Alpha & Omega

I love this song!


I Heard a great voice out of heaven saying
Behold the tabernacle of God is with men
He shall dwell with them and they shall be His people
And Almighty God will be with them

He shall wipe away all tears from their eyes
There shall be no more death
Neither sorrow, nor crying, and no more pain
The former things are all passed away

He that sat upon the throne said,
"Behold, I make all things new"
He said unto me, "Write these words
For they are faithful and true"

And it is done
It is done
It is done
It is done

He is the Alpha and Omega
The Beginning and the End
The Son of God, the King of Kings
Lord of lords, He's Everything
Messiah, Jehovah
The Prince of Peace is He
The Son of Man, Seed of Abraham
Second Person in the Trinity

He is the Alpha and Omega
The Son of God, the King of Kings
Messiah, Jehovah
The Great I Am seed of Abraham
He is the Alpha and Omega
The beginning and the end
Son of God, the King of Kings
The Lord of everything
He is Lord

Lyrics from <a href="http://www.elyrics.net">eLyrics.net</a>

A Tribute to Mother

This is a little early since Mother's Day isn't until a few weeks away, but I was asked to share words of encouragement at a baby shower and in my reading/research I came across this sermon titled Hannah: A Godly Mother by Johnny Mac.  It is soooooo good and I would highly encourage everyone to listen to it.  In the sermon he quoted the following and thought I would post it so I will always remember the sweet tribute this man had written to his mother.

I came across an interesting one by a man named W.L. Caldwell written in 1928. Listen to what he said about mother. "Well may we pause to pay honor to her who after Jesus Christ is God's best gift to men, mother. It was she who shared her life with us when as yet our members were unformed, into the valley of the shadow of death she walked that we might have the light of life. In her arms was the garner of our food and the soft couch for our repose. There we nestled in the hour of pain, there was the playground of our infant glee. Those same arms later became our refuge and stronghold. It was she who taught our baby feet to go and lifted us up over the rough places. Her blessed hands plied the needle by day and by night to make our clothes. She put the book under our arm and started us off for school. But best of all, she taught our baby lips to lisp the name of Jesus and told us first the wondrous story of a Savior's love."

In respect to the newest child that is in my life, my sweet friend sent me this quote...
"We can't change the all the boys in the world, but we can change the world for one boy."

AhA MoMeNt!

Today I was talking with a friend about some things that needed to get done for an event we were working on together.  I just had corrective cornea surgery and she was encouraging me to stay home from the event.  As I was teeter-tottering between whether I should go or not or what I need to get done, she said to me, "Sweet girl.  You struggle with taking on too much and over-extending yourself.  I can't help you with that."  Those might not have been her exact exact words but it was pretty darn close.  The Holy Spirit pricked my ears and heart.  Wow....after all these years, that comment really struck a chord within me and I heard it loud and clear.  There was more to the conversation and I decided not to go to the event.  I have also said "No" to a few other things lately and it felt good.  During my time of recovery, which I think know the Lord uses these times to make us truly "BE STILL and KNOW HE is God!", there was a respite of a few days of my hectic schedule.  I rested, slept, and thought about Christ.  No extras.  No thoughts of this worry or that one, the next thing on the schedule, no chores, no anything else.  It was such a special time.  My mom hosted all of us at her house because she knew I can't resist the temptation to try and DO, especially in my own house.  I was so thankful for her willingness to continue to be MOM even though I am a grown adult.  Anywho, my dear friend was right...everyone around me sees it but I just keep forging ahead, for some reason thinking that there is too much work to be done...too many broken lives that need Christ.  I exhaust myself to the point that it is not really healthy because my "down time" is even more unproductive like spending time on FB, which I truly do despise, not eating healthy, not getting to bed early enough, not truly being prepared for anything until right when it matters, and the list goes on. This is a sin problem because I am trying to work out my righteousness in a way...and I can't.  It has already been taken care of.  My pastor's wife is so kind and gentle yet firm and speaks such truth when she simply tells me, "Trust Jesus Cara."  This is a common theme in posts for me over the years, but here it surfaces again.  It is interesting to think how the Lord has created me in this fashion for His glory, yet it IS for His glory and not my own.  Even when doing Kingdom work, we can tend to try and make if for our own glory and busy ourselves with the work.  I don't know if I am making any sense or even typing correctly because I can't hardly see what I am writing....so please excuse all my errors.  The bottomline is, when she told me that today, it reminded me of all the brokenness around me that I am trying to FIX and really it boils down to, "I can't help you with that."  Only Jesus can! 

My Hero

Two posts in a row....crazy! 
I love my blog for the purpose of going back and reading through my posts and looking at the pictures.  Some of my most favorite posts are the ones with my "Random Thoughts" because it is interesting to see what I was thinking 2 years ago or so.  However, my most favorite is seeing pictures or reading my notes of true affection for my hero....Scott. 

He is the guy of my dreams and continues to hold my heart. 
He is faithful to Christ and leading us to love Christ more too.
He is faithful to provide for and protect his family.
He is faithful to loving me despite my many, many flaws.
He is full of integriity!
He loves sharing the gospel to all who come in to our life.
He loves the sweet boy.

After Christ, Scott is next in line.
Our story started many moons ago and it is really weird for me to think that come this September he will have been part of 1/2 my life that I have lived so far.  Mind boggling!  I look around at so many people who are looking for love and acceptance and settle for a "quick fix" here and there and everywhere.  It breaks my heart.  Scott and I have certainly had our ups and downs, but as we continue to grow in our love for Christ, our marriage has only gotten sweeter and more precious.  He has made me understand the passage where Paul talks about husbands loving your wives as Christ loves the church.  I don't doubt his love and devotion for me and our family, through thick and thin.  We have learned more about the marriage covenant and wow....it is truly amazing.  The Lord is so good.  He truly knows what is best for us.  I am thankful.....