.  It is also from the stable that Ty built for the Christmas Eve service.  A baby was born and His name was Jesus.  It was also Pam’s first Christmas with us-one that she is not likely to forget very soon-nor shall we. 

The shape of the wood is weathered and old.  It has held up well over all of these years-showing persistence and perseverance in it’s grain.  We have to be like this too-to be able to stand the test of time.  I have a feeling that Pam will be with us for a long time.  She has a great sense of love and grace in her countenance.  ( Of course I am not saying that Pam is weathered or old either- she is a beautiful representation of the love of Christ.) 

The cross itself represents the death of our sins-but not of a man.  He was resurrected and lives again!  Finally there’s family…Pam has become part of this big church family here at Hillsville and we already love her like she’s been here for years!

Welcome to the family Pam and Lyndon!

We love you!

This is the message that Pam shares….

Be a light!

I love this girl!!!  Her Daddy and I are very thankful that God gave her to us to nurture, grow and care for.  We are very proud of her.  Her sisters , Auntie, Uncle and Grandparents are too!  This past weekend was a huge milestone in her life and in our own.  I thank our GOD for pouring out his blessings over our family and I can’t wait to see what He will do next!

Life is an adventure and God is the roller-coaster driver-so take a deep breath, get in, sit down, buckle up, hang on and let ‘er rip!  ( and whatever you do- scream-it releases those endorphins!    Don’t hold it in!) 

YEEHA!

ILY Roo!

At some point in the afternoon I had a few carrots and an orange.  I brought fruit with us so I would have something available in the room.  Of course I am still drinking water/Gatorade.  We attended the evening session and afterward, back at the hotel, we had pizza waiting on us.  Well, during our devotion time I kept smelling it and it just smelled so good!  Pizza is a real weakness of mine and I can eat some pizza!  After devotions were over, we took our pizza back to our rooms to eat.  I ate one slice of cheese pizza.   When I finished it, I wanted more.  Not because I was hungry, but because I was lusting for the pizza.  Grrr.

So, I asked Cort to please take the rest of the pizza to the boys next door.  We were finished and I knew if I didn’t get it out of the room I would eat more of it.  I didn’t need to do that.  So, my great husband gave the pizza to the boys and we went to bed.  Thank you hubby!

This is why I say NOT eating is easier.  I know I have to return to eating a normal diet eventually and I will have to become quite disciplined in my choices and how much I eat.  I am 50 years old and I want to live a long and healthy life.  If I keep eating the way I was, previous to this fast, I will kill myself with food.   I cannot let the sin of gluttony control my life anymore.  God has made this crystal clear to me.  He is teaching me how to stand firm. 

Lord help me.

This weekend we went to Rez 2012.  It was awesome.  I have been fasting and on Friday I started to switch over to a Daniel fast.  A Daniel fast is fruits and veggies only.  No meat, chicken, or dairy.  You eat as close to the earth as possible. 

So on Friday night we went to the Roadhouse in Gatlinburg. I had a decision to make.  What to eat?  Honestly, it is easier to just NOT eat.  The Roadhouse is a steakhouse.  Interestingly enough it wasn’t the steak that bothered me but the PEANUTS in the buckets!!!  I am a salty, crunchy addict.  LOL  The waiter bothered me too and I really wanted to slap him, but I didn’t.  He was cocky and rude.  I had brought my Gatorade bottle with me and set it on the table in front of me.  He told me that I was in a restaurant and I needed to put that away and drink what was there.  So I ordered a water, but I never put the bottle away.  I drank both. 

I looked at the menu and ordered a side of green beans and a side of mixed veggies.  Of course there was drama about that too-from the waiter.  He was just plain rude.  When he brought the meal he acted like a jerk.  He brought my food and had accidentally brought 2 servings of each thing-which was way too much.   More comments.  I kept my mouth shut and just smiled. 

I ate half the green beans.  I was concerned that they would create havoc in my empty stomach because they were cooked in butter and ham.  They were delicious, but I knew I had to be careful.  So I ate half the mixed veggies and that was it.  When the waiter picked up the table he commented on that too.  Blah.  He was just a jerk.  He’s lucky I didn’t throw the bucket of peanuts at him, but that wouldn’t have been very Christian of me would it?    So I just shrugged it off and we left. 

Everything we do requires a choice.  If it’s not food, it’s our reaction, our attitude, our deeds, or our words.  We must choose to live our lives FOR God and not for the world. 

The things that God has brought to light for me are too personal to share.  They need to stay deep inside the heart for awhile.  They are being nurtured with fasting and prayer.  Obedience.   It’s not easy, but there’s nothing in this world that tastes better than the spiritual benefits we receive from being obedient to this discipline.  It IS a disciplined act of worship.  Of this I am sure.  I’m not perfect and I have had my own struggles, ( which I will discuss in the next post)  but I am pressing on in this race.  All I can say is DON’T EVER DOUBT GOD. 

Over the past year, God has placed people in my life to share things with me.  These things have equipped me in many, many ways.  Ways that I never would have imagined.  Over the weekend, at Resurrection, God used the speaker to help me minister to someone on Monday.  I was back home.  It has brought healing and comfort to another person-one that I had no idea was in distress.  God is always ahead of us even when we don’t think he is.  He is mapping out the course of our lives and it’s up to us to stay on HIS course. 

You see, people may look okay on the outside, but it’s really the inside we need to be concerned with, the matter of the heart.  This weekend I saw God turn head knowledge into heart knowledge.  What do I mean by that?  Well, we can know the bible with our head and have some understanding of it, but we don’t have a relationship with God until it flows into our heart and takes over.  I saw that happen this weekend.

Let’s look at it like this:  When you make a hot fudge sundae you put a scoop of ice cream into a bowl.  Then you add the gooey, rich, chocolaty hot fudge.  Do you put a little on or a lot?  I know what I do-I dump half the jar out and watch the ice cream melt under all of that rich chocolate deliciousness.  Then when I eat it, I lick every bit of it off until it is gone!  God is the same way folks.  He prepares our hearts to receive the hot fudge.  He IS the hot fudge.  He melts our hearts with gooey deliciousness that we cannot deny.  When this happens he melds His heart with ours-turning that head knowledge into a love feast. 

This weekend was a love feast.

We are to share the hot gooey deliciousness of GOD with everyone we meet. 

You just never know who may be in need of a treat. 

It COULD be you!

( all photos from internet)