I AM LOVED

I think sometimes we say God loves us, but we forget how MUCH God loves us. Our pastor preached an amazing two messages yesterday that reminded me that I AM SO LOVED by God. I'm not just loved - I am LOVED with an everlasting, never failing, unconditional, measureless love, and the amazing thing is....He loved me FIRST!


All day today I have been thinking on the vastness of God's love for me.


HE LOVES ME!
He knew me and planned me, and yes, even loved me before time even began.


HE LOVES ME!
He redeemed me.


HE LOVES ME!
He called me by name.


HE LOVES ME!
He has a plan for me - a hope and a future - that is better than anything I could ever imagine!


HE LOVES ME!
He will not leave me.


HE LOVES ME!
I am PRECIOUS in His sight.


HE LOVES ME!
He gave His Son to take my punishment.


HE LOVES ME!
He is faithful to me. His mercies are new every morning.


HE LOVES ME!
He comforts me.


HE LOVES ME!
He rejoices over me!


To think on these things - to REALLY think on these things - leaves me amazed and humbled by God's love for me. How can I ever repay such a love as this? I cannot. I can only humbly offer my life back to Him to use as He pleases just as the woman who sat at Jesus' feet and washed them gently with HER TEARS! What a picture of brokeness! What a beautiful picture of human love being offered as best as possible to the Lord and Savior. Jesus said her sins were forgiven because she loved much.

God, help me to never forget how much You love me, how much You sacrificed to show Your love for me, how much You have forgiven me of. I am loved, but with that love comes the opportunity to love much in return. Do not let me be guilty of returning such love with complacency or self-satisfaction. Help me, God, to love You much!

A Perfect Saturday Morning

I love lazy Saturday mornings at home. Unfortunately, because the mister has a small business of his own on top of his usual 40 hour work week, we don't get a lot of lazy Saturday mornings. Here lately, we've been able to have more of them, and I have decided that I LOVE THEM! :)

For some unknown reason, all the kiddos slept until 9 AM! That hasn't happened in a long time. The mister and I snuggled under the covers and talked about life - whether or not to start building our house on our own, when we could go snowmobiling again, if we should buy a car or not, an upcoming trip that I'm getting ready to go on...you know, the little things in life that you don't have time to talk about when you're surrounded by four chatterboxes.

Around 9 o'clock, Mr. G came in, and then Miss M, and before you know it, all six of us are laying in the bed, snuggling. Then, as always, snuggle time ends with a tickle fest! This is when Mommy exits the bed! :)

After the tickle fest, Daddy made blueberry pancakes for everyone, letting each of the kiddos take turns being a helper. Then, we sat down and ate and listened to all that the four chatterboxes had to say! Mr. A declared that his pancake was so hot, it burnt his butter! :) He also decided to be an ornery little brother and took the number 17 off the school calendar so that Miss E cannot have a birthday (which is not until July, but this still greatly bothered her). Of course, Daddy was Mr. A's accomplice in convincing Miss E that she would never have a birthday unless she could find the number 17! Miss E was almost in tears, and so Mr. A tried to cheer her up by doing Mommy's famous, "I see a smile on your face" routine! It worked! It always does. :) The next thing we know, Miss E and Mr. A are laughing so hard together that they fall out of their chairs.

Miss M finished her pancakes and found a pair of goggles to try on. With blueberry smeared all over her face, crazy morning hair, pj's and goggles on, she made quite the picture!

As you've noticed, I haven't mentioned Mr. G yet. He must have been unusually quiet this morning. Don't worry, I'm sure he will make up for it later, and we will have an entertaining tale to report soon! :)

Now, all the kiddos and the mister have headed outside into what looks like will be a nice sunshiny day, and Mommy has been left to enjoy a few minutes of peace and quiet before returning to the Saturday house cleaning.

Yes, I'm thankful today for the little blessing of lazy Saturday mornings and for a sweet family to enjoy them with! :) I hope you're enjoying your Saturday, too!

Dirty Laundry AND Praising God?!?

Wow! It's been awhile since I've been able to post, and I have missed it! We had an extraordinarily busy week last week, and then I began this week by being sick! I think we may be finally getting back to our routine. On top of being sick and an unexpected trip out of town, my washing machine also gave up the ghost. The last load of laundry I did was at 9PM on Thursday evening - shortly after an explosion of vomit by Mr. G. In a house of 6 people (some being sick), you can only imagine the state of the laundry now! Then, Mr. A. had an accident in the middle of the night last night. Thankfully, it is Wednesday, and we will be going into Twin early today to check out some used washers. Under penalty of no clean underwear, the mister is not allowed into the house without a washer tonight! :)

Well, that is totally not where I was going when I began to post today, but I do think a little humor in life is very necessary - especially when the only other option is to sit and cry! :) As I began this week, I was quite overwhelmed. My goal this week has been to speak only encouraging words. Do you realize how difficult that is when you are sick and surrounded by dirty laundry? In order to speak those encouraging words, I have had to change my perspective. Instead of focusing on the negative, I must see the positive. Instead of seeing all the things that are going wrong, I must see how God has a plan for it all and praise Him for what He is doing in my life - whether I understand it or not. So, in my quest for encouraging words, I have also begun a quest to praise God with my whole heart, and guess what? It has been so much fun to just sit in my chair and think on all the things I can praise God for. Take a few minutes and try it today! Here are a few verses that I have been thinking on, and there are SOOOO many more!

Psalm 86:12

"I will praise thee , O Lord my God, with all my heart: and I will glorify thy name for evermore."

Psalm 71: 14-16

"But I will hope continually, and will yet praise thee more and more. My mouth shall shew forth thy righteousness and thy salvation all the day; for I know not the numbers thereof. I will go in the strength of the Lord God: I will make mention of thy righteousness, even of thine only."

Psalm 145:2-3

"Every day will I bless thee; and I will praise thy name for ever and ever. Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; and his greatness is unsearchable."

Psalm 104:33

"I will sing unto the Lord as long as I live: I will sing praise to my God while I have my being."

What are some of your favorite praise verses?