Encouragement

This morning I woke up at 6am and slowly and reluctantly crawled out of bed and went to the gym. Aside from it being -1314535 outside, it was so nice to be back in there lifting and sweating again :)

However, after 10 min on the stair master I could only think,"Am I back in shape yet????" 

Stair master:1 Me:0. Maybe next time.

One of the great things I love about the gym isn't just to relieve stress and "get away" for some me time, but to actually spend time in prayer. It's my time where I am by myself and think about how God is using me, where he wants me, and what I can do to be a greater servant for Him, my husband, family/friends, church, and others. Sometimes it's incredibly great and I feel so thankful for the blessings I have been given and that I know what He wants from me on certain days. Then other days I'm feeling overwhelmed and wondering what the heck He wants of me, 1 in 8 billion people, to do and if He really needs me?

So, this morning I decided to read in the book of Acts since that is where we are studying in church. Two verses stood out the most to me and I know God wanted me to register these. 

The first one is Acts 3:25-26

"You are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant that God made with your fathers, saying to Abraham, 'And in your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed.' God, having raised up his servant, sent him to you first, to bless you by turning every one of you from your wickedness."

This verse is a great reminder. We are the generation from Abraham and his sons. What a gift and blessing to know that Jesus came and lived the perfect life and died for US. That God made this covenant so long ago, knowing we were in this promise and in His plan. There are times where I feel so small and maybe even forgotten at times, but to know that I, 1 out of billions of people, am loved unconditionally and that He has and never will forget me. Same goes for you who is reading this post. I know some of you Christians reading this can feel rested, reminded, and reassured knowing that we have the free gift of the Holy Spirit because we believe and follow this promise that was followed through. And I would encourage anyone who is searching or wondering about who God is to follow through on those questions you may have. Do some research and lots and lots of prayer. Prayer is so powerful. 

The next verse is Acts 4:29-31

"And now Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness, while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus. And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness."

This was great for me because it shows the apostles asking God for boldness. So many times I think I should have it together by now and be able to witness to people confidently. When the time comes around where I have the opportunity to share the Gospel; I am confident in what I believe and am saying, but nervous about if I am explaining it correctly for them to understand. I also get so nervous about how they will react.  But what made this verse realistic to me was that the apostles were being real. I can only imagine witnessing back then. There was such harsh punishments that happened and also facing the authority and speaking for their actions. Boldness would definitely be the thing to ask for! Especially for the new believers. If I lived back then and had just got saved and had to go out and spread the Word I probably would be pretty flippin scared. So this verse encouraged me that I need to also ask for boldness. To help me be confident when witnessing. Simple as that. I love learning how God used the apostles to be an example for us and that we should learn from their actions that God called them to do. And as far as how people react, you just can't control that. All that is in God's hands.

Hope this encouraged anyone reading this and that you find it helpful like I did.

:)

Happy Flippin New Year!

I feel like it's been months since I have posted anything. 

Oh wait.

It has been.

Well my new year resolution is to blog more! Ha...no it's not. But! I do want to make an effort to update once a month because I really do want to be able to go back and read our whole fantabulous crazy odd life years down the road. And for our children to be able to see the proof that their parents are totally awesome.

;)

All the Holidays were great and fun and full of craziness and mayhem like they always are. Sometimes I felt like this:

Happy as a clam. Enjoying the holiday spirit and seeing family and friends, and putting up our first Christmas tree as a married couple. Aww tender...I know! I'm a super genius and didn't take pictures. Go me! I absolutely LOVE picking out Christmas trees, decorating, all the parties, and of course Christmas music :) I love all the treats, food, and beverages I can stuff my little face with and giving gifts to friends and family.....and receiving them. Haha! You know you do too...admit it.

Ok moving on. Then other times I felt like thiiis:

 

Like I was going to lose my shit. First off, Christmas shopping. I'm not talking about shopping for our loved ones. I'm talking about other shoppers. They are coo-coo for cocoa puffs. Also, people who drive like they skipped drivers ed and decided to take it up on Riverdale road everyday of December. Anyone else agree? 

All in all it was a great Christmas! We hung out with family on both Christmas Eve and Christmas and we were so spoiled. I absolutely love all my family and friends and there is something about Christmas that makes life so fun and yep...I'm about to say it... magical. Most of all I love Christmas because of the meaning of it. Jesus our Savior! That Jesus...He's such a great guy. I help watch kids on Sunday at church and was scheduled to serve the Sunday before Christmas. It was so fun to teach the kids about Jesus and do crafts with them. It's the best to see their little eyes light up and get so excited to tell you about Him. I have been absolutely blessed this past year with so many events and opportunities and people in my life. I thank God for everything He has put in my life, and especially of the TIMING of everything. His timing and plan is perfect. 

New Years Eve was pretty fun hanging out with friends and playing board games. Kev and I were sick with this stupid PLAGUE that is going around, so on New Year's Day he slept and I watched Netflix pretty muuuuuuuuch all day, and like the whole first week of this month. Now we are back to work and normal life again. Well....I'm not sure how normal we are. Who really is?

So after all the Holidays I guess I kinda felt like this after: 

Yep.

I hope you all had amazingly fun Holidays and that 2013 will treat you well! 

Oh.

My resolution(s) this year: 1. Take more pictures. Sheesh I am a slacker.

2. Clean eating/working out. Yea. Reeeeaaaal original! But I haven't been in 2 months and I miss it.

3. And maybe stop being a hermit.....the snow doesn't help though.