An Attitude of Gratitude

What am I most grateful for this Thanksgiving? That’s easy. I am deeply thankful for the gift of forgiveness. Where would any of us be without it? How would any of our relationships survive?

I am so grateful to friends and family who have chosen to forgive my mistakes and love me just the way I am. But even more, I am so grateful that my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ forgives me and loves me just the way I am.

He doesn’t care that I’m not a regular church-goer, that I’m not religious, or that I make lots of mistakes. He doesn’t care about my political preferences. He loves me even though I stumble in my daily walks with Him. He simply wants me to draw nearer to Him and to love everyone. He helps me to be a better person every day. He keeps me humble and helps me realize that I’m nothing without Him.

The forgiveness God gives me is completely undeserved. That is what grace is. Undeserved forgiveness and it is God’s grace that I am most thankful for.

Want to know Him? I’m not talking about a church, religion, or organization. I’m talking about a personal one on one relationship with our Creator. It is right here for you too- and it is real. “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.” (Revelation 3:20)

Four Simple Steps to God

1. God Loves You! The Bible says, "God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life" (John 3:16)

The problem is that

2. All of us have done, said or thought things that are wrong. This is called sin, and our sins have separated us from God.The Bible says “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23) God is perfect and holy, and our sins separate us from God forever. The Bible says “The wages of sin is death.” (Romans 6:23)

The good news is that, about 2,000 years ago,

3. God sent His only Son Jesus Christ to die for our sins. Jesus is the Son of God. He lived a sinless life and then died on the cross to pay the penalty for our sins. “God demonstrates His own love for us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8) Jesus rose from the dead and now He lives in heaven with God His Father. He offers us the gift of eternal life -- of living forever with Him in heaven if we accept Him as our Lord and Savior. Jesus said "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except by Me." (John 14:6) God reaches out in love to you and wants you to be His child. "As many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe on His name." (John 1:11-12) You can choose to ask Jesus Christ to forgive your sins and come in to your life as your Lord and Savior.

4. If you want to accept Christ, you can ask Him to be your Savior and Lord by praying a prayer like this: "Lord Jesus, I believe you are the Son of God. Thank you for dying on the cross for my sins. Please forgive my sins and give me the gift of eternal life. I ask you in to my life and heart to be my Lord and Savior. I want to serve you always." Did you pray a prayer like this? If so, please leave a comment or send me an email. I’d love to know about your decision to accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior too!

Happy Thanksgiving!

A Hole in my Heart That Gushes with Gratitude

In January it will be 10 years since my first migraine. Since then I have averaged about 3 per month. These aren't just headaches- they are completely debilitating and I cannot function with most of them. I've seen 11 different doctors of all different specialties including neurology, chiropractic, and now a cardiologist. I have tried just about every medication on the market and many known homeopathic remedies and have never been able to prevent them or ease the pain once I get them.

I'm so thankful for amazing my awesome general physician who never gave up on me. After much research she felt confident to send me to a heart specialist for a bubble echo test. It turns out I have a hole in my heart that is very likely the cause of the migraines. I could not be more grateful to have discovered this now since most people don't discover the problem until after they've suffered a stroke. I will know more after Dec. 12th regarding which direction we'll take to repair it. Sounds like the surgery isn't a big deal- but we'll know more then.

Just the thought of having a normal life back, to be able to exercise again, to no longer live with the fear that I will wake up in pain and all the benefits that go with that is just so exciting to me I'm about to burst! I am so grateful to all of you who have put up with me for so long! I can't wait to be a better wife, mother, supervisor, and friend! I am so grateful to finally have an answer and am truly blessed with so much more than I deserve!

Two Teens to Tend To

No one said it would be easy, but no one said how fun it would be either! Emily and Justin make everyday both fun and challenging. They both have such different styles from each other. Emily's friends call her a "scene" girl and Justin is what they call a "skater-jock". Even though they are on opposite sides of the spectrum they still completely relate to each other. It is amazing to watch them together. They are best friends and worst enemies. Yes, they both are smarter than we are, cooler than we are, and of course much more fashionable, but in reality they really do teach us so much. They know everything about ipods, pop culture, the latest songs, fashion, slang, and and they are the funniest people I've ever known! It has been dreamy watching them become such fantastic young adults. I'm so proud of my teenagers and appreciate them so much. They really do keep us young!

New to the Blogging World

So, thanks to my brother in-law Brandon and my cute friend Cammie, I have been lured into the captivating world of blogging. Now I just have to figure it out! Oh, I've been tempted for a long time to have my own, and it seems I've finally given in. I avoided MySpace and BlogSpot for ages and was kinda tricked into Facebook. A darling girl on my team at work had this great idea to create a "team page". Since you have to create your own page to be a part of a "group", well, that did it. I've been hooked ever since. Thanks Brandon, Cammie, and Lindsey. I think. ;)