Forgiveness

Last night our family hosted our “Peacemakers Study” at our house.

At the end of watching the video, we discussed “forgiveness”. After watching the video, I realized just how much forgiveness impacts someone’s life.
A couple years ago, my brother and I had a fight, and I was so mad at him. I don’t normally hold a grudge for very long, but I was so upset with what “he” did, that I didn't even realize what “I” did. Later that night as I was picking him up from his police explorers, a song came on the radio called, “7 times 70” by Chris August. The song went on to talk about forgiving someone over and over again. I started to cry, as I realized that it wasn't him, it was “me”. God brought it to my heart to forgive my brother for what he did, but to
repent for what I did. 

I looked at Noah Webster’s 1828 Dictionary for the definition of forgiveness. Here is what I found:

     FORGIVENESS:

1. The act of forgiving; the pardon of an offender, by which he is considered and treated as not guilty. The forgiveness of enemies is a Christian duty.2. The pardon or remission of an offense or crime; as the forgiveness of sin or of injuries.3. Disposition to pardon; willingness to forgive. And mild forgiveness intercedes to stop the coming blow.4. Remission of a debt, fine or penalty.

Matthew 18:21-35

Then Peter came and said to Him, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him? Up to seven times?” Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven. “For this reason the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his slaves. When he had begun to settle them, one who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him. But since he did not have the means to repay, his lord commanded him to be sold, along with his wife and children and all that he had, and repayment to be made. So the slave fell to the ground and prostrated himself before him, saying, ‘Have patience with me and I will repay you everything.’ And the lord of that slave felt compassion and released him and forgave him the debt. But that slave went out and found one of his fellow slaves who owed him a hundred denarii; and he seized him and began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay back what you owe.’  So his fellow slave fell to the ground and began to plead with him, saying, ‘Have patience with me and I will repay you.’  But he was unwilling and went and threw him in prison until he should pay back what was owed. So when his fellow slaves saw what had happened, they were deeply grieved and came and reported to their lord all that had happened. Then summoning him, his lord *said to him, ‘You wicked slave, I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. Should you not also have had mercy on your fellow slave, in the same way that I
had mercy on you?’ And his lord, moved with anger, handed him over to
the torturers until he should repay all that was owed him. My heavenly
Father will also do the same to you, if each of you does not
forgive his brother from your heart.”

Courage

In every man theirs a part of their life that wants to “protect”. Recently, my little brother, Elijah, came into my room and said, “You can’t go out there! There’s a monster out there, and I have to go kill it so that he doesn't hurt you…” With a smile I said, “okay, you go do that, and you tell me when it’s safe to come out.” With a huff and puff, he said, “okay!” And he stomped out with the urge to protect me.
It’s funny isn't it?... even the little boys enjoy “protecting”. In our family we say, “You need to Protect and Respect girls.”  It used to be that way… everyone knows the story of the titanic… woman and children were first. Today it’s a“first come, first serve” basis. A lot of men have lost the vision to protect and respect. Thankfully, my parents have brought us kids up to serve others before ourselves! … It’s not always easy, but we try.In the Bible we see over and over again how we are supposed to be strong and courageous. There will be time when courage will come easily to us, and there will be other times that it will be hard. 

courageous
Brave; bold; daring; intrepid; hardy to encounter difficulties and dangers;
adventurous; enterprising.Be thou strong and courageous. Joshua 1.
I'm sure most of you,  if not all of you have seen the movie, "Courageous".
 I thought I'd post the lyrics to their song.We were made to be courageous We were made to lead the way We could be the generation That finally breaks the chains We were made to be courageous We were made to be courageous We were warriors on the front lines Standing, unafraid But now we're watchers on the sidelines While our families slip away Where are you, men of courage? You were made for so much more Let the pounding of our hearts cry We will serve the lord We were made to be courageous And we're taking back the fight We were made to be courageous And it starts with us tonight The only way we'll ever stand Is on our knees with lifted hands Make us courageous Lord, make us courageous This is our resolution Our answer to the call We will love our wives and children We refuse to let them fall We will reignite the passion That we buried deep inside May the watchers become warriors Let the men of god arise We were made to be courageous And we're taking back the fight We were made to be courageous And it starts with us tonight The only way we'll ever stand Is on our knees, with lifted hands Make us courageous
Lord, make us courageous In the war of the mind I will make my stand (seek justice. love mercy. walk humbly with your god) In the battle of the heart and the battle of the hand
 (seek justice. love mercy. walk humbly with your god)

The Prodigal

A couple weeks ago, my siblings and I watched a Christian Comedian movie. At the end of the movie, they talk about the Prodigal son. I didn't think about this before, but they said that those time that we feel like God has moved away from us,
it was “us” that moved away from Him. 

If we think about it...

God “waits” for us. If “we” seek, “we” will find, if “we” knock, the door will be opened...

I found a couple verses that I thought would be helpful.

Deuteronomy 4:29

But from there you will seek the Lord your God, and you will find Him if you search for Him with all your heart and all your soul."

Matthew 7:7-8

 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened."

Luke 11:9-10

“So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives; and he who seeks, finds; and to him who knocks,

it will be opened."

All of us have gone through trials, and all of us have had the chance to either move away from God, or toward him. Whatever the reason for our trial, God was there the entire time. He never moved away from us! He's been faithful throughout everything!

All of us know the story of the Prodigal son. Maybe we've experienced it first hand, or we've known someone that has. Whatever the case may be, remember that we need to "seek", "knock", and "find". God's there in the midst of everything; He's just waiting for "us" to open our heart.

MY HEART, YOUR HOME- Christy Nockels 

Come and make my heart Your home 

Come and be everything I am and all I know Search me through and through ‘Till my heart becomes a home for You

CHORUS

A home for You, Lord 

A home for You, Lord Let everything I do
 open up A door for You to come through And that my heart would be a place Where You want to be…

CHORUS

You are my portion, filling up everything You are the fortune,
that’s causing my heart to sing That it’s amazing… That You could make Yourself at home with me

Finding Joy in the Little Things

This last week my brothers were hunting with my dad and uncle. So, it was just us girls and Elijah at home. My mom and I had talked one morning about finding joy in the little things. She said that even though she only gets 4 hours of sleep, (she has insomnia) that she should be grateful that she even got any sleep. She said, “Last night when I played the game with you girls, even though I was really tired, I realized that I should be joyful that I have 2 girls to play a game with; and that we can laugh in the little things.” My dad had talked to my mom the last night that they were out, saying the day was horrible because a certain brother of mine kept complaining. My mom then told him, “Yes, but be grateful that you got to go hunting with 3 of your sons, and your brother!” Sometimes we don’t look at the little things in life that we should be joyful in. Maybe, late night talks with your parents, watching a movie with your siblings, playing games with family/friends. All of these, we should be joyful in, that we had the time with them to do something like that. 

How often do we complain?
Start looking at the little things in life and be grateful.
Instead of being bummed that my little brother is growing up waaaaay to quickly. I should be grateful and joyful that I had/have time to let him be one of my best friends, and the one
that he comes to when he cries. J

Sometimes it’s hard to look at the “good” things in life. Instead of looking at a little boy who spilled milk all over the floor and being angry at him, look at the, “silly mess” that he
made and laugh a little.

Like my mom said, “even when you’re tired, and you feel like yelling at everyone and/or everything, FIND the joy in the little things.” J

Christmas

As Christmas rapidly approaches, I'm reminded once again of Jesus' birth.
Yesterday, I had the privilege to take my sister to a couple Nursing Home's to sing with a group of kids from church. While there, my mom said that one lady started crying because she wanted to give us money for singing.
Apparently, they don't get visited very often.

My dad made a point the other night... he said, "why is it that we visit all the nursing homes at Christmas, but for the rest of the year, no one visit's them
 and sings to the them. Everyone ignored them."

Whether we realize it or not, it's true...isn't it? We seem to always visit the elderly during Christmas, but we ignore them the rest of the year.

This time of year, many of us think about gifts, and getting. "me, me, me." Sometimes we forget about others. We don't think about what Christmas is really about. We don't think about the poor and the needy. For me, I don't always thank God that I have a family. I was reminded of that today, once again. Let me explain...

Today, my little brother, Elijah gave me quite a scare. He told me he was hungry, so I told him that he can have a carrot or a piece of celery. He told me that he would go get a piece of celery. So, as he went into the kitchen, he said, "ow!". The next moment, he came running into my room holding his breath and crying. After finally breathing again, he fainted. (which he has been known to do before) Once I finally got him to calm down, he said that his head hit the corner of the counter. I cuddled him for about 3 minutes before I realized that he was sleeping! I set him on the couch and quickly called my dad. Because my dad is an X-ray tech, he knows all about the body. I told my dad that Elijah might have a slight concussion. My dad asked me to explain his symptoms  and he said to wake Elijah up in 10 minutes and see how he's doing. Thankfully after me waking him up, I asked him a few questions, and he seemed to be fine. Apparently, he might have had a slight concussion, but not enough for worry about.

I started thinking about all the "what if's", and I realized how blessed we were that nothing "serious" had happened to him. So, as you continue on wrapping presents, and getting ready for Christmas, I encourage you to think about others. Not just the elderly, the poor, and the needy, but everyone. And may your Christmas be full of joy as
we celebrate the birth of our Savior! What are ya'll doing for Christmas? Drop me a comment! I'd love to know!

God's Protection

Last Saturday, I was helping out at a friends wedding...which mean's, staying after the wedding to clean up. My dad sent me a text about 9:30 p.m. telling my brother and I to leave now because the weather was getting bad. It was pretty slick on the roads where we lived. 

So, my younger brother, Ethan, said that he'd drive us home. I'm so glad he did!!! The roads were fine, until we got to Castle Rock... they were so slick that the traffic was completely stopped! (sadly to say, I'm not exaggerating) So, Ethan and I contemplated on whether we should get off of the freeway and use the side roads  or to just be patient. The traffic wasn't moving, so we went ahead and got off the freeway. We hit a red light, but once it turned green...we tried to go, but all our big Suburban would do was slide. Some weird person behind us, saw that we were sliding, but kept coming around us like he didn't even see us. God was protecting us as the man passed us within inches of hitting us. Finally after we got out of the slippery part of the off ramp, we took the side roads, trying NOT to stop. So, instead of a 7 minute drive from the off ramp to our house, it was a 25 minute drive. However...I was so thankful that my brother was driving and not me!

I couldn't help but thanking God before going to bed that night! God was holding us from sliding down the hill! To think what would have happened if our suburban kept on rolling. Yikes! It made me realize that God protects us in just the little ways.

I started thinking about the Bible, and how God protected many people! To name a few...
God protected Moses when he was placed among the reeds by the river bank. (Exodus 2)
God protected Noah and his family when the flood happened. (Genesis 6)
God protected Mordecai from Haman in the book of Esther.

These are just a few of the hundreds of people that God protected. It made me realize that God is always looking out for us, whether we realize it or not. Sometimes we don't realize even the little things that he protects us from. So, thank you God for protecting me!

Here

This last week my mom and I were pondering over the month of December. We've got so many things going on throughout this month. So much in fact, that it tends to be overwhelming, and stressful for our family.

I started thinking... Wow! Even through the stressful times, God is with us! He never leaves us! I was trying to find a poem or a song about stressful times, but as I was driving to the store the other day, I heard a song come on called, "Here" by Kate White.
 I thought it was perfect! So, I thought I'd share it with you!!! :)

Here: by Kate White

Here, in this place, with emotions I will praise you. And here, in this place, you embrace me as I am! Here, without fear, I can climb into your lap, and cry. And here,
bathed in tears, the unknown is put to rest. My life is overwhelming me, it's hard to see the things you see. Your spirit comes, to comfort me, I will praise you, I will praise you,
I will praise you here.

If ya'll would like to hear the song, I have it on the right of my sidebar.

I encourage you, that as the month of December flies by, that you will take the time to breath; but not just breath...ponder. Ponder over the last year(s). Look at how faithful God was to you. Look how through everything, God never left your side. He was right there! Those days that you wanted to cry because so much was happening. He was the one that caught your tear. Ponder about how marvelous He is! Ponder about all the things that he's blessed you with. He's still with you, and as the month of December goes flies by, remember that He's right "Here" with us, even
through the stressful and overwhelming times!