Yesterday

Yesterday was wonderful! We had a get to know the doctor appointment (our last family doctor left town in Nov. to live closer to his daughter). Then we went to Walmart to get highlighters. The two big boys have decided that they need to start highlighting verses in their new Bibles. Like I can say no to that. While at Walmart RC called me and asked if I wanted to go eat lunch at Applebee's for my birthday. I replied that I didn't think we had enough money to go there and he said that a friend from the church had just brought by a $25 gift card to there. It wasn't for my birthday, but RC was willing to spend it on me!=) I had the smothered, grilled chicken and the loaded mashed potatoes! It was GOOD! You might be thinking "I thought God had freed you from overeating?" Well, He has and I was perfectly content eating only half of the food on my plate and taking the rest home for later. Then of course they brought out desert for my birthday (yes, RC told them) and the kids shared the desert and I had two bites at the end. It was such a joy to be able to go to a restaurant, eat what I wanted, and leave without a hint of defeat or condemnation. God is so good!

After Princess had her nap we went outside to play. The day was literally perfect. I'm not sure of the temperature, but none of us wore jackets and there was hardly any wind and lots of sun. Bobo has been trying to learn to ride his bike without training wheels for a while now. I know, it is ridiculous that my third grader doesn't know how and I am fully aware that it is my fault. Frankly, with my anger issues our practice sessions never ended well and I stopped wanting to practice. I think Bobo did too. So, yesterday I remembered some advice a friend had given me about teaching her son to ride his bike. I took the training wheels off Bear's bike (smaller) and Bobo practiced on it. Within two tries he was riding like a champ! Yay for no training wheels!

Also, Bear has mastered the art of tying his own shoes! This is something we make a big deal of and he is very proud of himself.

My husband came home to lots of goodies in the mail that he had ordered with our tax return (more info in a future post) and my MIL got me a strawberry cake for us to celebrate with at dinner!!! It was one of the best strawberry cakes I've had, YUM! (and I'm gonna have another piece tonight=))

After dinner we went to life group and I knew that God wanted me to share my story. Well, the ice breaker question was "What has God done in your life recently?" Ha! God was not going to let me get by without sharing! It was wonderful to share my story with our new "family" because back in January I had asked them to pray for me concerning my strongholds and they were thrilled to hear of God's faithfulness! Life group really has become that for us: "LIFE". Being in community with other believers who can share burdens and victories and life. Thank you, Jesus!

This was without a doubt the best birthday I've had!

One last thing...I mentioned Galations 5:1 in my last post, but I didn't post all of it. It says: It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.

This is my prayer, that I stand firm. I refuse to wear the yoke of slavery again. Please join me in praying this for me! You cannot know how much I covet your prayers! Thank you from the bottom of my heart!

Happy Birthday to me!!!

Yay! I'm 29! =)

RC leaves for work at 5am every morning and I haven't been getting up till 5:30am so we don't see each other in the morning anymore. But...this morning when I got up and came out to my desk to have my quiet time there was a sweet note on my computer! It said:

Roses are red
Your eyes are blue
Just wanted to say
Happy Birthday!...

And I love you!

I know! He is very sweet and affectionate! God knew that I relied alot on affection and chose my husband accordingly.=)

Well, I just have to say it again PRAISE GOD, I'M FREE!!!!!

This is without doubt one of, if not the, best birthday I have had so far! So if the Son sets you free, YOU WILL BE FREE INDEED! John 8:36

I was thinking about something last night because ever since I wrote the previous post I have had multiple sensations of fear and an urgency to delete the post. Obviously, the fear is not of God b/c God does not give a spirit of fear. (1 Tim 2:7) It is still hard for me b/c I can so easily picture you all thinking I am ridiculous.

Anywho...back to my thought last night. If I was battling some horrible disease, or had been badly injured you all (I think) would be reading this blog eagerly awaiting the post that shouted: "I'M HEALED!" Well, folks, that is what has happened! I am free from strongholds (diseases) that have kept me from living the abundant life that God has for me in Christ Jesus! Halelujah!

I will never stop talking about this b/c I have lived life on the other side way to long and am way to familiar with it! Praise God He has set me free and I can live (God willing) much longer in freedom than I did in captivity! All I can say is "GLORY!"

You must know, You must know (Pride and Prejudice) that this freedom is for ALL!
Galations 5:1 It is for FREEDOM that Christ has set us free!
Paraphrase(by Beth Moore): Don't you realize that Christ gave up everything so that you could be free?
And After the temptation of Jesus in the desert He returns "in the power of the Holy Spirit" and at Nazareth goes into the Temple to teach. He is handed the scrolls and opens them to what we know as Isaiah 61:1 "The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the broken hearted, to proclaim FREEDOM for the captives and RELEASE from darkness for the prisoners."
This is what I know deep down into my marrow...God wants to set you free! If God can and will set me free I KNOW that He will do the same for you! You are NOT the exception!!!! God will set you free! If you want to talk to me more about this then shoot me an email so we don't share more than we're supposed to.:)

Maybe God already has set you free. Praise His Holy Name! If so, please, please, please share your story with us! Take the two minutes to set up a Google account and leave a comment so others can rejoice AND witness God's faithfulness!!!

Yay for being 29 and Yay more for being free!

P.S. sorry I used so many caps and bolding and exclamation points. I'm a little excited. (As if you couldn't tell)

I refuse!

Tomorrow is my 29th birthday. While I'm not overly excited, I'm not dreading it. Some of my friends who are already in their thirties are having a blast and so I am looking forward to entering this new stage of my life. No, I'm not there yet, but I'm close. And therefore I'm thinking about it.

This next part is hard for me to say, and I feel silly writing it, but I feel like I'm supposed to.

When I was in high school I told people when asked that what I wanted to do when I grew up was sing. But thinking back I'm not sure I ever believed God was going to let me. When I went to college I chose to rebel and faced the consequences of my rebellion. I assumed that for sure now my chances of God using me this way were over. Of course, I occasionally let myself hope, but deep down I expected nothing. I stopped telling people that was my dream and starting looking for another way to serve the Lord.

In the summer of 2004 I was asked by our then Pastor what I wanted to do and before I could think about my answer I replied, "I want to sing." From that point on God started fanning the flames of my desire and began opening doors. My husband and I began leading the contemporary worship at our church and I was lead singer. The road was hard and sometimes the only thing that got me up there was focusing on Jesus, but I loved it.

Last summer God called us to leave that church, move back to RC's hometown and not have a leadership role in church. Our opportunity for music seemed to be diminishing, but as time has gone on God has still opened doors, provided much encouragement, and spoke very clearly to me that this is it. The reason I am writing this to you all is because I find myself still battling doubt.

Is God really commissioning me to do what my heart most desires?
What if I fail?
I'm not even close to the best singer out there. What if no one else believes?
What do I have to offer?

The last question is the only one I can answer: JESUS. I think God has been bringing me to this point the last ten years. In my Bible study we just learned about the spoken word and how much power it contains. More so than thoughts. I know I'm taking this verse out of context somewhat, but God has been telling me to SPEAK THIS. In 2 Corinthians 4:13 it says: It is written "I believed; therefore I have spoken." (Psalm 116:10) With that same spirit of faith we also believe and therefore speak.

So I am CHOOSING to believe God and speak.

Something else I must speak. This past Sunday was intense at church. The Spirit of the Lord was near and it was good!!! God spoke a Word over our congregation and asked us to respond. The response God wanted from me was to go down to the front of the church during prayer/ministry time. This is not easy for me. I can ask for prayer in small groups, specifically life group, but going to the front of the church is not something I do often. I finally decided that I wanted what God was offering more than my own comfort so I went down. Without something specific to ask prayer for I just started praying and telling God that I was believing Him to give me what He said He would if I would just step out and come down. A friend came down and started praying for me. God kept telling her "RELEASE". I believe that God is releasing me from some strongholds and that He is releasing His purpose for my life. I believe; therefore I speak.

I know that sharing these things is an invitation for attack from Satan. He wants none of this, but I also know that I am NOT going to live my life in unbelief. I refuse!!! And if I have to make a fool of myself so be it. I already have been experiencing freedom from the strongholds of overeating and anger and I KNOW that God has set me free! In Joshua 6:2 God tells Joshua "See, I have delivered Jericho into your hands, along with its king and its fighting men." God tells Joshua this BEFORE they even begin marching around Jericho. God tells Joshua that the victory isn't coming, it's IN HIS HANDS! God has told me the same thing and I am choosing to believe it! The victory is in my hands! Glory to God!

I say all of this for two reasons:
1. I feel God wants me to. (I've tried to quit multiple times tonight and can't)
2. God wants to say to all of you "The victory is in your hands! See what Jesus sees! Look with eyes of faith and go conquer!!!"

I have so much more to say, but can't seem to get it out so I will just leave it at this.
Good night and love to all.

Deposits and Withdrawls

Our Pastor gave what I think is one of the best reasons for reading the Bible frequently today.


Besides the fact that God tells us to, (Study the Book of the Law continually. Meditate on it day and night so you may be sure to obey all that is written in it. Only then will you succeed. Joshua 1:8), the example our Pastor gave has put a picture in my head that I think you all can appreciate as well.


Jesus told his disciples (and meant it for His future disciples as well) in John 14:26 "But when the Father sends the Counselor as my representative - and by the Counselor I mean the Holy Spirit - He will teach you everything and will REMIND you of everything I myself have told you." Our Pastor pointed out that for the Holy Spirit to be able to REMIND us of something He has to have said it to us first. God speaks to us through His Word and if we are not listening to Him by reading the Word, studying the Word, memorizing the Word, listening to the Word, then how are we going to have anything for the Holy Spirit to remind us of? Our Pastor's example was this: You can only withdrawl from the bank as much money as you put into it. If I only put in $1 then I can only withdrawl $1. The amount of money that I have to deposit into my bank can be limited by many factors, but the deposits I make into my spiritual bank are only limited by my willingness or lack thereof to make Jesus Christ and His Word priority in my life.


It is my prayer that we all will make DAILY deposits into our spiritual banks. My recommendation is to start reading the gospels. Want to know Jesus better? That is a great place to start. Read one chapter in the morning, think and pray about it throughout the day, and then reread it before you go to bed. I began doing this last summer and it became a catalyst for my hunger for God's Word.


We might not have fat bank accounts in this world but we have no excuse other than ourselves for not having a fat spiritual bank account. Our God is supernatural and I cannot explain with words how this will change your life, but I can guarantee you that it will.

Hebrews 4:12 For the Word of God is full of living power.

Cool Running

Haggai 1:4 Why are you living in luxurious houses while my house lies in ruins?

Back in January God led me to read Haggai. It is about the rebuilding of the Temple in Jerusalem after the exile. God has brought the people back to Jerusalem and told them to rebuild the Temple, but for some reason they are saying 'It is not yet time to rebuild the Lord's house-the Temple.' (v.2) God then asks them the above question. The rest of the book of Haggai proceeds to point out their suffering do to disobedience and reminds them of the promises that come with obedience.

After reading through the whole book (it's short, just 2 chapters) I asked God what He was telling me through this passage. The only thing that was coming to my mind was that I spent a significant amount of time thinking about and planning how to decorate my home, yet my body (the temple of the Holy Spirit) was lying in ruins. I wasn't convinced that this was what the Lord was wanting to tell me so I asked for confirmation. Well, about an hour later a friend called and asked me if I wanted to go to the gym and exercise with her. This was a new friend and we had never talked about going to exercise together before. She told me how she felt God was telling her to live a healthier lifestyle and I felt this was confirmation.

At the beginning of this week my sister called and asked me if I would be interested in walking/running a half marathon with her. I told her I would pray about it. ;) No, seriously, I'm trying to schedule my life around the Lord's will and I wanted to make sure that I could fill a weekend with a half marathon and schedule the training time I would need. So, on Wednesday at Life Group the ice breaker question was "What is one thing that makes you really happy?" We weren't allowed the standard family, spouse, children answers. A newcomer said that running and reaching that point where you feel like you could run forever and your mind is really clear and your body feels really good makes him happy. Well, I told God I had caught that, but that I still wasn't convinced. So yesterday I was reading the comments on a blog I frequent and a comment caught my attention so I went to the commenter's blog. She proceeded to tell a wonderful story about God showing up during her daily run. Ok God, I'm catching on.

Well, the marathon my sister is talking about is the Oklahoma City Bombing Memorial Marathon. I got online this morning to find out more information and to make sure I was hearing God correctly.=) The marathon is the last weekend in April. Exactly 9 weeks away. You can run the full marathon, (26miles) a half marathon, (13 miles) do a relay with a 5 person team, OR you can do the 5K walk/run that is for families and very novice runners. I wasn't sure exactly how long a 5K was so I googled it. The first website listed was called CoolRunning.com and they have a workout schedule that is for 'couch potatoes' (their words) who want to begin running. They say that you can be running a 5K in...

You guessed it! 9 WEEKS!

And the best part is that it only requires 30 minutes a day / 3 days a week! I can totally do that!

So here I go! I will be running the OKC Bombing Memorial 5K and I'm even praying about having Bobo and Bear run it with me. Runner's Digest says that this marathon is a "must run" for all runners so I am excited. This will be my first one ever and might even lead to a lifestyle of running. Who knows?

P.S. a 5k is 3 miles, just FYI =)

To God be the Glory!!!

I am smiling and laughing and my eyes are watering because I am so excited to share this news with you!

MAKENNA HOPPED OVER TO THE RECLINER YESTERDAY AND PULLED UP TO STANDING!!!

Oh my goodness, I am so excited!!! God has told us that He is healing Makenna and it is so wonderful to get to see it happening! She proceeded to repeat the process many times last night! Her big brother was so cute and starting yelling "Oh my word! Oh my word!" when he saw her do it the first time. Seriously, check out her site www.caringbridge.org/visit/makennajohnson and look at the pictures and read what her mom had to say!

Psalm 89:5-8 NLT
All heaven will praise Your miracles, Lord;
myriads of angels will praise You for Your faithfulness.
For who in all of heaven can compare with the Lord?
What mightiest angel is anything like the Lord?
The highest angelic powers stand in awe of God.
He is far more awesome than those who surround His throne.
O Lord God Almighty!
Where is there anyone as mighty as You, Lord?
Faithfulness is Your very character.

Go back, Stand still, Hurry up

I haven't been saying much about what God is teaching me these last few weeks. It's not because He isn't saying anything. It's because it has been personal. While I love sharing about what God is doing in my life, God asked me a couple of weeks ago if I only liked hearing from Him so I would have something to blog about. Heavens NO!!! I love my God and desperately want to hear His voice. After some self evaluation I realized that I don't share with you everything RC and I talk about. I don't share with you everything my best friends and I talk about. I felt like God was telling me that not everything He says to me is for everyone else also. I was so blessed by this. God is intimate with us. Not for the sole purpose of us doing things for Him and telling others about Him. For the sole purpose that HE LOVES US.

God was providing me with a motives check. And I believe He was preparing me for what He was going to share with me. I am trying now to use more discernment about what God releases me to share and what He wants me to hide in my heart.

Here's something I want (and feel I can) share.

Have you ever had God tell you to do something that is hard or scary to do? You start off obeying and as you go along you start questioning whether you heard God correctly? You start looking back at where you left and all you can seem to remember is all the good stuff and when you look forward all you can see is uncertainty and mountains?

Did you know that God didn't just part the waters once. He parted them twice, a different set of waters mind you, but He parted the waters for the Israelites twice. Twice He made a way for them to walk across on dry land. If you aren't very familiar with what I'm talking about check out Exodus 14 and Joshua 3.

I'm going to focus on the passage in Exodus for a moment. The Israelites are standing on the bank of the Red Sea and Pharoah and his army are after them. The Israelites start whining about how God has brought them out into the desert to just let them die. Ridiculous! The Israelites solution to their problem is to GO BACK. Moses knows that God did not bring them out into the desert to let them die. In his effort to be obedient his solution is to STAND STILL. While God says loudly HURRY UP! If Satan can't get us to go back then he will try to get us to stand still. But if we listen to God it is likely we will hear an "I told you what to do, now HURRY UP." God has told me what to do. In fact, He told me what to do last fall and in my attempt to wait for confirmation I ended up standing still even after God confirmed what He said. He has told me again very clearly and now I am trying to HURRY UP. Mind you, our idea of HURRY UP and God's are usually not quite the same. This process that God has called me to is going to probably take months, but the problem was that I was standing still.

The other side of the coin now. If you want direction from God on something specific and you ask and ask for an answer and He remains silent then DON'T MOVE. In the summer of 2006 we (RC and I) had some doors of opportunity open to us. We stood in the doorway and asked God if we could go through. He said nothing. Some people think that this means that God is letting us choose and He is okay with whatever we do. I disagree. I believe God is waiting to see if we will wait on Him. RC and I didn't realize it at the time, but I believe God was testing us. We chose not to go through the door because we didn't have a clear answer from God. I am so glad we waited. While I don't believe that path would have been sin, I do believe it would have only been God's permissive will instead of His perfect one.

If you think that you need to just do something and trust God to work it out you probably don't agree with anything I've just said. All I know is that when I have chosen to wait on God I have never been disappointed. I can, however, tell some stories about going my own direction (and I'm not talking about sin here) and ending up in less than land. I can promise you that less than land doesn't even begin to compare to God's perfect will. I can speak from experience.

So I'm hurrying up and heading toward the unknown. I'm excited, nervous, and unsure of myself. But I am completely confident in my God. I'm following His orders so I have nothing to fear.

Now glory be to God! By His mighty power at work within us, He is able to accomplish INFINETLY more than we would dare to ask or hope. Ephesians 3:20 NLT