Good Morning, Sweet Sisters!
I hope each of you had a wonderful Thanksgiving full of love, family, friends and gratitude! Our Thanksgiving was small, just us, but we had a big meal and lots of fun. It was perfect! I hope you enjoyed our thankful posts from last week. As we are coming up on Christmas (only 26 days left), we will begin a short study of Scripture on the true meaning of Christmas: Jesus. Join us each day (hopefully) as we count down to Christmas through God's Word. Our new winter study will begin after the first of the new year. I will be posting the details of that study very soon! Have a wonderful Christmas season! Make sure that your focus is on God during the hustle and bustle of this time of year, and enjoy every moment of it! Keep reading God's Word! Joyfully His, Andrea
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Home! I am so thankful for my home. I have had the great privilege of living in many different homes, some big and some small, and I'm thankful for each one. I am so thankful for the luxuries that my home gives me: hot water, warmth in the winter, air conditioning in the summer, electricity at my fingertips, two bathrooms, a dishwasher, stove/oven, fridge, washer and dryer. I do not take for granted that these things are much more than a lot of families have all across the world. I do know what a blessing it is to have this and I want to always thank God for giving it to me.
But.....there is something I have learned over the years. Home isn't the structure you dwell in, home is where your family is. It doesn't matter what type of home we live in, what matters is the people inside it. When we first got married we lived in a small 800 sq. ft. garage apartment. It wasn't much, but it was ours and all of our memories there are still so precious to us. Over the years, we bought and sold two more homes getting something bigger each time and then finally built a large home which took care of our family for almost 8 years. When we sold our home last year to get out of debt, I knew we would be down sizing. God sold our home so quickly and unexpected that we had no idea where we were going. We lived in our small camper (200 sq. ft.), for two months in a campground, before buying our new-to-us, smaller home. I loved my big house and I'm so thankful for all the years we were blessed to live there, but those two months being so close physically, mentally and emotionally, holds a special place in my heart. I loved being there and being so close to my hubby and kiddos! Yes, it was hard sometimes, but mostly we all worked together to make it work and we came out stronger for it. I thank my God for the home we now live in. For the first time in our married life, our home is truly ours. No rent, no mortgage! What a blessing! It's exactly what I prayed for and it feels like home, not because of it's size or what it looks like, but because this is where my people are. this is where I get to wake up next to my sweet husband every morning. The place where I get to teach, love and raise my children. The place I get to serve each of them and anyone else who comes by. This place is home because we are all together. Father, thank you for my home. You have blessed me so much with the luxuries you have given me with each home, but you have blessed me the most with those you chose to be with me in these homes. Thank you for the gift of my family and the gift of a wonderful home where I am able to serve and love each one of them. In the sweet name of Jesus, amen. And on a lighter note, I'm thankful for my car. It is old and falling apart (literally, it has a lot of issues and is barely hanging on), but it's my car and I love it! What are you thankful for today? Share your blessings in the comments section. "I will praise you, Lord, with all my heart; I will tell of all the marvelous things you have done. I will be filled with joy because of you. I will sing praises to your name, O Most High." ~ Psalm 9:1-2 Joyfully His, Andrea Family! I am so thankful for my family. They know the real me, yet, they stick around! :)
I am married to the most wonderful, handsome man! He is my best friend and I truly can't imagine my life without him. I've known him since I was 14 and I've loved him ever since. He's never let a day pass without telling me how much he loves me and how pretty he thinks I am (he's blind, but I love that he loves me). ;) He is strong, loving, hilarious, honest, discerning, thoughtful and so much more! I love my man! I'm sure all you mommas out there feel the same, but I have the best kiddos in the world! I am so grateful that God saw fit to bless me with my 5 beautiful blessings and our sweet "glory baby" in Heaven. I'm thankful for my 3 boys who are full of energy, crazy ideas, strong imaginations, leadership qualities and a whole lot of fun! And my two sweet girls just melt my heart. I'm thankful for their sweetness, their beauty, their ability to make everyone smile and laugh, and the love that they bring out in our family. I'm enjoying watching all my babies grow and I do not take for granted what God has given me in these children. I know what infertility feels like, and because of that journey, I appreciate my children, who they are, and what they offer to our family and the world- so much more than I did before. It is heartbreaking to me to know that so many children have and will grow up in broken homes, without a home or homes that lack goodness, hope and love. I don't personally know what that is like, but I know for so many this is a reality. I have been blessed with the best parents and I'm so thankful for them. they are about to celebrate their 49th wedding anniversary. They both love Jesus, love each other and do their absolute best to love and care for their children, 15 grandkids and 2 almost 3 great grandchildren. I'm thankful that I have a large extended family on both my side and my husband's side. We may not all be close physically but we are there for one another when needed. Family is important to me. In fact, family is my ministry. Being my husband's wife and my children's mommy is what God has called me to do above all else. I'm not always good at keeping my priorities in check, but I'm trying. Father, I love you, and I am so thankful for what you have given me. Thank you for blessing me with the best husband, the most precious children, great parents, and all our family whom I have the privilege to love and serve. Thank you, Lord, for the gift of family. May I never take it for granted. In the sweet name of Jesus, amen. Family would be considered a "big" thank you, so I want to share a "small" thank you too: I am so thankful for hot, sweet, coffee. I can't drink it black, but stir in creamer, sugar and top it with whip cream and caramel syrup and I'm set! So, what about you? What are you thankful for today? "I will praise you, Lord, with all my heart; I will tell of all the marvelous things you have done. I will be filled with joy because of you. I will sing praises to your name, O Most High." ~ Psalm 9:1-2 Joyfully His, Andrea Jesus! My only hope is in Jesus. His sacrifice was so that I, completely undeserving, could be with Him forever. He loves me so much that He wants to spend eternity with me. He loves me so much that He died on the cross for me. He loves me so much that He freely forgives me when I repent of my sin. He is my provider, my guidance, my healer, my restorer. He covers me with His mercy and grace. He showers me with blessings I don't deserve and He loves me despite of my failures. Without Him I am nothing. This song has been on my mind a lot over the past few months.
Without Him By: Mylon LeFevre Without Him I could do nothing Without Him I'd surely fail Without Him I would be drifting Like a ship without a sail Without Him I would be dying Without Him I'd be enslaved Without Him life would be worthless But with Jesus thank God I'm saved Jesus, oh Jesus Do you know Him today Please don't turn Him away Oh Jesus, my Jesus Without Him how lost I would be I could not imagine my life without my Jesus. Through all of life's twists and turns, ups and downs - He has been the only constant. "Without Him life would be worthless" to me. I am so thankful for my Lord! "I will praise you, Lord, with all my heart; I will tell of all the marvelous things you have done. I will be filled with joy because of you. I will sing praises to your name, O Most High." ~ Psalm 9:1-2 It's your turn! What are you thankful for today? Joyfully His, Andrea A lot of people journal. They take the time to write down the important things that are happening in their lives so that one day, they can go back and reflect on those words and memories. It's a great idea, and often, I have wanted to try to do that myself so my children would have a piece of me years down the road, when they are all grown and I'm gone. But.... I've never been disciplined enough to continue this practice. However, I have found something that does work for me.
In January of 2014, I was doing laundry. Very normal for me, lots of laundry happens in my home. While carrying clothes from the laundry room to my bedroom, my foot slipped, I heard a loud pop, and then gently laid myself down on the ground and proceeded to call for my children to bring me my phone because I knew a bone had broken. In fact, I would later find out that I had broken both bones in my lower right leg. They snapped right in two! I was rushed to the hospital, had surgery, stayed in the hospital for three days and then began a long road to recovery. I was on a walker for two months and not able to do my usual jobs and routines, so I needed a lot of help. Praise God He provided it! Between our church family, my Mama, close friends and the moms from my Upward cheer team that I coached, my family was fed, my laundry was done, and the house was kept clean. During this time, I was given one of the sweetest gifts. At the time, I was the Cubbie Leader for our Awana program at church. One afternoon, our Awana director dropped by our home and brought me a HUGE gift basket full of treats and goodies. All the teachers and children had contributed to the basket and put it together for me. It was the sweetiest thing! In that basket was a journal. I began using this journal for my study and prayer notes, but quickly decided to use it for something different. It has become my "Thankful Journal". Every couple of days I write down the things I am thankful for. Some things are big, but most of them are small. This simple little journal has helped me to keep focus on what really matters in life: God and all the blessings He has given me. In the end, my children will still have something of me left: All the things that were dear to me. So, this week as we celebrate the day of Thanksgiving, let's embark on a little "thankful journey". Each day, I want to publicly thank God for some of the things He has blessed me with, and I encourage you to do the same. Let us know in the comments below what you are thankful for. And if you don't keep a thankful journal already, I suggest you try it! To start our thankful sharing, I want to share the first entry I wrote in my journal. At the top of each page of my journal, I write: I'm thankful for...... then I proceed to jot down a few things and date it so that I can go back and see when and what God has done in our lives. So, here's my first entry: 6/27/14 ( I began writing this while we were on a camping trip.) * God's patience with me. * Healthy children. * Relaxing by the pool. * A family to love. * Safe trip home. * Laughter. And here is my most recent entry: 11/19/16 * My hubby's job interviews. *God's provision. * My kids being excited about Christmas and decorating. * Our 3 month old's little feet - so cute! Now it's your turn! What are you thankful for? Joyfully His, Andrea My favorite thing about Paul, is his honest love for those he ministered to. Paul's letters were always covered with love and thankfulness for those God had sent him to share the Gospel with, and he always spoke his love for them. As we look back at I & II Thessalonians today, I want to give a short recap of the things that spoke to me. There is so much for us to learn and gain from these verses.
"We always thank God for all of you and pray for you constantly. As we pray to our God and Father about you, we think of your faithful work, your loving deeds, and the enduring hope you have because of our Lord Jesus Christ." ~ I Thessalonians 1:2-3 The culture we are immersed in day after day, is all about self. Even as Christians we are more concerned with our well being and our needs more than the needs of others. Now, of course, we think of the needs of our immediate families and those in our close knit circles, but how often do we just sit back and thank God for other believers? It is so important for us to truly care, think and pray for other believers. Take the time to thank God for bringing them into your life. Pray that God will strengthen their faith and use them in mighty ways to reach this lost world. Pray for them and encourage them when they are hurting. Let them know they are loved and covered in prayer by their Christian family. "For we speak as messengers approved by God to be entrusted with the Good News. Our purpose is to please God not people. He alone examines the motives of our hearts." ~ I Thessalonians 2:4 Jesus Himself told us to go out into the world and preach the gospel, and here Paul tells us our purpose while sharing the Good News is to please God, not people. Our goal should always be to bring glory back to God. We must remember that everything we do and say is a testimony of our faith. Think about that. We think that we are only sharing the Gospel when we purposely speak to someone about their eternal life, but as believers, we are constantly giving our testimony. Others are watching us. We are sharing the Gospel (or maybe not) with every word we speak, every action we take, every response we give, every tone we use, every thing we watch and listen to, every activity we participate in, and everything we make a priority in our lives. We are a walking testament of the Good News of Christ - are we pleasing God in it? "Finally when we could stand it no longer, we decided to stay alone in Athens, and we sent Timothy to visit you. He is our brother and God's co-worker in proclaiming the Good News of Christ. We sent him to strengthen you, to encourage you in your faith, and to keep you from being shaken by the troubles you were going through. But you know that we are destined for such troubles." ~ I Thessalonians 3:1-3 For all the times we think we have nothing to offer those who are struggling, hurting and suffering, right here lies our instruction. Our job is to strengthen, encourage and keep other believers from being shaken by their troubles. How do we do this? We love them, pray for them, and jump in and help when we know there is a need, even without being asked. "And may the Lord make your love for one another and for all people grow and overflow, just as our love for you overflows. May He, as a result, make your hearts strong, blameless, and holy as you stand before God our Father when our Lord Jesus comes again with all His holy people. Amen." ~ I Thessalonians 3:12-13 Who wouldn't want their hearts to overflow with love? This is a constant prayer for myself, but also for my children. I keep a small journal of Scriptures that I pray over my children. I add to it as I read God's Word and feel Him tugging me to words that I want to pray over them. I don't pray every Scripture over them every day, but I do pray a few of them each day. And this one is BIG to me. I want my children to love others. To love them without conditions, judgement or expectations. I want them to love big and I want that love to continue to grow and overflow out of their hearts, and I want that love to start right in the midst of our own home and family. I Thessalonians, chapter 4, gave us much to think about. Verses one through twelve urges the church (us) to live a life pleasing to God and tells us exactly how to do this. * Stay away from all sexual sin. (v. 3-8) * Love each other. (v. 9-10) * Live a quiet life, minding our own business and working with our own hands. (v. 11-12) "So encourage each other with these words." ~ I Thessalonians 4:18 Verses 13- 17 of this chapter depicts the beautiful picture of what we call the rapture. When Jesus returns, the dead in Christ (born again believers) will rise first, then together with them, we (believers) who are alive will meet Jesus in the air and be with Him forever. (v. 16-17) This is the truth we are to use to encourage each other as we live waiting for that day. "So be on your guard, not asleep like the others. Stay alert and be clearheaded." ~ I Thessalonians 5:6 As we are waiting for Jesus, we will face trials, sorrow, persecution, and deceit. We must be vigilant! Verses 6-8 reminds us to: * Be on guard. * Stay alert. * Be clearheaded. * Be protected by the armor of faith and love. * Wear the confidence of our salvation. And again we are reminded to: "So encourage each other and build each other up, just as you are already doing." ~ I Thessalonians 5:11 "Dear brothers and sisters, honor those who are your leaders in the Lord's work. They work hard among you and give you spiritual guidance. Show them great respect and wholehearted love because of their work. And live peacefully with each other. " ~ I Thessalonians 5:12-13 We must respect and honor those who are leaders in God's Work: pastors, teachers, ministry leaders, etc. Pray for them, love them and remember they are human just like you. They aren't perfect and they won't always make the right choices. But God has called them to their work and most of them are trying to do it well. Encourage them and let them know they are appreciated, loved and smothered with your prayers. As I Thessalonians closes, we are given directions to live a pleasing life to God. (v. 14-22) *Warn the lazy. * Encourage the timid. * Take care of the weak. * Do good and not evil to one another. * Be joyful. * Never stop praying. * Be thankful in all circumstances. * Hold onto what is good. * Stay away from evil. * Don't stifle the Holy Spirit. It's not easy to live up to this, but I'm praying for God's strength and help to continue to follow these directions. "So we keep on praying for you, asking God to enable you to live a life worthy of His call. May He give you the power to accomplish all the good things your faith prompts you to do. Then the name of our Lord Jesus will be honored because of the way you live,and you will be honored along with Him. this is all made possible because of the grace of our God and Lord, Jesus Christ." ~ II Thessalonians 1:11-12 Every time I re-read a book of the Bible, something new jumps out at me. The last time I read through Thessalonians I high-lighted these two verses and made note beside them to pray this for my own life. Heavenly Father, enable me to live a life worthy of Your call. Give me the power to accomplish all the good things You prompt me to do and may Your name be honored through me. In the sweet name of Jesus I pray, Amen. II Thessalonians chapter two, describes the events that must take place before Jesus returns. We are warned to be careful not to listen to false prophecy and urged to stand firm and keep a strong grip on God's teaching (Scripture). (v. 15) Paul closes his letters to the church of Thessalonica with a prayer for those believers as they minister to others and another warning against idleness. Work hard and resist the urge to be lazy . With this, we conclude our fall study. It has been a long ten weeks, but I thank God for the knowledge and understanding He has given us as we have immersed ourselves in His Word. Next week as we celebrate Thanksgiving, my prayer is that we count our blessings and praise God for the big and small things, and all the circumstances that have brought us closer to Him. Stop by next week and join me in publicly thanking God for His goodness, love, mercy, blessings, salvation and grace! Keep reading God's Word! Joyfully His, Andrea Good morning, Sweet Sisters! Can you believe we are in the final week of our fall study? Time has just flown by! This week we will finish up in both I & II Thessalonians. Next week as we celebrate Thanksgiving join me here for a week of "Thanks". Let's spend the week sharing all the blessings God has bestowed upon us, big and small. As we begin to move into the Christmas season, starting December 1st, I hope to count down advent with you as we look at the Christmas story from God's Word. We won't begin our winter study until after the first of the new year, so be looking for the details of our next study. So, without further ado, here is this week's reading plan: Monday - I Thessalonians 4 Tuesday - I Thessalonians 5 Wednesday - II Thessalonians 1 Thursday - II Thessalonians 2 Friday - II Thessalonians 3 Keep reading God's Word! Joyfully His, Andrea Good morning, Sweet Sisters!
We are heading into the last two weeks of our fall study. This week we will finish in Job and begin our journey in I Thessalonians. It has been a year since the Lord nudged me to start this ministry, and I have enjoyed all that He has taught me. I am excited to see what He has in store for the next year. Please join me in prayer as to what direction the Lord will take Redeeming Elegance. I would love to connect with each of you more. Please feel free to comment your prayer requests as I would love to have the privilege to pray specifically for your needs. Also, I would like to ask you to pray specifically for God's wisdom and guidance in furthering my writing both here on the blog and in book/study/devotional form. Thank you for your prayers! Now, let's get busy with God's Word! Monday - Job 41 Tuesday - Job 42 Wednesday - I Thessalonians 1 Thursday - I Thessalonians 2 Friday - I Thessalonians 3 Keep reading! Joyfully His, Andrea |
For we are God's masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago. " AuthorHi! I'm Andrea, wife to my handsome hubby, homeschooling mama to my 7 amazing blessings, and daughter of the King of kings. I am so glad you have stopped by my little piece of the web. My prayer is that the Lord will use this blog to encourage you in your personal, daily walk with Christ. Archives
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