Continuing the theme of Thankfulness..... (Yes, I know Thanksgiving has come and gone, but shouldn't we be thankful year long?) I had to share this song! It is one of my favorites, and I can't help but replay it over and over in the Car! It causes me to dwell on how good the Lord's been to me... and frankly, I just LOVE singing about it!!
Enjoy!
Because, He, Picked Me Up, and He turned Me around, and HE placed my Feet on SOLID Ground, Hallelujah!
As some of you may know, Jordan is quite the little princess. If she could wear a dress every day, ALL day, she would. She loves how the dress flares when she twirls in circles and then she practices her little Ballerina moves. Yes she is my Twirling Ballerina Princess!
The girls at church! Jordan dances all around the church in her gorgeous dress!
Well this morning, unfortunately she was not able to put on yet another dress, so Jeans it was. And lets just say, it did NOT go over well with my two year old.
She began to have her moment, all I could think of is how grateful she should be, because many children do not have the ability to "choose" from different outfits to wear. Of course I didn't dare say this to her. A recent Focus on the Familyradio show (I strongly urge you to listen too) taught me that to teach a little one true gratefulness is to NOT make them feel guilty for the blessings they do have, but to teach them to Thank Jesus for all that He has given them. Another point Susie Larson (guest author of Growing Grateful Kids, on the radio show) made was that TRUE gratefulness is taught through example. The best way for us to teach our little ones to be grateful for all Jesus has given us is to exemplify it our selves.
So Lord help me to NOT see the lack, but to see the Blessing! Thank you Lord for your many blessings in our Life!!!
So as this radio segment raced through my mind in about 5 seconds, I quickly looked at Jordan and said, "Jordan, look at these beautiful Jeans Jesus has given you. Can we thank Him for them?"
So I said in front of her, "Thank You Jesus." She quickly responded, "THANK YOU JESUS!" Tears and all! LOL... She repeated this several times, and it appeared to help her little soul, because she calmed right down. In that moment, as I grew in my heart and learned a valuable lesson with my two year old, I began to thank Jesus for all He had given me too! This song below quickly approached my mind, and it couldn't seem to leave!
"Thank You Jesus! Lord you WORTHY, of all the GLORY, and all the PRAISE!!! It makes me wanna SHOUT, HALLELUJAH!, THANK YOU JESUS!"
Enjoy the Song!
Susie Larson also mentioned that in a time when she had nothing, she made a list of ALL she was grateful for, and she realized, how much she was Blessed!
Lets not wait until we are desperate and in lack, but lets always have a heart of Gratitude!
My List of Thankfulness:
1. My beautiful HEALTHY family!
2. A loving husband, who loves unconditonally, and is always there open and ready to give forgiveness!
3. The ability to stay home and be a mommy, without the constraints of financial obligations.
4. That I have TWO little girls! Girls are SO much fun!!!
5. The food in fridge! Which most of we didn't even purchase, but it's been given to us! He is GOOD!
6. The fact that I can look in my fridge and have the ability to CHOOSE what I would like to make for dinner. Thank you Jesus for Choices!!
7. The closet FULL of clothes, all four of us! We are literally bursting at the seams with clothes! Majority of which, we haven't bought, but others have graciously given us!
8. The fact that my daughter has THREE winter coats, and I NEVER had to worry about getting her one!
9. That my daughter DOES have many dresses she can twirl in, because my girl does love to twirl!
10. Our Christmas tree... Thanks to PaPa! He bought us a tree this year! I love you Dad! Thanks for being a lifeline!
11. My momma.... She is always there to hear me out, without EVER judging, but just listening... and then inserts her wisdom with humility when need be... Thank you Momma for always being there for me, and being a WONDERFUL Grandma to my little girls... I love you!!!
12. My Husband's Parents and Family! They have always accepted me with Loving Arms, and whenever we need them, they quickly drop everything and come running! I love you!!
13. Our BEAUTIFUL home! I seriously LOVE IT!! God knew EXACTLY what we needed for our growing family! It is surely a testament of HIS providence! Thank you Jesus!!!
14. Beautiful Mommy Friends like Karen Miller, Courtney Gerdes, Jaime Thompson, and Janine Weaver! They are NEVER judgmental, but always encouraging and uplifting when I need them most! I love you ladies!! God has surely placed you in my life for such a time as this! I think God that I am able to share life with you all, as we share the BEST YEARS of our lives together!
15. Most importantly, definitely not least, My LORD AND SAVIOR, JESUS CHRIST! I surely would not have any of this if it wasn't for His SAVING GRACE! Thank you Jesus for all you have done for me! I am eternally grateful and indebted to you! May I maintain a heart of gratitude always towards you, and continually serve you all the days of my life!!
Nothing more sends a TRUE warm holiday greeting than a Christmas card that features you and your family on the front! Not filling them out sounds even sweeter, dosen't it?? Well if your anything like me you don't have time to fill out 50 Christmas Cards! Head over to Shutterfly and let them do it for you!
I will certainly be taking FULL advantage of the BEAUTIFUL Christmas templates for Christmas cards that they are offering this year, and so should you!!
And not only doesShutterfly offer photo Christmas cards and holiday cards, but you can also order Calendars,invites, andpersonalized mugs that make wonderful gifts for that distant (or even close!) Grandma or special aunt! I personally adore their personalized calendars and will be gifting some for Christmas this year!
Also for the Christmas cards, I have to be honest and admit that my favorite are the Folded Greeting Cards!
Here are a few of my favorites templates for this season.... as I am still undecided on which too chose! Maybe you can help?!! Tell me your fav!!
Card # 1-The Lord Has Come
Card #2-MERRY CHRISTMAS
Card #3-REJOICE
I love it and so will you! Let me know what you think about their Holiday designs!!! You are sure to enjoy them!!
With Thanksgiving vastly approaching us, we all can't help but impatiently await Christmas! (Well I can't) Trust me if we had a fake tree it would already be up!! There is just something about Christmas that fills our hearts with joy, love, and peace. Unfortunately, if we fail to recognize the true meaning of Christmas, this may not be so. Sometimes when we choose to focus on presents and "things", then we tend to focus on what we "don't" have and it can cause much sadness. But let me tell you, Christmas is so much more than what is under the Christmas tree...
So to help me maintain the true meaning of Christmas, I thought I would share a Christmas Song that says it best, "Come Let Us Adore Him!" Yes, my friends, thats what it is about, JESUS! Christmas is a season that we choose to celebrate a MIGHTY GOD, who chose to take on flesh, that He might save us all, and most importantly, that He may dwell with us for all the days.
So lets return the Love that was shown to us and remember to take a few moments out of the busyness of the holidays and...
ADORE HIM.
Here are some of Our Christmas Photos! Enjoy!
Jordan and her Daddy! They are sometimes inseparable!
My Favorite Family One! You may See this one on a Christmas Card!
And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,
“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!” “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”
As we were traveling to NC today, a Tractor Trailer pulled in front of me and the Lord reminded me of something and I thought I would share....
Genesis 12.... Those were the words I heard as my Band instructor urged me to warm up my instrument during practice... "Warm up your Clarinet with Genesis 12 please!" Shouted Mrs. Sydney. I thought, "seriously... thats not a warm up, but a chapter in the bible!" Feeling confused....I was awakened by the sound of my alarm. Being a new Christian and a Senior in High School, I seriously thought I had just eaten too much pizza the night before. I had no Idea that the Lord could speak to you in a dream, plus it had been 2 years since I was in marching band!
Weeks later I was telling a friend of my outrageous dream and she simply asked, "Well what does Genesis 12 say?" Naively I never read it! She insisted the Lord was trying to speak to me and urged me to read the scripture. This is what I found in the first eight verses...
Genesis 12
The Call of Abram
The LORD had said to Abram, "Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you.
2 "I will make you into a great nation
and I will bless you;
I will make your name great,
and you will be a blessing.
3 I will bless those who bless you,
and whoever curses you I will curse;
and all peoples on earth
will be blessed through you."
4 So Abram left, as the LORD had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Haran. 5 He took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had accumulated and the people they had acquired in Haran, and they set out for the land of Canaan, and they arrived there.
6 Abram traveled through the land as far as the site of the great tree of Moreh at Shechem. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. 7 The LORD appeared to Abram and said, "To your offspring [a]I will give this land." So he built an altar there to the LORD, who had appeared to him.
8 From there he went on toward the hills east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. There he built an altar to the LORD and called on the name of the LORD. 9 Then Abram set out and continued toward the Negev.
This may not mean much to you, but at the time, it meant the WORLD to me! Not only did I come from a non-Christian home, but I was at a point in my life where I was seeking the Lord's will for my life. I was at a turning point, getting ready to graduate college, I desired nothing more than to fulfill the calling the Lord had given me. Within these scriptures we see God calling Abraham to leave his home, so that he could establish a nation of blessings for him. To me this speaks of generational blessings. Here God was promising me, just as He promised Abraham, "If you leave the comfort of your home and follow me I will bless you and your descendants with MY blessings!" The Lord was giving me an invitation to live a life fully devoted to Him and to build a family that would be blessed for generations to come of His Love!
Shortly after, I attended a Christian youth camp where I had my encounter with the Lord the previous year. Anxious to find that warmful embrace of the father within the small town of Dunn, NC, I soon realized He had much more in store for me. That first night in March of 2003 I heard the Voice of the Lord Loud and Clear and there He called me to Heritage Bible College. I was weeping so hard I had to leave the auditorium. Approached by Camp Counselors I was asked, "Whats Wrong?" I said in the middle of my tears, "I think the Lord wants me to go to college here!" LOL... I knew without a shadow of a doubt the Lord was calling me to Heritage Bible College and if I was to ignore this call, I would be disobeying him. As I checked out the table for the college I realized there was not a single degree there that I thought was for me... Needless to say, this move was a BIG leap of FAITH for me... but the thought alone, excited me very much...
My Room Mate/Life Long Friend, Rachel Kitchens, from Heritage Bible College standing in the lobby at HBC before I had my first born!
Months later, I packed up my little red 2 door escort to travel back to Dunn, NC to begin the application process and as I pulled out of my neighborhood onto a main road the fears, excitement, and anxiety overwhelmed my soul. I looked up to find a tractor trailer had pulled in front of me. Something was different in the dust and dirt on the back of that trailer. I found the words that read,
"GOD WILLS; GOD DOES!"
There the Lord spoke to me again! He said, "Amber I have willed for you to go to Heritage Bible College; therefore, you need not to worry about ANYTHING! Because I have WILLED this, I will supply ALL your needs and much more!" Little did I know, that the Lord was planning to fill the desires of my heart in this little town of Dunn.
2 years later, after many trials (thats another post), I met my God Destined, Wonderful husband, Mike Thornton. Today we are joyfully serving the Lord, pursuing full time ministry, with two beautiful daughters.
Thank you Lord for knowing our hearts better than we know them and for fulfilling our needs and dreams before we can even dream them... I shall ever be thankful to you! Because you looked upon me and pursued me with your love, I shall ever be grateful to you....
My Thanksgiving to the Lord!
Psalm 116 1-2; 12-14; 16-18
1 I love the LORD, for he heard my voice;
he heard my cry for mercy.
2 Because he turned his ear to me,
I will call on him as long as I live.
12 How can I repay the LORD
for all his goodness to me?
13 I will lift up the cup of salvation
and call on the name of the LORD.
14 I will fulfill my vows to the LORD
in the presence of all his people.
16 O LORD, truly I am your servant;
I am your servant, the son of your maidservant [c] ;
I stumbled upon this video a few weeks ago and since I have watched it, my heart just burns to experience the Father's love on a whole new level. Yes by the looks of it, it IS about a proposal, but what struck most me was the story that Jessica tells before it. My words wouldn't give it worth, so I will let you hear it for yourself....
The Lord ravished her heart on this beach in Caesarea, Israel. I too have been to this beach and it is BREATHTAKING! What a LOVE story she has with the Lord! And to make it even sweeter, He gave her a painting to mark this memory for her. This tells me that the moment they shared on that beach was just as important to Him as it was to her!!!
This story gets even sweeter!
A year later she met her future husband in Israel!
And months later, He surprised her there on this beach to ask her to be his wife because he knew how significant it was to her!!!
The Lord longs to ravish our hearts!!
If we seek HIM first, with no boundaries and no conditions, he will fulfill our dreams, overwhelm our souls, and give us the desires of our hearts!! He did this for Jessica, He did it for me, and He can certainly do it for you!
PURSUE HIM WHOLEHEARTEDLY and just watch how God's love will overtake your life and give you the peace and fulfillment He created us to have!!!
RAVISH MY HEART, O GOD!
I want to see you FACE!!!!
How priceless is your unfailing love!Both the high and low among men find refuge in the shadow of your wings.
Yesterday my hubby and I were able to steal away for a few hours to enjoy dinner without the babies. Of course this was all thanks to Grandma who agreed to watching the girls. After a nice meal alone Mike and I decided to head over to Barnes and Noble and enjoy quietness around some of our most favorite things, books.
Unfortunately it was later than normal and B&N was about to close. As we rode past the door, a young gentleman caught Mikes eye. As I was driving away Mike urged me to turn around. Mike said, "I feel like I am suppose to talk to this guy." Now Mike is known for taking compassion on the homeless, so I looked at him and said, "I don't think this guy is homeless." Mike responds, "I don't know, but God wants me to speak to him, I think he needs help." So trusting the voice of the Lord we turned around and decided to enter B&N. As we walked by, it was clear that this young man was distraught. Mike turned and asked him if he was alright, and he responded, "I am stranded and no one will give me spare change." So Mike said, "please come in, Lets have some coffee and I will get you something to eat." Feeling so at peace with this stranger, we walked in to B&N and was awakened to a new found love of God.
As we told him to pick out something from the Starbucks inside, he only got a small pretzel and insisted that he only get a cup of water from the sugar stand. It was clear that this man was not looking to take advantage of the help. Something burned in me, it was like I longed to know his story!
So as we sat down, we learned that his name was Brad and that he was recently kicked out of his mothers house because of his addiction to Heroin. Having family members who struggle with drugs and Mike being one who came from a lifestyle of drugs, we felt complete compassion for him. Unfortunately the phone rang and Abigail was home needing me to feed her. So our time was cut short with Brad, but my mind has never left him.
As I crawled into bed that night, I thought about Brad. Where was he sleeping? Where would he end up? How must his mother feel knowing that she had to kick her son out on the streets because of his addiction? All these thoughts crossed my mind...
That night I was reminded of the blessings in my life, but most importantly I was reminded of how important it is for us as Christians to take time out of our busy schedules to impact others with the Love of God. As we left Brad that night we learned that he once knew the Lord and that he longed to know him again.
So Lord right now I pray for Brad. Wherever he is Lord, I pray that He would encounter your love! I pray Lord that you would send your angels to minister to him and encourage him to seek your face. God I pray that the bondage's of addiction would fall off his shoulders and that his burden would become light because of your grace and Love.
Lord may I be burdened to no longer drive by being consumed by my day, but be challenged by your Holy Spirit to go and tell him of your saving grace!
I wanted to begin this blog with sharing the true inspiration behind the title. Brian and Jenn Johnson are phenomenal worship leaders in Redding, California. They exhibit true worship to the Father. It's not about performance or genre or even the style, but simply loving on Jesus. As worshipers, we should long to minister to the Father's heart, and undoubtedly Brian and Jenn Johnson teach us to do just that!
Words can not describe the sincere gratitude towards Christ that you feel when the lyrics of this song hit your heart; therefore, I thought I would allow you to feel it for yourself. Experience the Love of the Father.
A wife, a mother, a student, and daughter of the Most High. I love life and cherish all that's valuable to me...husband, kids, friends, and people. My desire is to encounter the Father's Heart in a deeper way, more each day!
Posts
