Rural Mama's Sandbox: Bible Verses Included

Showing posts with label Bible Verses Included. Show all posts

Sorry I've kind of fallen off the face of the planet! I promise the blog WILL get more interesting in the weeks to come. I have some BIG plans ahead!

I love Fall! The color of Fall in nature with the bright reds, oranges, and yellows. I love Fall weather, the cool slight chill that beckons you to sit by a campfire and sip Apple Cider. To me Fall is the perfect time to ride and really enjoy the horses!

The Girls brushing their pony!

Ride 'em Cowgirls!

All these things I love, but I'm not going to lie, October is not my favorite month.

I do not celebrate nor do I enjoy anything to do with Halloween. The history of Halloween and why it was celebrated years and years ago are terrifying. I understand that it is commercialized now and that the reason people participate in Halloween is different but I can't help but feel like it is Wrong for my family.

Almost EVERYTHING on TV has to do with Halloween. You can't unsee something you have seen and I believe my daughters really don't need to see scary things if they don't have to. As they grow the world itself will be scary enough, they don't need these scary things bouncing around in their head now.

I have been filtering what Big Sister and Little Sister see, however Halloween stuff is everywhere. Just this week we walked into Target and there was a huge scary skeleton banner hanging as we walked in. Big Sister spotted it well before I did and pointed it out to me and said how scary it was. I know I can not shield them from everything, but I can equip them with THE MOST POWERFUL tool against anything scary.

God and Jesus Christ His Son!

I wish I could insert the theme song from the Veggie Tales episode "God Is Bigger Than The Boogie Man" right here!

Every time they are exposed to the Halloween scary things I remind them that God is more powerful than any of the scary things and that He will always protect them and keep them safe as long as they believe in God and Jesus, obey Him, and ask for His help and guidance.

"For I am the Lord your God who holds your right hand, and who says to you, do not be afraid. I will help you."

Isaiah 41:13 NLV

The Lord is my light and my salvation - so why should I be afraid? The Lord is my fortress, protecting me from danger, so why should I tremble?

Psalm 27:1 NLT

For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-descipline.

2 Timothy 1:7 NLT

I hope that they hold tight to these teachings and learn to fear nothing but God.
Have a wonderful evening dear followers and please stay tuned!

I am not going to lie... being a Mom is not exactly what I thought it was going to be. I guess I should have listened when I was younger. It really is harder than everyone thinks it is, except Moms, they already know. I struggle a lot with lack of independence. I was fairly independent growing up, I had a small group of friends that I hung out with every so often, but for the most part I was content doing things I liked to do, when I wanted, whether someone was there doing it with me or not.

The transition from that to Motherhood had been challenging. I have days where I seriously consider locking myself in my room and letting the girls have their way with the house so I can just be me. But, I am more responsible than that. There are days where I just don't want to be touched anymore, and when I get jumped on for the thousandth time that day or another elbow to my boob, I want to scream! But, I don't.

Then there are times like now. The girls are happy and content, playing together with a hose in the backyard. The smiles on their faces and the sweetness of their laughter just takes me away to someplace I never knew before I became a Mom. They don't have a care in the world, and it makes me feel good.

I know God doesn't give you more than you can handle, but sometimes I seriously doubt my abilities at this whole "Mom" thing. I am guessing I am not alone. All I can do is pray that God leads me in the way He wants me to go, for my daughters, and hope I don't screw them up too bad if I take a wrong turn now and again.

There is a wonderful verse in the Bible, that helps me get through just about anything that gets tossed my way. I may have posted this before, but I will do it again, and again because it is just that awesome. It is from Philippians 4:13 "For I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength."

I have to believe that being a Mom is what God wanted for me and that because He wanted it, I can do anything and get through anything that challenges me as a Mom.

So there you have it. My revelation of the day! Aren't you glad you stopped by?

What are your biggest challenges as a Mom or a parent?

Have a wonderful day dear followers,

Self Doubt is my biggest weakness in general, but even more so when it comes to my Faith. Unfortunately, much more often that I'd care to admit, a tiny voice in my head tells me to play it safe, don't take risks, that there is always someone out there that can do things better than me, that I am a nobody, I couldn't possibly help lead someone to finding Christ, or make a difference. I've been slowly coming to the realization that the voice is Not from God. That voice wants me to fail, falter, and give in because if I do, I Can't/Won't make a different. And by make a difference, I don't mean something huge like curing World Hunger over night (although that would be amazing), I am talking about the small things, small things that when added up over time DO make a difference.

I can't quote the Bible inside and out, but sometimes people just need your encouragement because the Faith inside you pours out and envelopes them. When you are a Christian on the inside, it overflows onto the outside where people can see it. Sometimes to make a difference, you just need to send a text, or pick up the phone and make a call, or send a card. The more I do the little things that make a difference, the more the self doubt seems to be left behind because I know that I don't HAVE to do something huge to make a difference for the Kingdom of God. I just have to care enough to try and do things for all the right reasons.

When I begin to feel that Self Doubt is creeping in, I have begun to reflect on Phillipians 4:13 "For I can do all things through Christ, who gives me strength." and 2 Timothy 1:7 "For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline." The first verse is my Go To Verse, I repeat it to myself over and over for encouragement. The second gives me a strong drive to continue on and be bold!

I'm not going to lie, sometimes I believe that voice in my head and Self Doubt rears its ugly head. During those times God knows exactly when I need Him and I always hear or see those verses in the strangest places and at oddest times, but they are always there!

How do you handle Self Doubt? Are there Bible verses that help you with the battle?

Have a wonderful day dear followers and God Bless!

I was sitting on my couch reading Share Jesus Without Fear when the wind picked up and it began to pour rain. The wind was pretty strong and I noticed the branches on the tree in our front yard seemed saggy and a bit closer to the house than normal. I watched the trees across the street as the tops swayed back and forth in the wind, almost violently.

I began to think how amazing it was that these tall trees could withstand so many storms and being tossed back and forth in the wind. They stand tall with a living, healthy trunk that gives them amazing stability but room to give to the wind without breaking. Now, on another hand, we have a dying tree in our backyard. So far we have lost at least 5-6 very large and heavy limbs during storms this year. During one storm a branch fell on our van, denting the hood and cracked the windshield.

I began to think of God, my Faith in Him, and my relationship with Jesus Christ. It is like the healthy tree that stands strong. Inevitably, there will be a storm or hard times that shake the branches and may cause the tree to sway, but remaining strong in Faith keeps me rooted and able to withstand anything that comes my way. The storm also has positive affects as well, the rain helps the tree grow and gain further strength just as hard times strengthen my Faith and relationship with Jesus. But remember also that the trees do not grow tall over night, relationships with Christ are a long term process and commitment that takes time and good nourishment (which can be found in reading the Bible and going to church).

I changes my thoughts to the dying tree. It is like those that have not accepted Christ as their Savior. Although, the majority of the tree looks nice and blooms, it is dying at its very foundation and if you look close enough you can see death spreading up the tree. It will eventually fall without intervention. The storms have no positive effect on the tree and the excess water can actually rot the wood and weaken it.

I thank God that I am strong in Him and I encourage you all to seek Him. If you look around you can learn so much about God, just from the world around you. Also, don't get discouraged, everyone starts as a seed and has to grow! A great place to start is by talking to a pastor, ask Him about God and how you can have a relationship with Jesus.

I would like to give you all some encouragement through a Bible Verse that has been on my heart for the past month or so:

"I can do ALL things through Christ who gives me Strength." Philippians 4:13

I also found another passage that fits well with the theme of this post. It is a prayer for spiritual strength found in Ephesians 3:14-21 ESV

14 For this reason I bow my knees before the Father,15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named,16 that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being,17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love,18 may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth,19 and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

20 Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us,21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

Have a blessed day dear followers!

Yesterday I had mentioned going on a Women's Church Retreat. All I can say is Wow, God is AWESOME! Our group of 13 women stayed at a house on Lake Berkly in Kentucky. It was beautiful and refreshing to be on the lake.

I had SO much fun and learned SO much. Not only did I learn about God, but about myself and the other women as well. I am just amazed at everything that I was able to experience in just a three day weekend!

I could go on and on and on about everything that happened, but I will just give you a summary of what I learned:

Sometimes you have to STOP and listen. Get away from your normal day to day life and jump out of your "box". Listen to what God has to tell you, He is always there and can speak to you directly or indirectly through people and situations. Pray! Pray all the time and don't be afraid to be specific. His answer is NEVER "No." It is either "Yes," "Not Now," or " I have something better planned." Seek God in everything and every situation and Praise HIM! Never stop doing, the moment you STOP doing, your faith dies. You have to make time to STAY IN YOUR WORD! You can read the same passage 50 times and on the 50th time learn something TOTALLY different and new! Don't be afraid of the gifts God gives you, trust that He knows exactly what He is doing and act on those gifts.

I'm sure you may be saying, well that is silly, I've heard a lot of those comments before, why is she JUST now getting it. Well, being TOLD something and LIVING IT are totally different things. The last line was something that I had been battling with a lot lately. Through the Retreat, I was able totally surrender to God and use the gift he has given me. It was both exhilarating and terrifying at the same time! I know God has great plans for me and I am so excited to learn more!

My soul yearns for you in the night;
in the morning my spirit longs for you.
When your judgments come upon the earth,
the people of the world learn righteousness.
Isaiah 26:9 NIV

Have wonderful day and God Bless you dear followers!

Heal me, LORD, and I will be healed; save me and I will be saved, for you are the one I praise. Jeremiah 17:14 (NIV)

Growing up I never really saw the healing power of God firsthand. Last month, however, I witnessed it continuously and even experienced it firsthand. It is amazing and proof that God is alive and very present even in this crazy day in age!

Each Sunday last month church members were being healed. All had different ailments that they were ready to give to God. I found it amazing and unreal, even though I saw it with my own eyes and heard the testimony with my own ears.

I have had constant back pain for years, I've just been able to tune it out until the pain gets too bad. I never realized it until now, but the devil knows that pain is one of my big weaknesses. All he has to do is throw a little pain my way and I fall off the path that God wants me on. I let it rule over me and hope that it goes away soon, instead of looking to God for help.

Last Sunday, my back was hurting more than usual. I was fed up! I decided that I was too young to hurt this bad and I needed help. It was a big step for me to ask for prayer for myself, I always seem to want to pray for others and have others helped. I went up to the alter, the elders prayed, anointed me with oil, and my back was immediately pain free, Praise God. It was strange to me to feel no pain because I had been in pain for so long.

I have been unable to STOP telling everyone about my healing. I WANT this for others and I know that God wants to do it for other, all they have to do is humble themselves before God and ask for His help! It seems SO simple, but SO hard for so many people to do. I know, because it was hard for ME!

If you need healing, mentally, physically or spiritually, PRAY! Ask God for help, He WILL answer! But also remember that God's answers aren't always immediate, they may be "Not Yet" or "I have something better planned." Seek Him in everything you do and I KNOW you will be blessed!

Have a wonderful day!

Well, I realized tonight that I haven't updated my followers on my lovely Peacocks in a while... so here is the latest, including some photos of Mr. Handsome Houdini, as I affectionately call my Peacock.

In case you had no idea I have a Peacock, here is the short story on how I got him: I went to an auction and bid on two peachicks and a turkey (they were in the same lot). I won and was giddy to bring home my new peachicks, that was about 2 years ago. About a year after I figured out that I had a matching pair of Blue India Peafowl. I was SO excited to have a pair and was excited about hatching eggs in the future. (You can read a little about my Peacocks in these other posts!) One night a predator got into the coop and killed several of my chickens AND my peahen. I was devastated but relieved to still have the peacock. I put him in a more secure location and he faired well, until this year.

I made him a nice outside pen attached to his coop and he would come out for about 10 minutes a day. I figured since he was so shy I would open the pen an let him roam to yard for bugs...

Well, he took off on me. He went MIA for about a WEEK AND A HALF! Then, then about a week ago I spotted him walking down the road in front of our house. I ran out and caught him (Side note: I got REALLY bad poison ivy/oak from chasing him into the woods, but oh so worth it). I put him in his coop pen and he attacked the sunflower seeds and Flock Raiser that I had set out for him. It was like he hadn't eaten the whole time he was gone (I know he ate, but he sure did miss his normal feed!).

Well, I had to run to town and shut him up in the pen. When I got back he was walking around the yard. It was dark so I didn't want to chase him to catch him and then loose him in the woods, so I herded him towards the coop and he roosted on the roof for the night. Then next morning he was gone. A day later I herd him in the trees down the road. I tried to get him but he was too far up. So, I left him alone and left his food out next to his old coop. The next day he was back in our yard hanging out.

It's been about a week since he came back for good and he enjoys relaxing by my turkey's pen by the woods, he seems to have taken a liking to my Royal Palm Tom. He will walk around the yard and eat bugs and weeds around 5:00PM every night and go down to the area around the coop to get his feed and then up in the trees he goes for the night. I was sure that he was GONE for good the first time he left me and now I am SO excited that he has stayed with me even though he is loose. I am planning a LARGE (more secure) coop and flight pen for him and I can't wait to get a couple peahens for him. I know he misses the peahen I lost a year ago.

I am SO thankful to God that he came back. I was praying that he was safe the entire time he was gone! I know it sounds kind of silly to pray for a peacock, but he is proof that God does answer prayers, even the silly ones! I hope to have MANY MANY more years with him, he is by far my FAVORITE bird that I own!

"Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Have a wonderful day dear followers!

With "Easter" here, I am both pleased to be able to serve a Mighty God who gave his only Son for my sins and both saddened by the thought that so many don't know Him. I grew up with Santa Clause and the Easter Bunny, but I was also aware of the real "Reason for the Season," thanks to my mother who took us to church and never gave me a reason to doubt that there was a God.

Today, I'm not sure how many generations younger than I actually know why we really celebrate these holidays. They are very much commercialized and parents don't seem to talk to their kids about God and Jesus as much as they used to. I don't know why, I'm guessing they don't know how, aren't sure about the facts themselves, or just really don't care. To me these holidays are serious and very precious. In our home we have decided not to invite Santa and the Easter Bunny in to share in our celebration. Some people think, "Oh your poor kids" or that we are "Taking away a part of childhood" but I don't think that is true. Many times kids put Jesus in the same category as Santa and the Easter Bunny and guess what happens when they finally find out that Santa and the Easter Bunny aren't real? They start to wonder what else you have made up and they start to doubt their belief in God and Jesus. The world tries to give people so many reasons to doubt, I don't want to hand out reasons for my girls to doubt the existence of God and Jesus. I want my girls to trust me to tell them the truth and to be honest with them. I know at times I will fail miserably because I am human, but I pray that the times I fail will not permanently damage them in the long run.

Then Jesus told him, "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." John 20:29

So, I guess the reason for this post is to ask you, parents, please sit down with your children. Tell them about God and Jesus. Tell them why we have Easter and Christmas. Take them to church, they right church for you is out there, you are meant to be part of a body for Christ. Pray and ask for Him to lead you there!

May God bless you dear followers!

The past couple of weeks at church I have seen amazing healing just through the power of prayer. Doctor's found a cancerous tumor on the kidney of one of the elders in our church. And yes, I did say THE kidney, about 10 years ago he had to have his kidneys removed and replaced by a donor kidney. So, he in fact had a tumor on his donor kidney. Our church family is very strong, especially when it comes to prayer. I always joke about our church having God on speed dial, because every time we need a serious healing and we pray we see results almost instantly. Now, I'm not saying that praying ALWAYS gives you instant results, however this past month we have been blessed as a church to be able to see instant results.

The doctors were able to remove the tumor along with part of the affected kidney. In the hospital, blood results showed that the kidney wasn't functioning as normal, but that was to be expected. About a week went by and our elder went in for more blood tests to check on the kidney, the results were better than in the hospital and showed that the kidney was working like normal. Another week went by and more blood tests, this time the results showed that the kidney was functioning above normal, as if he had two perfectly healthy kidneys.

From what I've been told, the doctors here had never done this kind of surgery nor expected such wonderful results. Praise God for the power of prayer and for healing! God uses doctors for His will and He certainly did for our elder, there is no other way to explain such a miraculous healing! God has big plans for our elder, our church, and our community. He has great plans for you and you too can have God on speed dial if you believe, seek him, and pray!

¹³ Are any of you suffering hardships? You should pray. Are any of you happy? You should sing praises. ¹⁴ Are any of you sick? You should call for the elders of the church to come and pray over you, anointing you with oil in the name of the Lord. ¹⁵ Such a prayer offered in faith will heal the sick, and the Lord will make you well. And if you have committed any sins, you will be forgiven.

¹⁶ Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results. ¹⁷ Elijah was as human as we are, and yet when he prayed earnestly that no rain would fall, none fell for three and a half years! ¹⁸ Then, when he prayed again, the sky sent down rain and the earth began to yield its crops.

James 5:13-18

Have you witnessed divine healing through prayer and God? Leave me a comment and share, I'd love to hear your story!

Have a wonderful morning dear followers!

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Fall v. October

Thoughts on Motherhood

25 Days of CHRISTmas: Day 2

25 Days of CHRISTmas

True Thanksgiving

Confessions: Self Doubt

God's Strength in Me

Women's Church Retreat 2012

God Heals!

Being Thankful

"What would you do if you woke up today with only the things
that you were thankful for yesterday?"

This is a quote from a Facebook status I read the other day and it really made me think...

What am I Thankful for today?

I would go on and on, but you get the idea and if I did, my post may end up too long! :)

What does the Bible say about being Thankful?

"16 Rejoice always,17 pray without ceasing,18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

"Give thanks in all circumstances, " Wow, that is intense. God wants us to be thankful for everything, both the good and the bad. Probably, because the bad gives us valuable insight into what God wants us to know, as well as his plans for us. It shapes us into the person God wants us to be!

So, What are YOU Thankful for today?

Have a wonderful day dear followers!

My Peacock Went MIA

Happy Mother's Day!

Commercialized Holidays

The Power of Prayer

Home Sweet... High Chair?

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