I know that I have left for awhile and haven't updated so here goes.
The boys are growing like weeds!!! Owen just turned 2 and Ian is 3 1/2 now. I can't believe how time has flown by! Ian is like an old soul, ever pleasing and always happy go lucky. Owen is a handful. He is energetic and very independent. The boys are night and day from each other but each unique and special in their own ways.
I sat down right after Owen turned 2 and took an account of our lives thus far. Boy have we come a long ways. God has richly blessed us and sometimes we just get caught up on everyday life and forgot to count those blessings. So I have made a packed with myself that from this day forward we are going to count our blessings everyday as well as making sure we are thankful for what we do have. A dear friend of mine showed me a website called A Holy Experience http://www.aholyexperience.com/ As I began to read through Ann Voskamp blog I realized that I am not teaching my children to always be thankful. Yeah sure I make them say thank you after I give them something or say thank you to someone who has just filled their cup or watched them in the nursery. I want to raise thankful children. So starting tonight at the dinner table we are all going to right down/draw something we are thankful for. Then we are going to start posting them on our back door so that we can see just how thankful we are.
I will update on our new little project periodically.
The book that I am now reading is called Crazy Love by Francis Chan. I am really loving this book. Here are some highlights from Chapter 1:
1. Stop Praying: Stop talking at God but too HIM. Take a long look at God before we speak. Romans 1:20 says "For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse." So when Mr. Chan says stop praying he is just that we need to look at who God is before we start praying. We need to make sure that we are not just talking at God but too God (include Him in on the prayer) "The wise man comes to God without saying a word and stand in awe of Him." Francis Chan. Here are five things about God:
1. God is Holy-nothing and no one to compare to Him. "God said to Moses, 'I AM WHO I AM'; and He said, Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, I AM has sent me to you." Exodus 3:14
2. God is eternal-He always has been, is, and will be. WE have a beginning and an end. "But you, O Lord, abide forever, and Your name to all generations. But You are the same, and Your years will not come to an end." Psalm 102: 12, 27
3. God is All Knowing-He knows each of us deeply and specifically. He knows who we are and what we are about. "O Lord, You have searched me an known me." Psalm 139:1 "And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do." Hebrews 4:13
4. God is All Powerful- He does not have to explain Himself to us. "But our God is in the heavens; He does whatever He pleases." Psalm 115:3 "All the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, But He does according to His will in the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of earth; and no one can ward off His hand or say to Him, 'What have You done:'" Daniel 4:35 Could it be my ignorance that mes me think God owes me an explanation when He says no to something that I have asked for or when He shuts a door, or even when He disciplines me?
5.God is Fair and Just-God is the only being who is good, and the standards are set by Him. "The fear of the Lord is to hate evil; Pride and arrogance and the evil way and the perverted mouth, I hate." Proverbs 8:13
I want to encourage anyone who read this post to stop praying at God and start praying to God. Know who God is before you enter His throne room. You might be surprised by what you find. I know when I start to list the attributes of God I just stand amazed by His glory.
