When you're down.

   The enemy knows how to get at you when you're down, when you're already struggling. He's right there to keep pushing you down and away from the Lord. He see you having a tough time and decides to keep shoving until you break.

   This is when you have to get up and push forward. God is not going to give us more than we can handle: "And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure. Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong." (2 Corinthians 12:7-10) Get up and start refocusing your attention onto the Lord and away from the circumstances you find yourself in.

   In case anyone needs some ideas, here is a short list of a couple of the things I do to help in these types of situations:

• Read my Bible and write out Bible verses. 
• Walk around with my Bible in my hand and pray Bible verses over people and/or situations.
• (Joshua 1:5-9, Nehemiah 8: 9-10, Psalm 25, 34, 66, 91, 123, 124, 141, John 16:25-33, Ephesians 6:10-20, James 1:12-18, 1 John 4:1-6 are some of my favorites.)
• Put on some hymns or praise music.
• Get on my knees and pray.
• Talk to the Lord wherever I am.

   The point is for you to connect with God; this is not the time to sit back and let the devil win. Don't give up the fight because it feels too hard. The Lord will be on your side. He does not change. Lean on Him every step of the way.

Abby

Salt.

   Salt and Light. This thought has been in my head the last few days. We are not called to shine our light in this world, but rather, we are called to reflect His light. In the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew, Jesus talks about us being salt and light. As His followers, it is not about us, but rather about Him.

   Normally, I'm not a fan of the Message interpretation, but I liked how this passage was worded: "Let me tell you why you are here. You’re here to be salt-seasoning that brings out the God-flavors of this earth. If you lose your saltiness, how will people taste godliness? You’ve lost your usefulness and will end up in the garbage." {Matthew 5:13, The Message}

   Salt enhances and brings out flavors in food. As Christians, we should enhance God's presence around us, bringing the focus to Him and His goodness. If we are not seeking God, we begin to lose our saltiness. If we lose our saltiness, we begin to lose our witness. We're still Christians and we still love God and we still love others, but when we stop searching for more of Jesus, other parts of our lives start overshadowing His light in our lives. The potency of the salt begins to fade. 

   In order for our salt and light to be effective, we have to look for the One who makes us salt and light.

   Strive to be more "salty and light-filled" for God today.
~ Abby

Meditate.

   Happy Thursday everyone! I read these two verses this morning during my Bible time and just wanted to share them with you:

"Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things. The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you." - Philippians 4: 8-9

   Meditate today on thoughts of Jesus. Worship Him throughout the day, read your Bible on your lunch hour, listen to some praise music on the way home from work, encourage someone in Christ, take extra time to pray this evening. Keep focusing on the Lord and He will be faithful through the day. 

Blessings, 

~ Abby

P.S. - I have an exciting interview with one of my best friends coming up talking about the subject of God's grace! Keep your eyes open for that!

Choosing the Will of God

   Hello readers! Today, I want to talk to you about God's will. How willing are we to follow the will of God and to choose it over other things? Even Jesus had to acknowledge His Father's plan and follow His will. But how do we do this?

And He was withdrawn from them about a stone’s throw, and He knelt down and prayed,

saying, “Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done.” Then an angel appeared to Him from heaven, strengthening Him.

And being in agony, He prayed more earnestly. Then His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground. ~ Luke 22:41-44

   Jesus separated himself from His friends. We don't like to separate ourselves from our friends and family. It's human nature to crave connection with those around us, even with things of the world. But if we really want to seek out God's will for ourselves, separation from the world is required and sometimes, separation from our friends and family is necessary. Are we willing to separate ourselves from the people and things that can distract us from God? I'm not talking about becoming a hermit, never interacting with anyone ever. But when you need to seek out God and His will, do you distance yourself from the distractions and take the time to worship the Lord and pray for an answer? Luke 5:16 says "So He Himself often withdrew into the wilderness and prayed." Like Jesus, we need to understand the importance of separation from everything else to pray.

   Jesus recognized that He had to give up His own will to follow His Father. Here's something we don't like to do... give up our plans for someone else's. But here's the main thing: it's not our plan for either someone important in our lives or not. This is our plans for God's plans. To some people, this might not make a difference. "Why would I want to follow someone else's idea of what I should do for my life?" "They don't know me." "They don't know what I want or what I'm good at." "They don't care enough for me to take their advice." That's the thing. God knows what's best. He knows you. He knows what you want or what you're good at because He made you. He cares more about you than you may think. God only wants good things for us. Does this mean that His plan will be smooth-sailing, sunshine-filled, roses-along-the-path kind of life? No, but we'll get to that next.

   Jesus did not give up even as the struggle became harder. I'm sure you've heard that things will almost always get worse before they get better... well, even as Christians, this can be very true. When struggles get hard, we often want to take the easy way out which is usually to just give up. But God calls us to something more than that and He empowers us to continue on. Even Jesus knew when the struggles were harder that He had to keep going and He held on to the promises of His Father. Isaiah 46:4 says "Even to your old age, I am He, And even to gray hairs I will carry you! I have made, and I will bear; Even I will carry, and will deliver you." No matter what the trial we face, even after we have surrendered our will to the Father's, we can rest in the promise that the Lord will carry us. 

   Does following God's will require great personal sacrifice? Yes. But it is His will for us and He will sustain us through. May this small thought be an encouragement to each of us to surrender ourselves daily to the perfect will of our Heavenly Father. 

Blessings, 

~ Abby

Losing yourself in worship...

     When was the last time you lost yourself in praise? Forgot about you and your problems and your situations and just worshiped? Psalm 100 calls us to that.

Make a joyful shout to the Lord, all you lands!

Serve the Lord with gladness;

Come before His presence with singing.

Know that the Lord, He is God;

It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves;

We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.

Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, 

And into His courts with praise.

Be thankful to Him, and bless His name.

For the Lord is good;

His mercy is everlasting,

And His truth endures to all generations.

Psalm 100 (NKJV)

     Step away from everything calling your name and worship. Take 10 minutes and just tell Jesus that He is wonderful and how thankful you are. He is worthy of all our praise!

Blessings!
~ Abby

Favorite Verses

   It's harder than people think to pick your favorite verses... I have a ton that have spoken to me at different times over the years and I would have a hard time choosing just one. However, I did narrow it down to three that I wanted to share briefly here.

"Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." - Matthew 11:28

   How often are we burdened down by the things of this world? It is so easy to get discouraged when we see what is happening both around us and within our own lives; but when we put all of that aside and come to Jesus... what a blessed rest we can then find. 

"Be still, and know that I am God;

I will be exalted among the nations,

I will be exalted in the earth!" Psalm 46:10

   It is so hard to be still, but what incredible things follow when we are still before the Lord. Peace follows and we can be sure that He is still God. 

"But those who wait on the Lord

Shall renew their strength;
They shall mount up with wings like eagles,
They shall run and not be weary,

They shall walk and not faint." Isaiah 40:31

   All-time favorite right here! My parents gave me this verse on my thirteenth birthday and it's been given to me again and again by people over the last 9 years. Coincidentally, Isaiah is one of my favorite books. I always loved the imagery of the Lord giving me the strength to fly like an eagle... how amazing would it be to soar above our troubles with the strength from Jesus? When we wait on Him, we can receive that strength and peace to keep going and push past the trials in our lives. 

   Share one of your favorite verses, I'd love to here some!

Blessings!

Abby

Allowing Change

   What makes someone a "great Christian?" Think of someone you would consider a great example of Christ. Do they have any combination of the following characteristics:

loving

wise

patient

gentle

open-hearted

willing

humble

caring

dependable

kind

discrete

truthful

available

sincere

gentle

generous

   Do you think that the person you're thinking of achieved all or some of those characteristics overnight? Absolutely not. We receive Christ in a moment when we accept His forgiveness. He begins to immediately work on those things in our hearts that do not reflect Him, but it requires a little effort on our part. We do not become a "great Christian" without sacrificing things in our lives and striving for that Christ-centered life.

   In Romans 12, we are called to "present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service." (v. 1, NKJV) which includes our minds and our hearts, not just our physical bodies. Christ works in our minds and hearts, making them holy and acceptable like Himself. If the Creator of the universe sent His Son to save this group of dirty, sinful people, shouldn't we give our lives back to Him? God is waiting for us to turn to Him and say "Take what is holding me back from giving You my all. Change me completely." Jesus has a beautiful and fulfilling gift of a life with Him, but we have to accept it and the changes it will make in us.

   So... change scares me to a certain extent. I like having a plan, being organized, knowing what's coming up next so when one day (fairly recently, by the way), I felt the Lord telling me that He was changing me, I kind of freaked out a little bit. He wanted to redo me to become more and more like Him but I would have to allow Him to have that control, not knowing what was coming up next. It terrified me, but... I knew I had to: there was a deep, burning desire within me. I was scared, almost petrified. But I realized that if I wanted to be a "great" Christian, it would take a great sacrifice. So I told the Lord "Yes, change me. Go ahead. Take control and begin to change me to be more like You."

Best. Decision. Ever. 

   Yes, it's terrifying. Yes, it seems uncertain. Yes, I don't understand. Yes, I still struggle. But it's fine... God's got me, my family, my friends, my future, etc. Sure the change is still scary and different, but in so many good ways. I'm still me, but I am becoming a more Christ-like version of me. He has placed within me this incredible desire for more of Himself within my soul. When I first began to notice a difference, it almost blew me away. There is a satisfaction and peace in Him that I am finding. I want to read my Bible more. I want to pray for people daily. I want to encourage others and spread His love more than ever. Any opportunities He gives, I want to take, even if they scare the living daylights out of me.

   Nothing in this world can compare to the incredible life in Jesus. Anything this world offers cannot compare to that moment when you realize Christ is all you ever want. You may still love those things and talk about them, but they don't hold a piece of your heart anymore... that's where only Jesus resides. "And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God." Romans 12:2 (NKJV).

   But......

   It would be so easy to let this all slip away. God is never going to let me go, but I could easily let go of Him. There are so many opportunities daily to turn away from this Christian walk and follow the world. I'm not talking about just the larger things, like turning away from our faith and denying Christ. This includes even the small things: role models, types of music, movies/TV shows, daily conversations, things we read, etc. The littlest things make the greatest impacts and those are the things that the devil uses to turn us slowly away from our walks with Christ.

   I'm not telling you to become a hermit and live in silence away from the world, but we have to work at this - if we neglect this gift of life in Christ, it will disappear. Our "Jesus-ness" will fade from our lives. It's like when you spend a lot of time with someone, you begin to pick up on their characteristics. I have a few friends like this: after talking with my one friend who lives down south, I always start to say "ya'll" and everyone knows who I was talking to recently. It's the same with Christ. We ask Him to change us and make our lives more pleasing to Him, but if we don't work at it, it will not last. It requires a sacrifice of time and energy on our parts. It takes work. The reward is worth every moment of effort.

   Look again at the list of characteristics at the beginning of this post. Do you need help with one of the in particular? Do you need all of them? You're in good company. No one possesses every single one, but that's why we need God to continually remake us.

   Lord, change me. Make me more Christ-like. Show me the rewards of the sacrifice. Give a me a deep desire to strive after a life with You.

Blessings,
~Abby

Spirit of the Living God, 

Fall fresh on me. 

Spirit of the Living God, 

Fall fresh on me. 

Melt me, mold me, 

Fill me, use me.

Spirit of the Living God,

Fall fresh on me.

- D. Iverson & L. Alexander, 1997

PS - I apologize for the lack of updates. I was wrapping up a semester by the end of February, then March was ridiculous with work. I will try to update a bit in April. I cannot promise anything as I am starting a new semester tomorrow (actually today), but I will try! 

Above All Else.

Seek the Lord while He may be found,

   Call upon Him while He is near.

Let the wicked forsake his way,

   And the unrighteous man his thoughts;

Let him return to the Lord,

   And He will have mercy on him;

And to our God,

   For He will abundantly pardon.

“For My thoughts are not your thoughts,

   Nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord.

“For as the heavens are higher than the earth,

   So are My ways higher than your ways,

And My thoughts than your thoughts. ~ Isaiah 55:6-9

   How many Christians sit every week in a Sunday service and hear the Word of God, but do not listen? How many of them get dragged down in bad times because they rely only on themselves?

   When we seek the Lord above all else, we find Him. Our situations disappear. Our focus shifts from the bad to His good. He does not want to see us suffer, but desires us to seek Him out. When we do this, our thoughts become His thoughts, and our ways His. Our paths become directed by Him.

   This isn't some magical formula that once we change our focus to Him, everything is fixed, but rather, we are in His will and we can have great confidence that He will remain in control.

~ Abby

PS - I'm thinking of creating a spot of this blog to share some of my poetry and writing. Thoughts?

Brokenness.

   How is it already the end of January?! My apologies for not posting in the last few weeks: work is beginning to get busy thanks to the upcoming tax season, I had very little break during the holidays from my four classes so I was catching up with them, plus I had midterms for a few of the classes last week, my mom had minor surgery on her hand, etc., etc., etc.. You all know how crazy life can get just when you think it can't get any busier. Anyway... 

   I wanted to share a thought that I had a few weeks ago. Scars are not pretty, but scars are a part of your story. Physical or emotional, visible or hidden, they are there. We all have them, but what we choose to do with them is up to us. They can remind us of how terrible things were and how broken we felt, but they can also show God's incredible love, mercy, and grace for bringing you through.

   Mandisa is one of my favorite Christian artists, and her album 'Overcomer' has become a huge blessing recently as I have been listening to it again. Her song "What Scars Are For" actually triggered the above thought in my head. Hearing the song and actually paying attention to the words are two different things and I actually listened to the words recently... Whoa. The chorus is below.

"They remind me of Your faithfulness

And all You brought me through.

They teach me that my brokenness

Is something You can use.

They show me where I’ve been and

That I’m not there any more,

That’s what scars, that’s what scars are for."

   That chorus hit me like a train at full speed: being so broken that there is no where else to run to, no one else to turn to but God. Wow. Psalm 51:14-17 says this:

"Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God,

The God of my salvation,

And my tongue shall sing aloud of Your righteousness.

O Lord, open my lips,

And my mouth shall show forth Your praise.

For You do not desire sacrifice, or else I would give it;

You do not delight in burnt offering.

The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit,

A broken and a contrite heart—

These, O God, You will not despise."

   Not only do we feel broken, but we feel guilty and empty. What can I offer God when I have nothing in me? There is nothing left for my family, my friends, myself, so what could I possibly give to Him? Here's the thing. He wants your brokenness. He wants the emptiness of your soul. He wants you when you have nothing left to give. We question why anyone would want us when we are like that but it's what God does. He takes those shattered pieces of our lives and begins to mold them into something that He can use to show His faithfulness and grace. 

   Hopefully, my point was made, but if not, here it is in a nutshell: God wants the broken bits of you to bring glory to His name. Remember that when you have nothing, He is everything. 

~ Abby

Not a mistake.

     When I went through some of those dark times this year, (see post from December 10th here), one of the thoughts that I struggled with a lot was feeling that I was meaningless, worthless, and a mistake. These feelings came at times when I did not have control over something or I was unable to change a situation, when I messed up an assignment for school, or caused a problem with something at work. I am not sharing this to look for sympathetic comments, but to share how the Lord helped me overcome these thoughts.

Psalm 139. Wow.

O Lord, you have examined my heart

    and know everything about me.

You know when I sit down or stand up.

    You know my thoughts even when I’m far away.

You see me when I travel

    and when I rest at home.

    You know everything I do.

You know what I am going to say

    even before I say it, Lord.

You go before me and follow me.

    You place your hand of blessing on my head.

Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,

    too great for me to understand!

I can never escape from your Spirit!

    I can never get away from your presence!

If I go up to heaven, you are there;

    if I go down to the grave, you are there.

If I ride the wings of the morning,

    if I dwell by the farthest oceans,

  even there your hand will guide me,

    and your strength will support me.

I could ask the darkness to hide me

    and the light around me to become night—

     but even in darkness I cannot hide from you.

To you the night shines as bright as day.

    Darkness and light are the same to you.

You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body

    and knit me together in my mother’s womb.

Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex!

    Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it.

You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion,

    as I was woven together in the dark of the womb.

You saw me before I was born.

    Every day of my life was recorded in your book.

Every moment was laid out

    before a single day had passed.

How precious are your thoughts about me, O God.

    They cannot be numbered!

I can’t even count them;

    they outnumber the grains of sand!

And when I wake up,

    you are still with me!

O God, if only you would destroy the wicked!

    Get out of my life, you murderers!

They blaspheme you;

    your enemies misuse your name.

O Lord, shouldn’t I hate those who hate you?

    Shouldn’t I despise those who oppose you?

Yes, I hate them with total hatred,

    for your enemies are my enemies.

Search me, O God, and know my heart;

    test me and know my anxious thoughts.

Point out anything in me that offends you,

    and lead me along the path of everlasting life.      ~ Psalm 139 (NLT)

     Verse 16 in this translation is absolutely beautiful -

You saw me before I was born.

Every day of my life was recorded in your book.

Every moment was laid out

before a single day had passed.

     I cannot begin to describe how much this verse helped me. How could I have no meaning when God planned out every moment of my life?! It still boggles my mind that the Creator of the universe, Savior of every single person of the world took the time to think about little me. I believe this will always be something that caused me to wonder at the awesomeness of our God. 

     Those thoughts, that storm I was struggling through, God knew about that before He created our world, before I was even a thought. He saw me and calmed that storm within me. "Thank You, Lord," doesn't seem like enough, but Lord, thank You. 

~ Abby

Busy & Blessed

     It's the most hectic, crazy time right now and not just because of the Christmas season... I realized that when people ask me how I am, I always say busy. I've been saying "Good, busy, you?" for probably the last five years of my life. Maybe it's the just this time in my life, between being involved at church, college, trying to have a little bit of social life, and everything else. Honestly, I'm one of those people who need to be busy because otherwise I am incredibly lazy. So yes, while it's exhausting, I don't think I could not be busy. But that's when this passage comes in as a great encouragement:

Let him who is taught the word share in all good things with him who teaches. Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life. And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith. ~ Galatians 6:6-10

     While I do not always want to be this busy, maybe this is God telling me that while I can, I need to use this time for Him. Yes, I get stressed out over it all at times, but honestly since I have been listening to the Lord's voice more and more over the lat few months, the busyness and stress has a point. It's not just me making myself crazy. I have this time and I have to use it wisely.

~ Abby

A Little Lesson

     As I lie on my kitchen floor writing a paper for my Music History class, I stop and think. Getting overwhelmed by homework and assignments and reading is easy for me to do. But the Lord put it on my heart that one of the reasons I've struggled with this is because I rely on myself too much. With that in mind, I'm working on this, and I have been asking the Lord to give me His wisdom and peace. He gave me this verse:

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom;

A good understanding have all those who do His commandments.

His praise endures forever.

~Psalm 111:10

     When I take the time to seek out who this God I serve truly is, I can find that wisdom. I can begin to understand His commands and truths. I am truly thankful that the Lord takes the time to show us these little lessons. 

~Abby

Yup... I remember my blog

I’m listening to jazz music… it’s my new thing. You know, you find a thing, and you stick with it for a while and it becomes your solace, your little piece of happiness. Yep. It’s my thing.

My apologies for not posting in a few months – I was planning a bridal shower, in a wedding, applied for school and started school…. AAAHHHH!!!!! It’s been a little crazy around here but I’m going to try updating once a week and when I can, I will do daily posts.

The below Scripture encouraged me so much the other day when I really needed it!

"I have set the Lord always before me; Because He is at my right hand, I shall not be moved." - Psalm 16:8

Hope all of my readers are well!

Many Blessings!

~Abby

An Ephesians 2:19-22 Blessing

Sorry for my absence on here. Last week my grandma was rushed to the hospital for multiple things, so our household was a bit "topsy-turvy" this past week. But thank the Lord, she is at a rehab center slowly improving! But this post isn't about that. This is something I wrote recently and I felt lead to share it with all my readers.

"19 Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 20 having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, 21 in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, 22 in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit." -Ephesians 2:19-22

You are part of a family & a kingdom. The family of God. Nothing you have done can change that. What really matters is not the choices you've made, but the child of God you are. This song, "You are More", by Tenth Avenue North tells us that our decisions of the past do not define us... we have been forgiven by our Rock, by our Savior. AND, because of that, we are now part of a loving family and we are part of the Lord's kingdom What a wonderful promise this is! 

In the next section,  the Bible tells us that we, the family of God, have a foundation of the prophets, the Bible. We stand firm on the promises of God in the Scripture! The chorus of an old hymn say this: 

      

"Standing, standing, 

standing on the promises of Christ my Savior; 

standing, standing, 

I'm standing on the promises of God!" 

R. Kelso Carter

Another song says this: 

"How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord, 

is laid for your faith in his excellent word! 

What more can he say than to you he hath said, 

to you who for refuge to Jesus have fled?" 

"K" in Rippon's A Selection of Hymns

Isn't is marvelous that we stand on the promises of our Savior? He is our Rock, our Fortress, our Shepherd, our Lord! He is the cornerstone that we as a family of God, and as individuals, can put our trust and faith in.

The last verse says that we are being built together to be a dwelling place for God. Our bodies are a temple. We as a group are a temple of God. In 1 Corinthians 6:19, it says "Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?" When we are saved, we are no longer our own. We have the Almighty God living inside us, we belong to Him! 

One last song, I promise: 

"Know ye not, know ye not ye are the temple?

Know ye not, know ye not ye are the temple?

Know ye not, know ye not ye are the temple?

Ye are the temple of the Holy Ghost!"

I don't know where that's from, but I remember singing it in church years ago. What a faithful reminder that we are the temple of God! 

So my main points: 1) We are part of a family and a kingdom. We accept each other, we help each other, we love each other. 2) We are founded on Christ and the promises we find in Scripture. Trust in them. Keep them close to your hearts. 3)We are a temple! We have our Lord living inside us, helping us, loving us, teaching us.

Thank God today! Thank Him for everything that He has done for us! Thank Him for your salvation, for His love, for His promises, and for the family that you are a part of!

A rainbow, one of the promises of God.

I hope that this little thought blessed you as it did me!

Blessings, 

~Abby

Friday's Blessing

Hiya!

This week at work has been a bit more crazy than last. The phones were a bit busier and there was more to do and learn. I’m enjoying myself though!

It’s Friday! Weekend plans! I’m hoping to hit the library tomorrow morning with my sister before going out with grandma and grandpa to lunch. Then home to straighten up the house because dad comes home from camp!!! Then, I’m going to change into my bathing suit, set up a towel outside and sit in the backyard, work on my tan and get some writing done!

That’s Saturday. I will let Sunday remain a secret... nope! Sunday, time for church!!!

Here’s a verse and song for you that have blessed me lately:

“So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” – Isaiah 41:10

“Verse 1: Sweet is the promise “I will not forget thee,”
Nothing can molest or turn my soul away;
E’en though the night be dark within the valley,
Just beyond is shining an eternal day.

Refrain:
I will not forget thee or leave thee,
In My hands I’ll hold thee,
In My arms I’ll fold thee,
I will not forget thee or leave thee;
I am thy Redeemer, I will care for thee.

Verse 2: Trusting the promise “I will not forget thee,”
Onward I will go with songs of joy and love,
Though earth despise me,
Though my friends forsake me,
I shall be remembered in my home above.

Verse 3: When at the golden portals I am standing,
All my tribulations, all my sorrows past;
How sweet to hear the blessèd proclamation,
“Enter, faithful servant, welcome home at last.””

Blessings in Jesus!
Abby

Learn

Working, writing, school, reading, learning, laughing, living.

Learning to depend on God's will is the hardest thing that I am learning right now. Allowing HIM to guide every step I take.

"Only trust Him."

Show me Your ways, O Lord;
Teach me Your paths.
Lead me in Your truth and teach me,
For You are the God of my salvation;
On You I wait all the day. ~ Psalm 25:4,5

lesson learned!

I haven't posted in a while. It's been so busy! I have a lot going on. I'll have to post later after I cook dinner :) the picture that's attached is something that  happened at work. BABY SKITTLES!!! :)

I have a very dear friend of mine who has a ear and throat infection, so I would appreciate your prayers for her! :) another close friend of mine is going through a lot. He has major choices to make and he is having a very difficult time so your prayer for him would also be appreciated!

Other than that, I've been trying to concentrate on something I was asked to do for the year. My Sunday school teacher gave a pamphlet that has a schedule to read the Bible through the year. So far it's been so amazing just delving into God's word everyday and trying just learn more and more about Him and His will for my life. Here is a thought that the Lord gave me today- "Wait on the Lord, and keep His way, and He shall exalt you to inherit the land..." Psalm 37:34

This verse remind me that when I wait upon the Lord and follow His way, there is a reward! Many people don't realize this when the think about Christianity. We have a reward that no one can ever replace!!! What could be more amazing than life eternal? May the Lord help us realize that and share it with others :)