Trusting In The Lord For All Things: Happy Birthday Tim!

Today is Tim's birthday. Yup we have lots of birthdays this time of year. First mine December 13th, Sarah's Dec. 30th, Tim's Jan 3rd, Brianna's Feb 11th, Ben's Feb. 16th and Rachel's March 24th.
Here are some fun faces of Tim while he opens gifts. The kids got him fun birthday cards. Brianna's sang to him. Sarah's was a Unicorn button in the card that talked. You were supposed to ask the unicorn a question and the unicorn answered you when you pushed the button. The responses were hysterical!
Tim's always been a Little Rascal's fan so I found a comprehensive collection of many episodes together.

Tim got a watch from me. He got the Minion cup from Sarah which was cool. It had a 4 oz. storage for a snack and an 8 oz. storage for a liquid to drink. The kids like to get gag gifts for Tim sometimes. I wish they had these when my kids were little.

Sarah found a very unique gift for Tim, a jalapeno pepper dipped in chocolate. We're taking bets on whether Tim will taste it or not. he loves hot peppers in things so we'll see what happens.

Pizza was the dinner choice tonight as Rachel and I weren't feeling well. Some kind of stomach thing. Peppermint tea helped me and so did the Excedrin. I had a headache with an upset stomach.

After dinner we had presents and Drumsticks for dessert instead of cake and ice cream.

Something came up in conversation about something that happened when the kids were little that Sarah had seen on a video she was making of old home movies. So we sat down for about 30 minutes to watch old home movies! What fun! It had Ben, Sarah and Brianna in it so it was lots of fun to watch together.

Then we watched a few Little Rascals videos and called it a night.
What a wonderful evening celebrating with all the kids. It was fun for Rachel to see these videos too.

The verse today is 2 Corinthians 5:17
When I read this I thought back to when I was saved. Jesus brought me to my knees before I accepted Him. I lost my Dad to cancer 8/3/83 and my husband told me he wanted a divorce.
In my depression following these events I was watching a Billy Graham Crusade and put my hand on the TV when he told me to and I prayed with Billy Graham to be saved. I was saved with tears running down my face. I was free of the old and saved as someone new.

It wasn't instantly easy by any means, but I knew that when I died I'd be with my Savior in Heaven. What a weight that lifted for me. Being brought up Catholic, I thought there was a heavenly score board where good and bad things were tallied. If you had more good tallies, you went to Heaven. Thank goodness I know the truth now. I hope you know the truth too. If not, message me and I'll be happy to tell you all about it.

With being made new in Christ it's up to us to go out and shine our light into the world. Shining that light will allow others to see what you have and soon they will want what you have. You will appear different and content in the Lord. How exciting a life we have when we see ourselves as light in the darkness. How are you spreading light into the dark world around you? It doesn't have to be big things at all. It's the little things that make big changes sometimes.

This is a card I made today. We had to choose a card from a chosen gallery and make a card from one you have chosen. You can't make it exactly, you have to put your spin on it.
Here's my card and next to it is my inspiration.

Listen to this song by Newsboys called, That's How You Change The World. I hadn't heard it until tonight and I really like it. One of the lines talks about little things we do when no one else is around.

Isn't that what it's all about? Just doing little things in your day that might make someone else's life a little bit better? It could be a smile, a hello, volunteering somewhere, helping with needs we see around us.

We don't have to be a missionary in another country. Our country has lots of need for missionaries right in our own backyard. So many people are hurting all around us. Many of us wear a mask so no one sees the pain and hurt we're going through. We in churches pretend that things are okay. That causes many to think that everyone is okay around them and THEY are the ones that are hurting because they aren't doing something right.

We really need to let our guard down with our brothers and sisters in Christ. What do we have to gain if we put on our mask and pretend things are okay? If we tell a little bit to a friend at church, think of how many people could help you with prayers and other things you might need.

Satan fills us with pride and lies that we are the reason our life is not going well. He preys on our weaknesses. Wouldn't it be wonderful to put on the full armor of God with friends linked arm in arm? What victories we could see if we shared struggles and triumphs with our brothers and sisters in the Lord!

This year I am going to be more involved trying to fill needs I see around me. I am, with God's help be more honest about what's going on in my life. How about you? Will you be more open about what you are going through? Will you build an army of prayer warriers around you to help you fight your battles? Will you stand up for friends who need your praying voice to stand against Satan with them? Pray about it. We all need each other. We all have battles we are facing. We need to be more honest with each other. We all have so much in common if we'd just trust.