Worship

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Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” Matthew 19:14

This image moves me more than words can express. Upon seeing it, I just knew I had to post it straight away. It is my prayer that we would all worship like this.

Dressing Room

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Those are the best accessories a woman can have! Happy Monday. 

Foreigner

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Sorry I/we have been a little MIA lately. I've been under the weather and school started for my little family. I hope everyone is doing well. We thank you for your support and prayers of all things Faith Blogs! Humbled.

Guest Post: Yellow Songbird's Life Abundant

Every now and again my blog life bumps into my real life. Fortunately for me, this happened with Kim of Yellow Songbird. During one of her trips home to Texas, visiting family, I got the chance to meet her face to face.  It was a complete and total treat. (She even entertained my littles with sword fights and lots of laughter.) Just a few things I adore about Kim...her love for the Lord, love for her man, love for others, love of creativity and much more. Her cup runneth over - for realz.  Today, she shares with us a little peek into her life...real life...life abundant. Enjoy and be encouraged.


worth. life abundant.
On one of my recent runs, John 10:10 kept coming to mind. In case you didn't learn this verse in AWANAS, it's as follows:

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.

Destruction. Life abundant. Not a difficult choice to decide which one you want, right?

Apparently, not for me.

While I was running, I was praying for the Lord to reveal to me how I let "the thief" ((aka Satan)) take, kill, and destroy. Often times, a lot of it comes down to my self-perception. How I view myself and where I find my worth is a way that I feel like I allow ((welcome, enable, let)) Satan destroy me and take my joy.

I'm about to be real honest here and let you see the icky in my heart. Here are some stupid things I constantly have to battle putting my worth in:

How busy I am.

How many people ask to hang out or go to lunch during the week.

Promotions I am offered at work.

The number of blogs I post a week.

The content of those blogs posts.

The amount of comments that follow those posts.

My paypal balance.

Not having kids when "everyone" around me seems to.

Not feeling like I fit in because I don't have a baby to hold.

How clean my house is.

What a disaster my kitchen is.

How quickly ((or slowly)) things I make sell.

The mileage I can go on a run.

The calories I burn on said run.

What I eat.

The amount of produce/healthy things in our house.

The meals I cook for Chase.

The clothes I buy & wear.

What size my skinny jeans are.

The designs I create & sell.

How chic & "store-bought" I can make a handmade garment look.

How many followers/fans/subscribers I have.

Getting accepted into a "cool" handmade market/craft show.

How much money I make at said handmade market/craft show.

Where I work.

How people at work treat me.

What I can afford.

What I can't afford.

How many people support us.

Satan encourages me to find my worth in these things. If I'm honest with myself, I often fall into those temptations and lies and it paralyzes me.
Cripples me.
Takes away my abundant life that the Lord intended for me.
When I do put my worth in these trivial matters, I can do one of two things, depending on my mood:
1. Pump myself up with arrogance thinking I'm better than everyone else. Sin.
2. See where I fall short and think that I suck as a wife, business owner, friend, blogger, employee, person. Lies.

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. ((psalm 139:14))

I will instead fight daily to find my worth in the following:

My unwavering faith in Christ.
My unstaggering devotion to my husband, so that our marriage would be an example of Christ's love to the world.
My consistent pursuit of living out the Gospel, so that the Lord might use me to win the hearts of the people in Boulder.
My unyielding love of Jesus. ((The Jesus that pursues me, forgives me, loves me, paid for my sins, and fights for my devotion))
His will for my life. EVERY aspect of my life, not just the parts I'm "willing" to hand over.

Friends, don't let your worth come from silly, worldly, trivial things. It will only lead you down a path of destruction and a lack of contentment. Who wants that?

Today, I choose joy. Today, I choose life abundant.

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Who's with me?

love.
-Kim

Real. Right? I love it. So many of us (me for sure) struggle with the draw and allure of this world - this fleeting, dying world. I'm so grateful for this reminder and encouragement. I don't want to let Satan rob me of another single thing. Not one. For more encouragement and inspiration, be sure to check out Kim's blog. She has some pretty tasty pie recipes on there too! Happy weekend faithful followers.

Prayer Request: Jude Matthew

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See that adorable little guy up there?  Right now he is fighting for his life. Please join us in lifting Jude and his family up in prayer. During delivery and afterward complications began for Jude. First is heart, then his platelet levels, then multiple strokes, followed by neurosurgery. As if all of that weren't enough, in the midst of all of this they were transferred to a different hospital to better serve Jude's needs and the husband, Brandon, and oldest son, Caleb, are sick.

Praise:

The neurosurgery went well. 

 They were able to drain 20cc of blood and the brain moved back to fill the space...back to where it belonged. 

Jude is stable and seems responsive to his parent's touch.

And more miracles here.

Please pray:
continued healing for Jude.

that the repercussions of what is going on in his brain would be very minimal and mild.

for Caleb and his adjustment.

for Brandon and Caleb to heal...and that Mandy (Mom) would avoid sickness.
rest and peace for Mandy.

that they would trust God with their whole hearts and draw near to Him.

that He would continue to unify them in this process.

To learn more about the specific needs of this sweet family and for updates, please got to their blog, Everything Beautiful. We at Faith Blogs thank you for your prayers!

Hope

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He alone is our hope and our joy.

Dear Jesus

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Guest Post: Forgiveness Part 2

Forgiveness Part 2 - The Whiteboard Challenge
If you are just now finding these posts, you may want to read my introduction to this series and Part 1 before reading this post.

As I said in my last post, after reading through the parable [Matthew 18:21-35] with my name inserted, I easily saw my place in the story as the "wicked servant." However, like the wicked servant, I still struggled with seeing the gravity of my debt/sin. I knew I had to understand how much I had been forgiven if I was ever going to learn how to forgive others.

I became temporarily detached from the sermon as I began to wrestle with God over my sin. I already admitted in my introduction post that I have always struggled to view myself as a sinner... being raised in a Christian home, I "prayed the prayer" to become a Christian at a very young age and developed a self-righteous, "goody two-shoes" attitude.

For the countless time, I begged God to reveal to me how sinful I was... that I would see my sin from a godly perspective.

I felt a suggestion:

"Why don't you write down your sins in a notebook?"

I answered:

"No."

The soft reply:

Why not?

My response:

I wouldn't want someone to accidentally find it and read everything I've done.

My response stunned me.

I, the one who struggled to see myself as a sinner, was embarrassed by the thought of someone else seeing my deeds laid bare.

As if a secret notebook wasn't bad enough, God suggested that I write my sins for all to see on a giant whiteboard. Every evil thought, every bit of my hate, every lustful indulgence, every judgemental comparison...
Every detail of my sinful heart written out for everyone to read...

NOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Suddenly all of the sins that seemed so petty moments before accumulated to form a huge, disgusting burden, and I was ashamed.

Ashamed because, while I never have to show you a giant white board that lists the details of my sin [Praise God!], I finally had a perspective on how God viewed me. He has seen it all... every evil thought and action that I would be mortified for you to know about. I was unworthy, inferior, ugly... ashamed.

Ashamed, but the shame quickly gave way to a new and glorious feeling: an overwhelming thankfulness unlike never before for the forgiveness that God has extended to me! I will never be able to explain how freeing this feeling was... it was like I had been blind my entire life and could suddenly see. I am so thankful that God opened my eyes to see His grace in such a new light.

Next week we will post the conclusion of this series: Forgiveness Part 3- The Debt Is Incalculable.

- Mandy

Remember, our God is so big that He forgives us all our sins. Pretty amazing huh? The icing on top is how He uses those sins, that the enemy intends for harm, to benefit others and glorify Himself as we share those sins with others. Wow. Enjoy your week/weekend friends; I know this humble servant will.

Time of Need

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