"He must increase, but I must decrease"

This song pretty much sums up the prayer of my life!
Jeremy Camp "Empty Me"

Holy fire burn away
My desire for anything
That is not of you and is of me
I want more of you
And less of me
Empty me, empty me, fill me
With you, with you

I want so badly to be more consistent in my prayer life and in my passion for Jesus... I get so lazy and my prayers are so dull at times. I can't figure out why I allow that to happen. I've been in the Presence of the Almighty and it's like nothing words can explain... yet still I get caught up in me and sacrifice being in that place. When I'm living for me more than Him, I'm grouchy and a fruitless witness.... but when He is allowed the place in my life He so rightly deserves life is amazing... miracles happen, lives are changed, and there's a peace in my little world that truly does "surpass all my understanding." Every morning I start my day with prayer and the Word, I end each day the same way.... but somehow I know more is necessary to really meet with Him... more than routine. I must die to self and be broken before Him then He can live through me, I guess I have to get to the place where I realize this must happen daily!

Peaceful Day

Yesterday was a really nice day! Nothing spectacular, but also nothing really to accomplish! Those days are so not common in my life! Basketball practice and Ski practice were both cancelled for Josh and Chris so the whole day was free! I got some really nice presents for my birthday... my favorite was a telescope from Alan, Josh and Chris! I love the night sky in Maine, in my opinion there is nothing more beautiful, except maybe the sunset in Jerusalem! It was starting to get cloudy so we couldn't locate too much with the telescope, but we could get a great view of the moon... wow is that neat! So much detail, very cool! We located one star and that was cool too... I can't wait until we get a really clear night... I live so far out from everywhere, so it gets really dark and when the stars are shining you feel like you could reach out and touch them! What a cool God... I love His handiwork! The other cool thing I saw wasn't in the sky but a mom and baby moose on the side of the road... I've been in Maine for 11 years, but to this day those animals still just fascinate me! Happy Day to All....

It's My Birthday HMMMM

It's my birthday today and I woke up thinking a bit about life so far. It's amazing all I've had the chance to do and see in these in past ... 35 years! I think I'm a great age! The confusion of the teens are gone, the trying to establish my life of the twenties is gone, and to be honest I like me better now! In some ways life has gotten more complicated but in more ways it's gotten more simple. To anyone who generally reads my blogs, this one may be way to boring so if you must stop now I'll understand... I'm doing this one just for no real reason! This will be I guess like my autobiography! I was born in Massachusetts in 1971 as one of three siblings, by 1982 I was #3 of 6! We moved a lot... Massachusetts, Minnesota, California, Texas, New Hampshire, Maine... I attended 10 schools! I've seen every state in the USA except Alaska, Hawaii, and Washington. I've been to 3 countries besides the USA: Mexico, Canada, and Best of all Israel. I survived the hair and strange boy bands and bad fashion of the 80's. I've had the most awesome privilege of being the mom of 3 amazing kids who I love more than life itself! I have a husband who drives me crazy a lot but life without him would be too sad for words. I've seen many miracles and the Creator of the universe knows me and I know Him! That's the best part of these past 35 years! That's the part that's changed me so much.... I went from school skipping teen to homeschooling mom; I went from being the life of the party teen who hated everything to do with God and Church to being on the youth staff at my church, being part of some very amazing teen's lives! They are all great (and I'm not just saying that because some of them may still be reading my boring jumbled blog). Went from being a single mom with no education really, no car, a 2 bedroom apartment in a pretty scary neighborhood in New Hampshire with no family around at all, no telephone and no real hope of giving them a better life to moving to the coldest place in the world, becoming a nurse, buying a home, getting married, and having 2 phones in my house and 2 cell phones and having a great vehicle! Am I bragging or excited by the material stuff??? NO WAY... just so thrilled by the God I serve! He totally does make "Beauty from Ashes" This is just a little glimpse into my life... If I've put anyone to sleep sorry, wow that's presumptive of me to assume anyone is left reading this :)

Just My Thoughts...

I was having a major insomnia night on Friday and decided to watch a little TV with the hopes of falling asleep. Well I ended up watching some show like either Dateline or 20 / 20... a news show anyway. They were doing a feature on the "emerging church" it really caught my attention and to be honest SCARED me a lot! It just didn't settle well in my spirit at all. So I pondered it and prayed a bit. Well this morning I was reading a letter from Dave Wilkerson that came in November and I hadn't gotten around to reading yet... I couldn't believe what was covered in this letter... the Emerging Church... (I believe this letter can be read at www.worldchallenge.org (you would select the November 7, 2005 newsletter from the Pulpit Series) He really confirmed my thoughts on all of it... We are so clearly in the end times and Satan is trying so hard to lure away any and all he can. Be so careful! WE MUST BE GROUNDED IN THE WORD DAILY lest we fall into these lies! The sermon the last 2 weeks at church has been about Submission to authority, and what I found so much the theme of the Emerging Church is that they started this whole movement to avoid submission to any authority. Putting Jesus into thier own idea and belief system, claiming they are like the original apostolic church... when in reality the only church I know of that says to rebel and reject authority is the Satan church and other such beliefs as Wicca... HMMMM So I urge all and any who read my ramblings... Get in the Word, Fill your Mind and Heart with Truth, and He will Sustain you and You'll be able to Discern His Truth from the World's Lies... Just thought this was important!
I'll leave you with a passage from Galatians 1:6-12 (New Living Translation)
6I am shocked that you are turning away so soon from God, who in his love and mercy called you to share the eternal life he gives through Christ. You are already following a different way 7that pretends to be the Good News but is not the Good News at all. You are being fooled by those who twist and change the truth concerning Christ.
8Let God's curse fall on anyone, including myself, who preaches any other message than the one we told you about. Even if an angel comes from heaven and preaches any other message, let him be forever cursed. 9I will say it again: If anyone preaches any other gospel than the one you welcomed, let God's curse fall upon that person.
10Obviously, I'm not trying to be a people pleaser! No, I am trying to please God. If I were still trying to please people, I would not be Christ's servant.
Pauls Message Comes from Christ 11Dear brothers and sisters, I solemnly assure you that the Good News of salvation which I preach is not based on mere human reasoning or logic. 12For my message came by a direct revelation from Jesus Christ himself. No one else taught me.

No Danger of Me Following This Advice for My Hair~

Your Hair Should Be Pink

Hyper, insane, and a boatload of fun. You're a traveling party that everyone loves to follow.

What's Your Funky Inner Hair Color?

STRANGE!

Discarded Mouse Returns to Set Home Ablaze

FORT SUMNER, N.M. (Jan. 8) - A mouse got its revenge against a homeowner who tried to dispose of it in a pile of burning leaves. The blazing creature returned to the man's house and set it on fire.

Andrew Chavez, Clovis News Journal
Luciano Mares attempts to help extinguish his house fire. Mares discarded a mouse in a pile of burning leaves, then it returned to set his house on fire.

Luciano Mares, 81, of Fort Sumner said he caught the mouse inside his house and wanted to get rid of it.

"I had some leaves burning outside, so I threw it in the fire, and the mouse was on fire and ran back at the house," Mares said from a motel room Saturday.

Village Fire Chief Juan Chavez said the burning mouse ran to just beneath a window of the nearby home. The flames spread up the window and throughout the house.

All contents of the home were destroyed, he said. No injuries were reported.

Unseasonably dry and windy conditions have charred more than 53,000 acres and destroyed 10 homes in southeastern New Mexico in recent weeks.

"I've seen numerous house fires," village Fire Department Capt. Jim Lyssy said, "but nothing as unique as this one."

My Heart's Desire

As anyone who knows me knows my heart never quite came back from Israel! I loved everything about that place and dream of it still... it's been a year since I've been back and still I long to be there. I loved every part of it: the baptism in the Jordan River, climbing Masada, the Judean Wilderness, the Valley of Megiddo, Jerusalem, the Sea of Gallillee, but the part of my trip that is burned in my heart forever is the people... I loved them! When I came home my prayer was that someday I could have the awesome privilege of leading a Jewish person to Christ... Cool thing happened today, I got a letter from a place I stayed when I went on a trip to NYC 3 years ago. It's called the New York School of Urban Ministry... well in April they are offering a 3 day seminar titled "Jewish Evangelism/Training Weekend." My prayer is to go to that seminar... then Lord willing back to Israel in 2007! The cool thing is I just know when our Heart's desire lines up with Jesus's hearts desire it is like soooooo AMAZING!!!! He put that land and those people in my heart for a reason... and I just can't wait to see what exactly it is!

New Years Eve 2005

Started out with church... then off to a New Years Eve Party at the Blackstone's house. That was really fun... there were 8 couples and we just ate, played games, and had a nice evening! Pastor Wayne and Threasa were there which is always fun! They are both so hilarious... I love thier company! Pastor Wayne made MAD GAB more fun than any other time I've played.
Josh and Chris spent the evening with Annie and Steve and Grace making fondue and watching movies!~ Got home after 1:00 am and as tired as I was I was up until 6:30 this morning! UGH I'm soooo tired! Blessings to all....

Happy 2006

Wow where has time gone! I can't believe we have begun a new year... What a great year 2005 was! I started the year of 2005 in the Olive Tree Hotel in Jerusalem Israel... walking around the city and hearing the fireworks... that is forever etched in my brain! There were many great things that happened in 2005. Probably the best things of this year were restoration in my marriage and a closer walk with the Lord. It was a lot of fun this year too... this past July we (Alan, Josh, Chris and I) took a trip to Orlando for 6 days... we did Disneyworld and the Holyland Experience which was very cool... it's set up like Jerusalem and it has these amazing dramas done and a museum type place that's unlike anything I've ever seen. We went to see Chris Tomlin this year which was an amazing concert... Yay I got a hug and picture taken of me and Chris Tomlin! Got my first nephew this year: Manny Ramos... he's a cutie for sure! Gotten to know my nieces Christy, Sherri and Kyrstin a lot better this year and realized they are 3 amazing girls! Lots of great stuff this year.... I guess that's because the closer we get to the Lord the better life gets!