An artist and friend who is a blessing in my life. One who sees when I'm troubled. She is an encouragement in my life. Thank You God 

I'm surrounded by Love, Thanks be to God

Thanks be to a loving roomate who wrote this poem for me

Abra once had a beta named Joy
She was a girl, not a boy
To her Abra would read,
And each day would feed,
Making her the spoiledist fish in town

Joy was a marvelous fish,
Who lived in a decorated dish.
She was blue,
Just like the dew,
And was the most beautiful fish around
(Don't tell Janelle)

Even though she had a scar on her fin,
To everyone who knew her, she was kin.
She had a Mediterranean Rock,
Because she didn't live by a dock,
But her life was the best it could get.

One time when you were out,
Itried to catch Joy like a trout,
But it didn't last,
'cuzz she was too fast,
And don't worry this is only a joke.

Round she went in the porcelain throne
And now to heaven surely she has flown.
In this sad day,
We all had to pray,
for our fellow friend and fish called joy.

Today the beta named Joy is gone,
But forever in our hearts she will live on
Joy is always here,
In everything it brings cheer,
And with God "I will always have Joy."

Amazing Love

Bow down on your knees because of what the Lord has done for us, me and YOU!!!
Make Jesus your Lord

and sing him praise:

I'm forgiven, because You were forsaken
I'm accepted, You were condemned
I'm alive and well, Your Spirit is within me
Because you died and rose again

Amazing love, how can it be
That You my king would die for me?
Amazing I know its true
And it's my joy to honor You
In all I do, I honor You

You are my king, You are my king
Jesus, You are my king, Jesus, you are my king

I will always have Joy

When I wrote that phrase on Joy's, my betta fish, tank I think apart of me thought she would live a long time. But a greater part of me wrote it because I will always have Joy, in Christ. "Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." - 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

The reason I'm writing this blog is because my dear betta fish has passed on to the porcelain throne. Some become depressed when death passes their way but I'm choosing Joy and Freedom and Peace because that is what it is promised to me. Her passing has brought me peace and has taught many lessons about this life and has reminded me of the freedom I have in Christ. All of these inturn brought me closer to God and I am thankful and Joyful!

I was anguishing over her illness, the past couple of days have been hard on me, watching her slowly die and consequentlly bringing up memories from my past. She was also my first pet. I also was struggling with guilt that I had because I didn't provide her with all the care she needed and because I often ignored her. But there is peace offered in Jesus Christ. "Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times and in every way" - 2 Thessalonians 3:16

Her passing taught/reminded me that this life is short. Things of this world really do perish and all the reason to store treasures in Heaven because they are imperishable. Death is scary if you don't have heaven to look forward to. There are other things but they aren't coming to mind.

Looking at her mangled body the past couple of weeks each time as reminded me of Christ's mangled body hanging upon that cross. Joy didn't deserve to be inflicted with this disease because I neglected her and didn't fully care for her. Christ didn't deserve the torture and death that he did endure. "Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men and do not grow weary and lose heart" - Hebrews 12:3 Christ was the ONLY man who walked this world perfectly, the only one who lived a sin free life yet he died for us. so that we could be in heaven. Joy reminded me of his sacrifice and inturn reminded me that I have freedom.

In my anguish I cried to the LORD, and he answered by setting me free. The LORD is with me; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?
Psalms 118:5-6

Thanks be to God who loves and protects us. Thank you for that little fish that taught me many things that I still have yet to fully realize. Thank you also for answering my prayer in your time.

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you will overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. - Romans 15:13

Check out Olney Hyms(John Newton) on www.ccel.org

Hymn 61
John Newton

Power of prayer.

In themselves, as weak as worms,
How can poor believers stand;
When temptations, foes, and storms,
Press them close on every hand?

Weak, indeed, they feel they are,
But they know the throne of grace;
And the God, who answers prayer,
Helps them when they seek his face.

Though the Lord awhile delay,
Succor they at length obtain;
He who taught their hearts to pray,
Will not let them cry in vain.

Wrestling prayer can wonders do,
Bring relief in deepest straits;
Prayer can force a passage through
Iron bars and brazen gates.

Hezekiah on his knees
Proud Assyria's host subdued;
And when smitten with disease,
Had his life by prayer renewed.

Peter, though confined and chained,
Prayer prevailed and brought him out;
When Elijah prayed, it rained,
After three long years of drought.

We can likewise witness bear,
That the LORD is still the same,
Though we feared he would not hear,
Suddenly deliverance came.

For the wonders he has wrought,
Let us now our praises give;
And, by sweet experience taught,
Call upon him while we live.

God in power

God is in control of everthing.

Today at work I found myself unable to log on to windows and instead all I could do was whatever I figured out how to do in UNIX. I never realized how much I trusted on windows, I had no idea what to do. I finally found how to get on the internet and so here I am. But the whole reason I started this second blog was because I realized I don't know had to get to freecell or even if I can. Last week I commented to others about how much time I waste in my life playing freecell and if there was some way of deleting it from the computer I would probably be better off. He responded because I currently have no way of playing freecell. Thank You God.

Riding the Joy rollercoaster no more!

I'm giving up my ticket, actually I'm ripping it up, I wouldn't want anyone else to have it.

For the past 7 months I've been riding this "Joy Rollercoaster" Which pretty much is this up and down journey from extreme Joyful times to deep moments of sorrow and feeling far from God and back up again. Reading my journal entries is an example of this. One will start with "the Joy is back!" and the next one with a matter of days apart will say "Where are you God?"

But I'm giving up my ticket, I'm no longer going to ride that rollercoaster.

Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. - 1 Thes. 5:16-18

If joyful always, praying always, thanking always and being connected with God always then my path won't be a rollercoaster.

I've been learning not to trust your feelings but trust God.
Be joyful even during the hard times, joyful doesn't mean haappy!
Thank God for EVERYTHING!!!
Prayer is more powerful than we all realize
IT IS ALL ABOUT HIM
IT IS ALL ABOUT HIM
IT IS ALL ABOUT HIM

No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. Hebrews 12:11

God's Time

How long does it take for God to fix things?

One can't answer that question because he fixs things in his own time. After months of drifting I got to the point of hating the bible, hating to worship, hating to pray and unfortunatelly hating some of his people. But God because he is the Almighty one fixed me in a matter of minutes! Yes, during one worship song he brought me to tears and sat me down in the pews at church, during the next worship song he grabbed a hold of my mind and hit me with a hammer multiple times. I was fixed! No Way but I tested. I read the bible, sang worship songs and prayed like I haven't done in a long time. I was smiling too, I was joyful again!

God's power works everyday, he changes everything in his own time. He revealed this to me when he woke me up a 5am to see the bright guiding light of the moon and an array of stars light up the pitch black sky. He woke me up again at 6am to witness a glorious morning, the cool breeze flooded our room, the beautiful song of the birds awoke my soul and the breathtaking scenery opened my sleepy eyes! God changed my view of the world within an hour. Praise Him, Praise his power. He does this to glorify himself not to please us, we were just choosen to play witness to his power, thank you God!

This is the day the LORD has made;

let us rejoice and be glad in it.

Psalm 118:24

This leads to my thoughts about my betta fish Joy. For weeks she wasn't moving much, just sitting at the bottom of her tank. But thanks to Hannah and Lannea and chemicals of course she no longer has ick, she is moving around alot more, the fuzzy thing is off her fin and her water is minty fresh( the chemicals! ). There hasn't been much hope from others but even when I struggled to have hope for myself I was able to have hope for her. God fixed me so why can't he fix her, he can it is just a matter of when and if he even chooses to. The song gratitude by Nicole Nordeman:

Or maybe not, not today
Peace might be another world away
And if that's the case...
We'll give thanks to You
With gratitude
For Lessons earned in how to trust in You
That we are blessed beyond what we could ever dream
In abundance or in need
And if You never grant us peace
But Jesus, would You please...

I love you all and pray for you everday, I pray God reveals something to you all.

All by God's Grace

We live by God's Grace. Every second here is by his grace. Everything we have possesion of is by his Grace, every talent/ability we have is by his grace, our character/personality is by his grace, our very existence is by his grace alone! Thank God for evey blessing and even every breath because we do not deserve it. We deserve the worst there is, we deserve hell right now!

Oh what a convection I had yesterday, the worst time for a convection is right before lunch because all I could do is stare at my food because I knew I wasn't deserving of even one garbonzo bean, not even a drop of water. Later in the day when I was driving to the store I almost got side swipped by a jeep. It was by his grace that I didn't.

Thanking him for everything would take our whole life, precisely!

Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. - Colossians 3:15-17

Today I thank him for the prayer meeting, the lovely spring morning, the new buds of spring, free printing in the honors office, bagels, being with me during my test, 20 min nap before class, the grace of my WTA, donuts, 5 min nap, loving roomate, showers, a chance to share the gospel with my brothers, your love that can reach others, using us as vessels, your strength/power, getting out of class early just in time to grab some food, short meal outside with Michele, giving me the motivation to go to every class, the change of a inclass final to a take home final, my job and thank you for keeping me wake through this all! Thank you for what you have done in my heart and what you have in plan.

By His Grace alone I write this
With a thankful heart

A quote is all I can offer

I read some to day and I found this quote I thought you all might find interesting.

"We Canadians know there are two kinds of ice: thick and thin. You can have very little faith in thick ice and it will hold you up just fine; you can have enormous faith in thin ice and you can drown. It's not the amount of faith you can muster that matters up front. It may be tiny, like a mustard seed. But your faith must be invested in something solid." - Lee Strobel Case for Faith

I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. [v. 9-11] And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ--to the glory and praise of God. Philippians 1:3-6, 9-11 NIV

Small Glimpse of Heaven

Stephen and I while climbing around Horstetooth which was fun in itself, not only found a really cool cave but we also witnessed a beautiful sunset. I would only fail at trying to describe it but just take my word for it I've never seen anything like it! The rain clouds, the light, the reflection on the reservoir and the cool breeze. This beauty isn't even close to what heaven will be like also it only lasted for but a few minutes and heaven is for eternity! No matter how uneventful my day was that little bit made it the best day! Every time you see a sunrise or sunset just look at it and enjoy it's beauty, the beauty of God!

Sweet Dreams you all!

The First

The first posting should be the best. Well at least something that is eye catching. Something that makes you want to read all my postings. How is this:
(insert cool posting here!)
I hope you enjoyed!