THANKFUL THURSDAY...Your Father's eyes

"You have your father's eyes!"

"You are the exact image of your Dad!"

You will hear common remarks such as this at a family reunion or a gathering where distant relatives have not seen you or your children in a while. When people look at your family, usually they can see a resemblance in either the physical characteristics or your mannerisms. Hand gestures, facial expressions, speech patterns. Brown eyes, big ears, dark hair, broad shoulders. When someone listens to you or looks at you, can they tell what family you are from?

Jesus said that there is one way to live that will make us recognizable as one of His children. Being a peacemaker. When people look at you, do they see peace?

MATTHEW 5:9 "God blesses those who work for peace, for they will be called the children of God."

I am thankful today on this Thankful Thursday for the eyes of my Father. In a few days we will honor our earthly fathers, and I hope that you have some godly attributes passed down to you from your father, but the eyes of the Father that I speak of is not the genetic color passed down ...but it is the love, the peace, the joy and the grace that can be seen thru the eyes of our Heavenly Father.

When people see you ....do they see the family resemblance?

What are you thankful for today? Are you thankful for a Father that loves you? For a Father that looks upon you with such a great love and adoration? Please share with us your grateful heart by linking up below in Mr. Linky.

~ Please check out the side bar of my blog to see the schedule for future TT hosts!

WEDNESDAY WEEKLY WORD ... making an entrance

Most people know that how a person makes an entrance into a place is quite important in establishing how others see him or her. At parties, many people like to arrive "fashionably late" so that everyone else will have already arrived and they can receive a maximum amount of attention. Other people will make alot of noise or create a commotion as they come in for the same reason ... for attention!

I was glad to see that the readers of this blog did not fall into either of these categories. In last week's YOUR OPINION MATTERS POLL, I polled the readers the following question: "When you make an entrance at a party, what are you most likely to do?" The top 3 responses are...

53% of those voting said that they come early and help with the work.
20% voted and said that they will scout out who is there before making their move.
13% of those polled, said that they will slip in when nobody is looking.

In ancient times, kings would like to "make an entrance". Many of them would have ornate arches made and they would enter their city after a great military victory. I personally visited such places when my husband and I traveled to Rome (the Arch of Constantine) and also in Paris (Napoleon's Arc d'triumph).

(my husband and myself in Rome...see the emperor's entrance-way behind us?)

You would think that the entrance ways for the King of all kings would be most elaborate! When Christ entered Jerusalem long ago, He did enter as a king might have, except for one thing ...Jesus was not concerned about what was fashionable and no arch marked his entrance.

There were many people who treated Jesus as they would have treated another king , they spread clothes and waved branches in front him. These were all appropriate actions for receiving a king, but Jesus made His entrance in a very humble manner. He did not ride on a chariot, or arrived being carried by royalty...instead He rode in on a donkey, which was considered a common servant animal.

ZECHARIAH 9:9 "Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion! Shout in triumph, Daughter Jerusalem! See, your King is coming to you; He is righteous and victorious, humble and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey."

Royalty and kings normally would ride in on majestic warhorses, but Jesus was not just any ordinary King. He was different. If you think about it, you will recall that most kings would ride in AFTER a victory, Jesus' triumphal entry was BEFORE His victory.

Speaking of victory ... a victory for a king and his army could be marked by military power, but the victory of Jesus Christ, the King of Kings was won by suffering and love. His suffering and love at Calvary.

When I think about how Jesus entered Jerusalem on that day that we remember as Palm Sunday, those people who hailed Him really had no idea what kind of a King that Jesus would be. Praise God for the King of Kings, the One who came in the Name of the Lord. The One who is worthy to be praised.

WHAT A KING! WHAT AN ENTRANCE!

Dear Lord...Thank you for being my King of Kings! Help me to not be like that crowd on the first Palm Sunday who praised Jesus in word and song only. May the praise, worship and adoration for my King come straight from my heart! - AMEN.

Wednesday Weekly Word is a special weekly post designated to my personal thoughts of a current study I am doing. This week I was reading the book of Zechariah and was reminded of the majestic arrival of Jesus Christ. Thank you for sharing your thoughts on this study with me, what an encouragement all of you are to me and to all WOMEN WHO ARE TAKING A STAND!

YOUR OPINION MATTERS POLL ... please take time to vote in this weeks poll. Find it on the side bar of the blog. Your opinion really does matter!

A PIECE OF MY HEART ... sound the alarm

This past weekend we had storms come thru our area. The winds picked up, the rain was powerful and the sirens went off.

Right when the storm brewed up, I had just pulled into the drive-thru bank. As I was waiting for my deposit slip, the storm really hit and the power at the bank went out. (lol) The guy inside the bank was trying to talk to me thru the window because the intercom did not work without power. He was trying to tell me to go on because they could not open the drawer. The entire time he was trying to communicate with me, I wasn't budging because even though I had handed over my deposit, I did not have a deposit slip in my hand. So while the storms got stronger and the sirens blared, here I was running into the front of the bank to get my money back. I wasn't about to leave without proof that my deposit had been made.

I am reminded of the warnings that sirens give us, but yet so many times we dismiss the warning because we want proof that we are really in danger. Believe me when you hear a tornado siren go off, it is a warning for us to take cover. When a smoke detector goes off, it is alerting us to a fire. When a trumpet was blasted in Old Testament times, it was a warning to the people of Israel.

LEVITICUS 23:24 "On the first day of the appointed month in early autumn, you are to observe a day of complete rest. It will be an official day for holy assembly, a day commemorated with loud blasts of a trumpet."

The people in ancient Israel needed to be awakened from their careless attitudes toward God. God knew the tendency that the people would have to drift away so He set up a yearly holiday called the Festival of Trumpets, which was to blast the people out of their spiritual laziness. The trumpet was to serve as a reminder to the people to examine themselves and recognize God's provision in their lives as well as His grace.

I wonder if a trumpet would sound like that, how many of us would be awakened or if we would be like I was at the bank that day the sirens were going off? Would we be attentive and take the warning seriously or would we be looking for proof that it was really a warning from God?

Lord, help me to have my ear tuned to hear Your sound of alarm when I need to turn from sin. May my heart and my spirit be tuned in to the sound of Your voice and like the Israelites, may I be awakened quickly by Your warnings. -AMEN

and that is a piece of my heart today;

AT THE WELL ... once upon a dream

Today I am linking up with my friends over AT THE WELL. Even though the discussion questions refer mainly to homemaking, one question asked of us this week really stood out and it is the one question that I would like to concentrate on for today.

1. What are some Bible verses that inspire you to keep blooming where you have been planted?

When I read this question, memories flooded my mind and my spirit as I recalled a time in my life that God spoke those words into my spirit .."bloom where you are planted".

Have you ever come to a place in your life where you are not sure which direction to go or even if you are walking down the right road. Prior to coming into the ministry full time with my husband, this is a place that I found myself, not only spiritually but emotionally. I knew in my heart what God was calling me to do, but I didn't know how to get to the place He was calling me to.

"Bloom where you are planted" is all I could hear God saying to me.

If you have ever found yourself thinking "I wish I could do more with my life", you are not alone. If you have ever had the idea that there might be something that you are missing, there probably is. The thing you might be missing out on is the dream that you were designed to live out, perhaps like me, you knew there was a dream but you didn't know how to attain the dream!
If you have experienced this before, perhaps the very thought of your dream has kept you awake at night or you have felt a stirring in your spirit every time you see someone else doing exactly what you think you should be doing.

Before you hang up your dream because you feel like it is too late or your dream is way out of reach...just take time to take another look at what could be one of the greatest discoveries of your life!

Sometimes finding the road map to your dreams is simply "blooming where you are planted." Do your very best at what you are doing now, look for opportunities that God gives you and be joyful in the place you are right now!

Some of you reading this may feel like you have already given up your dream and you find it difficult to find joy and peace in what you are doing right now. Maybe it is your job, or a ministry that you wish you could do. Maybe you dream of changing careers, or moving to another city or state. I have dreamed of some of these things, but I had to ask myself....

HAVE I BLOOMED WHERE I HAVE BEEN PLANTED?

PHILIPPIANS 4:11 "Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content."

Finding peace and contentment in your current situation will be the stepping stone to fulfilling your dream!

You can visit the homepage of AT THE WELL and find other thoughts on this topic today!

CIRCLE OF LOVE...meet Hannah

HANNAH

of

Preparing For Our Children's Future

is this week's spotlight!

I would like to introduce you to a very new friend of mine, HANNAH. I crossed paths with Hannah recently through the AT THE WELL ministry. I have the opportunity to meet alot of different bloggers when I host the At the Well ministry, and some blogs stand out alittle more than others whenever I visit all of the discussion participants. Preparing for Our Children's Future was one of those blogs that caught my attention.

Hannah is a homemaker who really loves God and her family. She is currently homeschooling her 2 children and considers it a journey. I love that! What I love about Hannah's blog is how she takes history (which she loves) and brings it alive on the pages that she pens here in bloggyland. Hannah has a passion for the future of our children, and teaching them about our country and how learning about world history is going to prepare them for their futures as our next leaders and teachers.

Hannah is not only teaching her own children about our forefathers and what our country was founded on, but she brings back the history that so many of us have forgotten about. The freedoms, the speeches, the trust in God that this country was founded on can be found once again on the pages of Hannah's blog. I say "Let's get back to the basics of life" - and in order to do that, we might just have to start with the history that our country was founded on.

I applaud Hannah for her love and passion, not only for the importance of our world history but the dedication that she has to bring forth God's Word as the foundation of all that we stand for in this great country of the United States.

Surely "In God we CAN trust!"

Here is a sample of a recent post, where Hannah shares with her readers parts of Samuel Adams speech:

Samuel Adams Speech (part 7) Saturday

" 'Tis a strange species of generosity which requires a return infinitely more valuable than anything it could have bestowed; that demands as a reward for a defense of our property a surrender of those inestimable privileges to the arbitrary will of vindictive tyrants, which alone give value to that very property.Courage, then, my countrymen; our contest is not only whether we ourselves shall be free, but whether there shall be left to mankind an asylum on earth for civil and religious liberty. Dismissing, therefore, the justice of our cause as incontestable, the only question is, What is best for us to pursue in our present circumstances?The doctrine of dependence on Great Britain is, I believe, generally exploded; but as I would attend to the honest weakness of the simplest of men, you will pardon me if I offer a few words on that subject." -Samuel Adams
To be continued.......Or read the whole speech here.

History, Homeschooling and How to live a pure, wholesome godly life is certainly what you will find Hannah penning over at Preparing For Our Children's Future. I appreciate the stand that Hannah is taking for Christ!

Recently, Hannah shared a piece of her heart with me online and I would like to share with you what she had to say. Settle in and open your heart to a new friend...

1. PLEASE TELL US YOUR NAME AND WHERE WE CAN FIND YOU ON THE WEB?
Hannah "Preparing For Our Children's Future" and I have been so privileged to help a new blog friend with "The Conservative Homeschooler"!!

2. HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN BLOGGING AND TELL US YOUR FAVORITE THING ABOUT BLOGGING?
Since January '09. Meeting other mom's like me! I am very conservative and passionate about what I believe! As a Pro-life, homemaker, homeschooler, homebirthing(!), 23 yr. old wife, I am different compared to most women my age, and do not have many local friends! Since blogging I have been blessed with meeting women who are more like me and getting to know a few long distances friends better! I have been encouraged and inspired and do not feel so alone!

3. WHAT ARE THE MAIN THINGS THAT YOU BLOG ABOUT?
Learning History, educating ourselves and our children, principles and values, what is going on in our country, homeschooling, and some other things that interest me, such as songs, recipes, herbs, books, homemaking, etc!

4. TELL US ABOUT YOURSELF...if you work ~where? ...have a family ~ tell us about them?
As I mentioned, I am a wife, mother, homemaker, and I am so happy to be a child of my Great Lord and Savior!

My husband is the most wonderful man in the whole world! I am sooo blessed that God put him in my life and then fulfilled me with him! We have two precious little girls. who are just too smart! (They get it from their Daddy!)! And pray that the Lord may choose to bless us with more!

5. HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN SERVING THE LORD?
I grew up in a Christian home, but it was filled with it's full share of problems. At 17, I decided, God was not going to be forced upon me as He had been portrayed, anymore! I wanted to know who He really was and who He could be to me! So I dove into my own Bible for myself, until He was my own Lord and Savior!

6. CAN YOU GIVE US A TESTIMONY OF HOW GOD HAS PROVEN HIMSELF FAITHFUL TO YOU?
Oh! He has blessed me SOO much and proven Himself faithful in so many ways! to name a few: writing my love story for me! And blessing me with the best husband for me! Blessing us with 2 wonderful girls and the home birth of both of them! helping me thru the last months of the last pregnancy and a month early birth, with a very healthy baby! He has always been there for me, I see Him at work all around me and He blesses us everyday! He is SOOO Great, Good, wonderful and Amazing!

7. COULD YOU SHARE WITH YOUR CIRCLE OF BLOGGING FRIENDS YOUR FAVORITE SCRIPTURE?
There are so many favorites! But John 10:10 has been a favorite for a while now " The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly." John 10:10!

8. HOW HAS THAT SCRIPTURE MINISTERED TO YOU RECENTLY?
I see so many who do not value life and the blessings all around them. They enjoy worldly pleasures and live life for the day. Others worry about the future, and live in fear and greed. because they do not believe in Christ and the eternal life He gives, they live a sad miserable life on this earth. I am happy that I know I will live with my Savior someday in a place free from sin and sadness! I have life and Praise the Lord everyday that I do not have to live in fear or worry about tomorrow! As the song goes "Many things about tomorrow I don't seem to understand, but I know who holds tomorrow and I know Who holds my hand"!

9. WHAT ADVICE ABOUT BLOGGING WOULD YOU OFFER TO YOUR CIRCLE OF BLOGGING FRIENDS?
Do not compromise your beliefs, values and principles! Do not try to be someone who you are not! Be Christ-like in all you say and do on your blogs. Just as Christ knows your thoughts and heart, He knows and sees your blog too! What would Jesus think of your blog?! Do not participate in ungodly things on your blog and computer!

Also, I personally think too much time is spent on the "fuzzy" things in life and not enough on the things that matter. Sure a lot of it is cute, but time on your blog should be more focused on Christ and others and not so much ourselves! I started blogging because I saw so many homeschool mom's who seemed concerned about the importance of homeschooling their children, but then they do not seem concerned about their children's future and what is down the road for them and how best to prepare them for what ever may come!

It is not about us, it is about our children! We have to do what is right in God's eyes and best for them. So I would say, blog as Jesus would, blog selflessly and blog with care and concern for your children and grandchildren! And always praise the Lord and share His goodness with others!

God bless you in your high-callings as wives and mothers!

WOW! and to think Hannah is only 23 years old...I wish I had the wisdom and the faith of this dear friend when I was her age. Hannah is a Titus 2 woman who is making a difference, not only in her girls lives but many lives and hearts of those that read her writings. "Blog as Jesus would" - that just makes me want to shout alittle bit. I think it is absolutely amazing that God is opening doors for the internet to be used to spread His Word and His love. Thank you Hannah for reminding us of what our freedoms are based upon ... You are such an encouragement to me and to all of the WOMEN TAKING A STAND! - God bless, LAURIE

You can visit Hannah over at PREPARING FOR OUR CHILDREN'S FUTURE by clicking HERE!

FUTURE "CIRCLE OF LOVE" FEATURES: I would love to feature you and your ministry of blogging on a future segment of CIRCLE OF LOVE. If you would like to be highlighted, please CLICK HERE to find out how!!

THANKFUL THURSDAY ... true beauty

Welcome back to THANKFUL THURSDAY. "Rejoicing in the Lord always and again I say rejoice." We gather here to give thanks to our Lord.

"Beauty is in the eye of the beholder"

This is a saying that has been around for centuries. Have you ever considered the meaning of this saying? It must mean that there is no decision of whether something is beautiful or ugly but rather beauty is a matter of preference or opinion.

Each of us have a longing for beauty. Think of the things that draw your eye ... the beauty of a green valley, or the beautiful scene that a mountaintop overlooks. Even a marble statute or a perfect golf swing can appear beautiful to us. How about the perfectly orchestrated music piece or a perfect, luscious ripe strawberry. Seeing and experiencing such beauty around us can add so much joy to our lives.

I have never been so awestruck at the beauty of an artist as I was when I visited Rome and Paris with my husband a few years ago. Walking thru the Sistine Chapel and gazing upon the beauty of Michelangelo's hand was simply breathtaking to me. A great painting is beautiful not because of an isolated color or texture but because great artists such as Michelangelo combined many elements together to perfect his creation of beauty.

(FROM MY CAMERA...Michelangelo's artwork at the Sistine Chapel)

This could also be said about God. God Himself is ultimate beauty. What makes God beautiful is not just His attributes but how each one of those attributes bring perfect harmony and balance and completeness.

Whenever I am able to get a glimpse of how great my God is, it literally takes my breath away. It is His true beauty that I long to fall down to worship. I am so thankful for the beauty in His creation but nothing compares to the beauty of the Creator!

1 PETER 3:4 "You should clothe yourselves instead with the beauty that comes from within, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is so precious to God."

WHAT IS IT ABOUT GOD'S CREATION THAT CAUSES YOU TO MARVEL? Please share your grateful heart with us here on Thankful Thursday. You can link up your post by clicking on mr linky below and adding your name and post. I look forward to hearing what good things God has done for you this week!

~looking for the schedule for TT hosts? Please check out the sidebar of my blog for future Thankful Thursdays! ~

WEDNESDAY WEEKLY WORD ... injustice

Have you ever considered what protesters or activists groups do? These groups usually are demanding some kind of freedom or justice and they want it NOW! Usually such protests come from some kind of frustration with the way the world is working.

Justice usually does not come instantly or NOW like most protesters demand. If I recall correctly, Nelson Mandela began his struggle in the 50's but yet it was not until the 1990's that he won the Nobel Peace Prize. In the long journey of fighting for freedom, Mandela found himself imprisoned for his fight. And still today, we see injustices still being fought for many causes such as women rights, racial issues and the rich vs the poor.

The author of Ecclesiastes could very well sum up the injustices and the frustrations that we experience in our world today:

(4:1) "I observed all the acts of oppression being done under the sun. Look at the tears of those who are oppressed; they have no one to comfort them. Power is with those who oppress them; they have no one to comfort them."

Oppression.

Frustration.

Discouragement.

In last weeks YOUR OPINION MATTERS POLL, I polled the readers the following question, "What are you most likely to get discouraged about today?" The top 3 answers were:

1. 35% of those voting said that family finances were sure to get them discouraged today.

2. 21% of the polled readers said that they were not discouraged today.

3. While 14% said that they are either discouraged in family life, the state of the world or the lack of morality in the world.

We all experience discouragement from time to time, but never before have I experienced such discouragement in our country as we are experiencing right now. I can't tell you how many times I have heard a young person say "But that's not fair!", life sometimes isn't fair and right now I am hearing alot of adults saying this very thing..."It's not fair!!"

When life throws us a curve, whether it is in our control or the control of someone else like our government ...we can either throw our hands up and say "How unfair!!" or we can decide to allow God to bring justice to the situation.

What kind of attitude do we put on when life is unfair to us?

Despair? It is so easy to let reality get us down and sometimes we just want to give up on life. I think the author of Ecclesiastes may have fallen into this category. What is unfortunate about choosing despair is that we lose out on so much of what life COULD be, all because we are too upset to see past our despair.

Cynicism? When our attitude becomes cynical, we simply go with the flow of life. Our life motto is "do unto others before they do unto me." This kind of attitude only isolates us from people, which really just makes our world even more unjust.

Realistic hope? An attitude of being realistic and having hope means that we realize that this world we live in will never be completely just, but by being part of this world and having the hope of Jesus Christ, we have the ability to bring love, joy, peace, trust, hope and some justice back into our world.

How do you react to the discouragement and injustices around you? It is my prayer that you will join me as I reflect on all that Christ has already done, not only in my personal life, but in the world all around me. His Word says that He will not leave us nor forsake us, so that means that just as He did not leave Noah alone or Moses or Abraham - He surely will not leave us alone in this unfair world that we live in. He is coming again and when He does, all injustices will be taken care of. The future is in the palm of His hand.

WEDNESDAY WEEKLY WORD is a weekly post where I reflect my thoughts on a personal book of study. This week, I studied the hope that He has promised that He is coming again and we have not yet seen all of the results of His work. It is my prayer that in your discouragements and injustices, that you will remember that there is coming a day when the record will be open and justice will be served.

YOUR OPINION MATTERS POLL: Please take time to vote in this weeks poll...."When you make an entrance at a party or dinner...what are you most likely to do?" Remember your opinion really does matter!!