For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage each other with these words. 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18
Just a short note to say Happy New Year to all my blog friends. I am excited to see what 2009 holds for all of us (The Rapture? maybe). Anyway, I pray that you all have a blessed New Year! (And who knows? Next time you visit Waiting for the Shout, things may look a little different - New Year...new look? Maybe ;-).
Revelation 21:3-5
And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away." He who was seated on the throne said, "I am making everything new!" Then he said, "Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true."
**UPDATED** I added a few more pictures to this post. Yesterday, Blogger was not working correctly and it would not let me add any more pics and it still will not allow me to post captions beside the pics......maybe blogger is mad that I took such a long break~!
So, Christmas is over and so is my blog fast. It was a much needed break since things have been so busy around here. You probably dont know this, but I tend to put unessecary pressure on myself to meet my goal of blogging three times per week (even when I have nothing to say-- as you all well know and if you didnt know, you will find out by the end of this completely boring post). And, yes, I do realize that blogging is not my job, but when I set a personal goal, I am just anal OCD enough that I feel I must meet it (with the exceptions of weight loss and exercise of course). On a side note, I would like to point out that even though I have taken an extended leave of absence from the blog, I have not lost my mad striking skilz.
Thank you all for your Christmas wishes. I hope your Christmas was a blessed one filled with lots of fudge, cakes, non-dry turkeys, sweet potato casseroles (much like the cold one that I make ), appropriate presents that you did not have to return, relatives that did not get on your nerves, and most of all Jesus.
Speaking of gifts that you dont have to return.......I wonder, is there anyone left in the world (besides my Father in Law) who still likes fruitcake? Seriously, I would hate for Claxton to go out of business, but why are people still giving fruitcakes for Christmas gifts? Just curious.
We had a good Christmas here. Seems like they go by way too fast. My house looks like a tornado swept through leaving a wake of toys and games behind. Somehow, we ended up with more toys than Toys R Us (how would one make a backwards R on this thing?). We never buy the boys toys for Christmas, only clothes, they love that ;-). And Santa brings them three toys each. The vast majority of toys come from the grandparents and aunts - for which we are eternally grateful, because while they junk up my house, they also provide hours of entertainment which in turn allows me to do laundry, clean, and blog. So, lots of toys = win/win for everyone.
As I type, Lake is playing a Playstation game that Aunt Lisa got him. It is called The Bible Game. The player plays games like Daniel in the Lion's Den (played to the song "Indescribable") and The Tower of Babel (where you try to get the tower to fall), and then there are Trivia Questions, which are not easy. It is really a fun game (I lost at it last night - I landed on Wrath of God in the Grace of God final round and locusts ate all my points - sounds cheesy, but it is actually a great teaching tool).
We sang this song in church yesterday
And Kaden has been walking around the house pumping his hands in the air singing "We praise our hands in the sanctuary"......gets his mad lyrical skilz from his dad who makes up words to songs because he has lyrical altzheimers......
So, in the spirit of all things "SALE", I went to Michaels, Bed Bath & Beyond, KMart, Lowes, Decorator Warehouse, and Stein Mart to purchase leftover Christmas stuff. Got lots and lots of stuff on the cheap (like I have somewhere to put it all). If I am not mistaken, I have enough wrapping paper to last until the year 2020 or until Jesus comes back. (Hopefully the latter will come first! - Woohoo! 2009 might be our year, people!)
Every year for Christmas, the hubs and I give all our family members a calendar with pictures of our boys on it. (Because what says I'm cheap"I love you" more than a personalized calendar? And doesnt EVERYONE want to count down their year with MY kids? ;-) (Seriously, all those calendars ARE expensive...$18 a piece!.....and I have lots of family......whatever.) This year, apparently there were snow storms that caused outages at 2 of the three Fuji labs that our Wal-Mart uses to make their calendars. I was told that the calendars would likely not make it by Christmas Eve. But God.......wonder of all wonders, Wal-Mart Photo Lab called at 7 pm on the 23rd and said "Come and pick up your calendars!".....Praise the Lord, 2009 can proceed as scheduled for our families. I was worried that we would have to continue 2008 for a little while longer until the calendars came in and I am seriously ready for 2008 to be over, people! OVER!
Well, I am sure there are a thousand and one other things I could bore you to tears with (like ALL 250 of my Christmas pictures), but I will save those for later....cause there is only so much boredom a person can take in one day (I like to spread out the boredom so it isnt so boring, if you know what I mean).....I will be back later in the week and hopefully back on my three posts per week schedule next week. Thank you those of you mom,dad who have read to this point.......Here are a few pics from Christmas - blogger is acting weird or there would be captions.....
Hey Blog Friends! I have not forgotten you or my blog. I have been so busy with Christmas preparation and a few other things that blogging time has been non-existent. Today, I took the kids to the mall to have their pictures made with Santa (it's a tradition now) and I went to Belk to pick up some make-up.....the lady at the make-up counter reminded me several (and I mean SEVERAL) times that they give professional makeovers for just $35. It's enough to give a girl a complex. Anyway, I will not be back on the blog until after Christmas so I wanted to wish all my blog friends a Merry Christmas. You all bring me lots of joy and happiness. I love your comments and so enjoy the fellowship that we have even though many of us have never met in person. You guys are a blessing to me and such and encouragement.
I am praying that all of you have a Jesus-filled Christmas!
Oh little town of Bethlehem Looks like another silent night Above your deep and dreamless sleep A giant star lights up the sky And while you're lying in the dark There shines an everlasting light For the King has left His throne And is sleeping in a manger tonight
Oh Bethlehem, what you have missed while you were sleeping For God became a man And stepped into your world today Oh Bethlehem, you will go down in history As a city with no room for its King While you were sleeping While you were sleeping
Oh little town of Jerusalem Looks like another silent night The Father gave His only Son The Way, the Truth, the Life had come But there was no room for Him in the world He came to save
Jerusalem, what you have missed while you were sleeping The Savior of the world is dying on your cross today Jerusalem, you will go down in history As a city with no room for its King While you were sleeping While you were sleeping
United States of America Looks like another silent night As we're sung to sleep by philosophies That save the trees and kill the children And while we're lying in the dark There's a shout heard 'cross the eastern sky For the Bridegroom has returned And has carried His bride away in the night
America, what will we miss while we are sleeping Will Jesus come again And leave us slumbering where we lay America, will we go down in history As a nation with no room for its King Will we be sleeping Will we be sleeping
United States of America Looks like another silent night
So, in the past few weeks I have violated my own "blog three days a week" rule. I hate it when I break my own rules. As I said in my earlier teeny tiny post, I have been too busy doing life to write about it. If I told you all the things that I have been doing over the past week, your head would spin. And you know what? I bet if you told me all the things you have been doing lately, my head would spin too. We are all WAY too busy, especially at this time of the year.
I wish I had some spiritual truth to impart to you, but it seems that I have been too busy to hear any truth being spoken over me lately.....oh wait, maybe that IS the spiritual truth I am supposed to share. When we get caught up in a flurry of activities and responsibilities, our ears can become deaf to the voice of God. And He desperately wants to speak to us.
Have you ever felt disconnected to one of your children? You talk, but they are too involved with something else to listen to you...like what they are doing is more important than what you have to say to them. I bet that is exactly how God feels with us. He speaks, but we are so involved in our whirlwind lives that we cant hear Him .....or we choose not to hear Him.
I think too often we see God as this big deity somewhere up in the sky who is waiting to rain on our parade that we forget that He loves us like no one else ever could. He loves each of His children equally, yet differently, just like we love our own children equally yet differently. When our kids ignore our voice, many times it is because they are afraid we are going to correct them or discipline them......we do the same thing with God. And many times that is exactly what He does....correct and discipline, but I wonder how many times we ignore Him when He just wanted to say "I love you, daughter" or "I love you, son".............I wonder how many rhema words I have missed because I was too busy or too stubborn to stop and listen.
Yes, I think that is the spiritual truth that I am supposed to share with you today (or maybe it's just for me). This is the day that the Lord has made, let us slow down to listen and be glad in it......(that's from the BBV - Beth's Blog Version). Have a great day, ya'll!
In case you were wondering, I have not forgotten that I have a blog. I have been a tad busy this past week and unfortunately life has gotten in the way of blogging as it does so often.......I will be back soon to share some life changing information with you.......okay that may be a slight exaggeration, but I WILL be back soon........and I am sure by then I will have something to say...................
Have you ever felt like seeking God is hard work? I mean we put pressure on ourselves to have consistent daily quiet times, go to Bible study, be at church every time the doors are open, and "be good little Christians". Nothing wrong with trying to be a good Christian or having set daily quiet times or going to church/Bible study (those are all admirable things), but are we doing those things in order to seek God or out of duty? Are our actions sincere or are we simply going through the motions.
No where in the Bible does it say "Thou shalt go through the motions necessary to make a good impression on God and others". God knows our hearts even better than we do. He knows when we are sincere and when we are playing church or trying to get the "Christian of the Year Award". I think all too often we forget that everything we do should be an act of worship to God.......not just going through the obligatory daily routine.
In John 4:19-24, Jesus is talking to the Samaritan woman at the well..........
"Sir," the woman said, "I can see that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem." Jesus declared, "Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth."
The word worship in this verse comes from the Anglo-Saxon word "weorthscipe" which literally means "worthship". When we worship in Spirit and in Truth, we are showing God how much He is worth to us...........and sadly, when we go through the motions and "half-heartedly semi-worship" out of obligation, we are also showing God how much He is worth to us.
I think we limit worship to what happens in the pews at the local church, but when we are given new life in Christ, we are called to worship Him in Spirit and in Truth.....not just on Sunday morning, Sunday night and Wednesdays at 6:30, but in our daily lives. Everyday worshippers are the ones God is seeking -- people who can worship God in Spirit and in Truth without a worship leader and a 3 bullet-point sermon. See, where you worship really doesn't matter, Whom you worship and HOW you worship Him is is what is really important. The steeple and the pews are irrelevant to a person who desires to worship in Spirit and in Truth.
John 4 says that the Father actually SEEKS those who truly worship Him in Spirit and in Truth........the word "seeks" here means to enquire, desire, to seek after. God enquires about, desires, and seeks after those who drop the Phariseeical obligations and simply worship Him for Who He is.
So, if you see seeking God as hard work......stop working and start worshipping......and then HE will seek YOU!
