Heavenly Delight

My husband and I took our little Molli to the Caldwell Zoo today. Although the lines were a mile long to get in there- the weather was perfect and Molli had a great time! We brought her stroller.. but Ryan carried her up high in his arms for the most part. My job was to push the abandoned stroller and take pictures. I had no problem with that because I got to observe her and all of her excitement. It was such a delightful thing to watch! And it got me thinking about how God must feel when he sees us taking delight in all of his wonderful creations. How proud He must feel to watch the smiling, excited faces of His children. He is so good!

Here are a couple of pictures of Molli's big day at the zoo!

Another lesson on Joy..

Last week, God put the meaning of "Joy" on my heart something fierce! Everything I read, saw, listened to, reminded me of what joy really was.

We FINALLY got our bathroom shower-walls tiled ((after 1.5 years of living here!)) and I was trying to keep to myself- up to my ears in my Beth Moore study- which I do with Biblegateway.com.. Anyway, the tile guy walks by and says, "Now are you doing your homework or facebooking??" And I laughed and said, "It's my bible study!" Then this guy goes on to ask me if I'd read certain books and then he tells me the descriptions of some. This guy was a former youth leader, but had stepped down because of his busy work schedule- he didn't feel it was fair for the kids to have a leader who couldn't commit 100% of his time so he let someone else step in. We got on the the subject of the book of James! I have been studying that book for a couple of weeks now so I was thrilled that the Lord put this guy in my path to verbally talk about it with someone else! We were discussing joy and happiness and their difference. Then he went on to tell me of this AWESOME lesson that he had done with the youth group at his church.. I want to do this with the class I lead, now!

He brings a cake.. and other ingredients that are involved in the baking process.

He asks a volunteer, "Do you want this cake?"

Volunteer says, "Yes!!"

He hands them an egg.

Confused volunteer says, "No.. I want the cake?!"

He hands him a bag of flour.

A very confused volunteer says, "I want a piece of that cake!"

He explains, "This cake is made up of all of these little ingredients. Without them, you can't make a cake! Just like in life, there are all of these little pieces that you don't understand why God is giving them to you.. until someday when you look back and add all of those pieces together and you see the beautiful masterpiece God has made out of all of your little circumstances!"

GOD IS SO GOOD.

"Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything."
James 1:2-4

Godly Friends

I have really been praying that God put "Godly Friends" in my life so that I will have encouragement and fellowship in His sons name. I want to surround myself with people who are also seeking God's face the same as I am. Well, as I prayed my prayers last night and let God "have the floor" so I could be still and listen- He really put this on my heart:

In order to have Godly friendship- YOU must in fact GIVE Godly friendship.


Wow. He is so blunt! :-)

I need to demonstrate love, forgiveness, passion, and friendship to others so that they too will be encouraged to demonstrate it as well- That's when I will have those Godly friendships!

Matthew 5:16 In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.

I am currently reading two Max Lucado books.. and one of them is Cast of Characters. He said that someone once challenged him to replace the word "love" with his name when reading 1 Corinthians 13. Instead of "Love is patient, love is kind.." "Mitzi is patient, Mitzi is kind.." and so on and so on. HA! Just as Max wasn't.. Mitzi isn't either! I need to work hard on making sure that MITZI is patient and kind and all the above before MITZI can expect the same from someone else! Jesus, however, IS all of those things.. and my main mission in life is to be like him.

Thank you FATHER for putting this revelation before me. You know my heart and you see my mind.. yet you STILL love me!

JOY.

This past week has been one of those weeks where God has put so much in my path to remind me of one specific thing: Joy.

My devotionals, bibles studies, everything has either told me to have joy or reminded me of joy.

I love how He is so "hands-on" in my life. He puts things before me to build me up so that when I suffer a blow of some sort- I can easily handle it and remember Who is holding my hand.

I am doing a Bible study on facebook that Mark Hall (lead singer of Casting Crowns) is doing via facebook video everyday. And it has been a serious blessing. We are studying the book of James.

‎"Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything." James 1:2-4

That verse speaks to my heart on so many levels!

I have really been dwelling on it this past week.. and counting all of my blessings and taking joy in the trials that I have faced- because truth be told- I got through them all with Jesus' help! That perseverance did in fact strengthen my faith!

Yesterday, I got a little agitated by a news report that I saw about a little boy with Spina Bifida. His uncle had fabricated him some pretty awesome wheels out of a bumbo seat and some plastic tires. However, the reporter's words were "He smiles constantly.. though given what he's been through.. he has every reason NOT to.. He has Spina Bifida." That really got under my skin. I am sure she meant nothing by it.. but it still made me feel offended. Molli has EVERY reason to smile. She has a family who loves her, friends who adore her, and a Savior who died for her! How can we not smile?? How can we not have JOY?

Father God, I find so much joy in your love. Help me to spread that love and joy so that everyone will know You. I love You!