a thankful heart

Philippians 4:19 (Amplified Bible)
And my God will liberally supply (fill to the full) your every need according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.

today the Lord really stirred this verse in my spirit while i was sitting here at work with everything that has been going on today in our world. here is a tidbit of what you can see all over the news headlines today, this one is courtesy of fox news.com.

with our country in a complete state of panic, and even in my workplace with co-workers who are in a shocked, concerned, and fearful state about what tomorrow brings, i have had a day to really communicate with God about what a benefit it is to know the truth of His word. i honestly can't imagine what it would be like to have to live without the word of God in your life. the word is so vital to the core of who i am and how i live my life that i can't imagine to live a day without it. in the days that our world is currently facing, thank God for His word! thank God that i can sleep at night and know that He alone & nothing else is my source. i can know that because i am a tither and a giver that my needs are met and i am BLESSED beyond measure!

as the Lord brought Philippians 4:19 into my spirit today, i almost was sitting on my desk about to laugh because i know that no matter what my needs are that they are met, and that is because i live the by laws and rules of God's economy and not this world's! my riches are in HIS riches which aren't wrapped up on wall street, or in any government bank. what awesome news that is! it is awesome to know that no matter what the situation, that i can trust & rely on Him to bring me to the other side with a liberal supply, filled to my fullest of all that i need!! praise God! so, this really got me thinking about having a heart of gratitude for what the Lord has already so graciously blessed me with and i wanted to remind myself of those things, so here is my list.

i am thankful for:

-my wonderful husband: he is an amazing provider, who loves the Lord more then he loves me, who is my best friend, and he is more then i could have ever wanted, or deserved.

-my wonderful family & friends who despite all the craziness we have experienced, love me, care for me, and supports me through the good, the bad, & the ugly.

-my amazing house: this is truly a God given blessing! what a beautiful home that i have with my husband, that the Lord was able to provide means for us to build, live in, furnish, and love.

-my job even though some days i don't like it, it is a provision for me to live, bless others, be a giver & a tither, and help to support my family. in times when people are having a hard time finding jobs, thank God for the steadiness that i have in mine.

-life & the means to live it: in times in our world when people can't pay their bills, let alone enjoy the wonderful things that life has to offer, i get to pay off what i owe, give to the Lord, and enjoy life on top of that!! for that i am TRULY blessed, and have my needs met, and have some extra to enjoy. it may not be the glamorous life of expensive things, but it is a life FULL of good things for me to enjoy. what a blessing!

i guess i said that all to say that today what the Lord spoke to me about was that not only that He is and will continue to be my provision through whatever tomorrow brings, but that when days look dark, and things look tough, to remember what He has done, be thankful for it all, and as you do that, you will see that your concerns will fade because you know and have lived the goodness of what God has to offer, and no matter what is going on in this world, that will never change, the word of God is consistently the same and will ALWAYS stand the test of time. thank God for His word and thank God that i get to live in the fullness of it!!

then & now:how we became one

so last week i was sitting in my loft, and i decided to peek through some of my old journals and it was really interesting!! for those of you who don't really know about the beginnings of mine & scott's relationship, this will be an interesting post for you!

i would really have to post a novel if i was to get into every detail about our beginnings, but i will recap here for you the best way that i can. basically scott & i first crossed paths back in the 7th grade and i was anything but nice to him. he was the new kid & i thought he was geeky, so in typical middle school fashion i made fun of him for being the kid with the cream backpack. this continued on for the rest of middle school, basically we didnt have much to say to each other and our paths never really crossed which didnt bother me much until one fated day. one day out of the blue in the 9th grade, while sitting in mrs. bergk's class scott caught my attention. i couldn't really tell you what exactly caught it, but i remember looking at him laughing & smiling and i was just drawn to him. of course, i was like what is going on? since all i had known of this kid was laughing and picking on him. as time went on i really just prayed for him & about him everyday, and sought God on my new found feelings for him. i watched him with admiring eyes from a distant and really got a big big crush on him.

as with anything in high school, this was soon followed by a lot of DRAMA. i had told some friends that i liked him and from there somehow it spread around and before i knew it most everyone had heard, including scott. things were said by people about him that he had said, some true, some not true and i was literally crushed. i tried with all i was to hate him but something in my heart wouldn't let him go. i asked God about it and the only answer i got was to pray for him. so that is what i did, as time went on i still had a crush on him, but my heart was more concerned about just praying for him, and whatever his role in my life was. a YEAR went by of this, and this is where i found myself turning through the pages of my journals, and i thought i would share some posts with you.

9/13/01
you know, i don't exactly know how long this will all last, whether it be a day, a month, a year, or forever who knows? whatever tomorrow brings, i am ready for it.

2/25/02
i was thinking of scott today and i've decided to FULLY trust God with everything, including boys, He knows it all and He'll bring that right one to me if i trust Him with it. i'm not sure if Scott is someone special and i'm not sure that he's not. i'm just trusting God to lead my paths and to show me the way, until then i am content being myself.

9/3/02
there is just something about scott that my heart longs to know, longs to be with, i know God has a magnificent plan for me, and i am getting to a place where i am anxious to know,but more importantly i want to know if scott will ever be in my life. i guess what i am trying to say is this year is the beginning of a whole new journey for me, an exciting one, filled with many God things, and i know God will and is taking care of Scott issues, so i just need to trust Him.

11/30/02
we talked on im tonight for like 2 hours, about like deep things, his life, my life, just things in general, but he totally opened up, and we talked about our families, and wow just so much! our conversation totally turned into a God thing! it's awesome! i cannot even say how extremely happy i am!!

12/12/02-the day after scott asked me out
i thank God so much for this gift He has given me, words cannot even begin to describe the contentment within my heart, i know that this is his perfect will, and that God placed scott in my life for a very special reason, and it is a very special relationship.

reading all these journal entries, it is just so wonderful to see how God's plan worked out in our lives. it was a long journey from then to now, and this entry was only a snapshot of what has happened for us, but it has been a wonderful journey of love created by our heavenly Father. i see then how i was able to really trust God and then i had no idea of all that would become of scott & i but my heart knew there was something special about us and as we both stayed faithful to His plan, He was able to bring us together. what a wonderful relationship we have had so far, and things will only continue to get better.

i am so thankful that we were willing to wait for each other and really trust Him in relationships. i love that scott has been my one & only, i love that i don't know what it is to be with any one else. i have been able to share my life & my love with my very best friend, and i am so thankful that God is the one who orchestrated it all. what a good Father we serve that He loved us so much to be created our love story so wonderfully.