A Life of Gratitude

Deuteronomy 6 tells us that a relationship with Christ begins in the home. Parents should be setting the example for the children, impressing the love of God upon their children, and talking about God with their children. But what happens when that type of environment isn't available for a child? What happens when a child lives in an abusive home or doesn't have a home at all?  Today, our church was blessed to have visitors from the Baptist Children's Home. This ministry provides a home, clothing, food, house-parents, and hope to many young people and their families. As the group sang and shared their testimonies, my heart was truly touched. One of the young men came to live in one of Baptist Children's home locations when he was 12 years old. He was so malnourished that he was only 3 feet tall and still wearing 3T clothing. He had slept every night of his life in a tiny closet and didn't even have a blanket in the winter months. The Baptist Children's home...

I heard something today that really puts things into perspective. Matt Chandler, the pastor of The Village Church in Texas said in a recent sermon that "everything you own is the stuff of future garage sales, junk yards and dumps." Wow. That is a simple statement but full of truth. We get so bogged down with the clothes we wear, cars we drive, furniture we have in our homes, and even the shoes we wear on our feet but in reality, none of these things matter at all. I have to laugh when I think about how much time and energy I've put into decorating a bathroom or organizing the junk in my closet. These things are so pointless when we really think about it. And if something that belongs to us gets messed up, we get bent out of shape! My mind is drawn to a memory of my car getting a scratch on it or my purse being torn. It seemed like the end of the world at the time but now, I don't even own that car or that purse! We also have endless collections of silly things ...

This week during home school we have been studying the moon. We've been learning that the moon has no light of its own. We only see light from the moon because it is reflecting the sun. Our Bible truth last week was "Jesus is the light of the world." Our Bible truth this week is "I am the light of the world." We have been learning that as we learn more about Jesus and grow closer to Him, we begin to reflect Jesus and His love, just like the moon reflects the sun. Since we are reflections of Jesus and His love, Dylan and I came up with some ways to show love to those around us today. Together, Dylan and I decided to make cookies for our mailman and our next door neighbor, Mr. Ricky. Dylan also decided to write notes for them so that he could tell them that Jesus loves them. We also decided that it might be a great idea to send a card to Dylan's cousin, Hayden, and invite him to church with us. We spent the afternoon making cookies and writing cards. Dyla...

Do you ever have a grown-up version of a hissy-fit?  Oh wait, maybe that's just me.  Well, I'll just be honest. I had hissy-fit yesterday. I guess sometimes I just get so impatient that I start trying to force things to happen. When things don't go the way I want them to, I get mad at myself and frustrated with the situation. It eventually causes me to fall to my knees and pray. I usually don't even know how to pray in these times but it doesn't matter. God knows my heart. He understands my needs. He knows exactly what I'm trying to say and no matter how ugly my fit is or how confused and frustrated I am, He never leaves me.  God knows we aren't perfect. He knows that we will try to take over from time to time. He knows that we will throw hissy fits, get confused, get frustrated, and even get mad at times.  He doesn't give up on us in those moments. He stays right beside us, pursuing us, and drawing our eyes back to Him. He sacrificed His only S...

My family went to the park this afternoon. It was a gorgeous day! While Bryan and Dylan were swinging together, I played with Evan in the grass. I couldn't help but laugh at him because of his continuous desire to eat whatever he could find on the ground. He kept putting mulch, grass, dirt and dried leaves in his mouth. Every time he put something in his mouth, I reached up and took it out. It was obvious that he didn't really like the taste of the dirt because he kept making horrible faces but that didn't stop him. I just kept thinking, "will he ever learn?"  As I sat there with him, observing his silly behavior, I was reminded of myself. It seems like no matter how hard I "try," there are some things I just never seem learn. You'd think by now that I would have learned how to stand up for myself, how to take care of myself, how to say no, how to put my faith into action, how to enjoy the simple things in life, how to put others first without l...

I look forward to MOMS every Thursday! I love the fellowship, the food, and especially the awesome truths I learn from God's Word. Today was no exception. We studied Genesis 2 and 3 today. Its often referred to as "The Fall of Man." I heard one of the ladies at my table say, "Isn't that a children's story?" She was joking but its kind of true. Most of us have heard the creation story and the story of the fall of man so many times that we look right past it. Well, today I heard this story in a whole new way!  I've never thought about how amazing life must have been for Adam and Eve before "the fall." They had the entire world to themselves, all the best fruits and vegetables, endless amounts of free time, no sense of shame even though they walked around naked all the time, they frolicked in the gardens with the animals and spent time with their Creator every day. It must have been so wonderful! Then, here comes the serpent, just trying ...

"He will not fear bad news; his heart is confident, trusting in the Lord" Psalm 112:7 At Beth Moore's Simulcast this past Saturday, she talked a lot about fear. Fear is the arch enemy of Faith. We, as God's children, are meant to be walking, talking miracles. We are capable of so much but fear cripples us. We often don't ask God to work in our lives because we are fearful of what He may or may not do. Even if we do receive great blessings from God, we worry about losing those blessings. Because we cannot understand God and His ways, we are fearful and try to control things ourselves. We are in a constant battle against fear. I know this is true in my life. I spend way too much time wondering and worrying about all the what-ifs of life...  "What if the alarm clock doesn't go off?"  "What if one of the boys gets sick?" "What if I don't hear Evan in the night?" "What if my back pain gets worse?" ...

I realized today that I have been out of work for over 3 years because of my back injury. I cannot believe its been that long. For the past year and a half, I have been out of work for my pain but not given any pain medication for my pain. That seems a little odd doesn't it? Bryan and I (and many others) have been praying about my back pain for a long time now. Sometimes I think we're called to wait on God even in painful situations. After a lot of waiting, God answered our prayer today.  My doctor referred me to pain management in March but because of the red tape associated with worker's comp, I didn't get an appointment until July. The day I was supposed to go to that appointment, my Grandmother passed away and I had to cancel the appointment. That doctor didn't have another appointment until the end of October. Sometime in August I just happened to hear of a new pain management doctor when I was calling my doctor's office about paperwork. I asked my wor...

Bryan and I invited our neighbors to church with us today. When the service was over, one of our neighbors said, "This was the best invitation I've had all year." My heart overflowed with joy when I heard those words! She and her daughter loved our church service. They want to come to back next week. I've never been so thankful that we were obedient to the Lord's prompting. It was so awesome to see non-believers enjoy church so much and desire so badly to come back. Today I am thankful for our neighbors and their willingness to try out Green Street! I am so thankful that the Holy Spirit was noticeably present in our church service today. Our neighbors could sense it and so could we. I am also grateful for the ability to share our faith and our church with the people in our community. I want everyone to know the God who has changed my life!  I feel challenged to invite more people to church!.I challenge all my readers to as well.

I attended Beth Moore's Living Proof Simulcast today with a bunch of amazing women. I am so glad that we were able to go. It was fantastic! The message was perfect for every woman present and the worship was a taste of glory divine. Over 150,000 women were watching this event. There were folks in all of the 50 states, in 96 Canadian provinces, 21 international countries, a closed country, 5 military bases, and even 2 women's prisons. Wow, praise God! I'm so thankful that so many women got to be a part of this awesome time of worship. I could listen to Beth's silly stories and solid theology for hours. God never ceases to speak through her, to me. Today was no exception. One of the most amazing things I took away from this morning was that God doesn't call us to "fine," He calls us to FAITH! He doesn't want us to live a life that is humanly explainable. He wants to us live a life of supernatural provision. A life that screams that we love God and w...

While we were walking through the Bicentennial Gardens the other day, Bryan and Dylan noticed a hidden mailbox. Inside were a couple of little notepads with inscriptions from people who have visited the park. There were also little rocks laying close by with names, dates, quotes and Bible verses written on them. It was so neat! Dylan and I really enjoyed looking through the notebooks. I found some lovely poems as well as the lyrics to one of my favorite hymns, "It is well with my soul." Dylan enjoyed writing his name and drawing in one of the books.  It would have been so easy to walk right past this hidden treasure. It was in plain sight but placed right beside a low hanging tree so if Bryan and Dylan hadn't been paying attention, they wouldn't have seen it.  I haven't been able to get this little mailbox out of mind since we visited the park. I keep thinking, "how many precious treasures are we just bypassing each day?" In Joh...

...because God has said,  “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” So we say with confidence,  “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid." Hebrews 13:5-6 Its often said at church services or worship experiences that the people in attendance are not there by accident. I believe that is 100% true! It happened to me this weekend. We visited my dad's church in Lexington because he really wanted his church family to meet his grandchildren. During the service the Pastor taught from Hebrews 13:5-6. As soon as he began to speak my ears perked up because I had just read this passage a couple of days before. As the Pastor spoke my heart was comforted. He reminded me that even though life is hard, God is always there. God is carrying us through. God is in complete control. I'm not holding onto Him; He is holding onto me. These are things I've known for years but I needed to hear them; I needed to be reminded. Little did I know that those words would mean...

A couple of weeks ago Bryan told me that he wanted to take me somewhere fancy for dinner to celebrate my birthday. He also said that I needed to get dressed up....really dressed up....like for prom! I have been super excited since he told me because I love any reason to get dressed up! Stay-at-home-Mommies don't get that opportunity very often! So yesterday afternoon, while juggling a 10 month old and 4 year old, I managed to get ready for the "prom." When Bryan got home we rushed out the door for our "date." He blind folded me and drove to a mysterious location. Once we got out of the car he lead me up a walk-way and into a building. When we finally reached the room, he removed the blind fold and I saw a huge banner that said, "Welcome to Tori's 30th Birthday-Hollywood Lies-Murder Mystery Party!" I was immediately blown away. It took me a minute but I realized that he had planned a BIG surprise party for me! I looked around at all the decorations...

"Teach us to number our days that we might grow in wisdom" Psalm 90:12 I honestly cannot believe that I am 30 years old! It seems like only yesterday I was getting my driver's license. A lot has happened since my sweet 16! I've graduated high school, graduated college, married my high school sweetheart, taught 5 years in a public school, bought a home, had 2 children, had 5 surgeries, and most recently, I've become a homeschooling Mommy. Wow, I've been busy! I have also grown so much in my relationship with Christ and that amazing relationship has become the most important thing to me. I love spending time with the Lord, so this morning, I woke up at 5:30 (yes, in the morning..ha!) to have my quiet time. Because of my sweet kiddos, I don't usually get to enjoy an actual quiet time (my time is usually interrupted numerous times) so this was such a precious time for me. It was the perfect way to begin my 30's. As I read my Bible, Psalm 90:12 po...

For some unknown reason Dylan has been terrified by the trash truck lately. He has been so afraid that he doesn't want to go outside on Thursdays, which is our trash day. This evening during family devotions he told us that last Thursday when he had to go outside, God whispered something to his heart. He told us that God said "you don't have to be afraid of that trash truck. I am with you. I will not let it hurt you. I will only let it pick up the trash." Dylan's face was so sincere. It was absolutely precious! Then he said, "so, I'm not afraid anymore!" I know some people think this is silly talk but in my opinion, this is awesome! Hearing the voice of God is real! I honestly believe I hear Him all the time. Don't get me wrong, I often misinterpret Him or get confused about what He is saying, BUT His voice is real! The Bible tells us that believers will hear the voice of God. John 8: 47 says, " Whoever belongs to God hears what God say...

We started homeschool today! I think I had as much (or possibly more) fun than Dylan did. I was impressed with how Dylan caught on to the activities, songs, and transitions. He really did a great job! I was also amazed with how much we were able to accomplish in such a short period of time. It used to take me 2 days in the classroom to complete what we did in 2 hours today. I also truly enjoyed teaching from the Bible and beginning our day with prayer. That's something I never got to do with my students in the past.  I would have never dreamed of being a homeschooling Mommy. I used to laugh at that idea, but God has a way of changing people's hearts and attitudes. After much prayer and a whole lot of planning, I am happy to say that my first day as a homeschooling Mommy was wonderful! God sure does know what He is doing!  Today I am thankful for an exciting beginning to our first year of homeschool. I am also grateful that Dylan enjoyed it so much. This evening, after...