New Birth Certificates........

have been issued!!!!!!!! Praise the Lord!!!

Praise Him!!!!

This is a subject that is so dear to me, because I was a praise and worship leader for 12 years. I truly believe Christians as a whole don't grasp the power of praise! I was reading an article on it yesterday and it provoked me to write about it on my blog. So bear with me as I get on my stump......

What is praise? Dictionary.com says, to offer grateful homage to (God or a deity), as in words or song. That seems a little too ordinary so lets look deeper. The strongs defines praise in several ways. It says praise is to boast, to rejoice, to sing songs, to celebrate, to be foolish and the giving of thanks. Just think of all the times that the Word of God tells us to Praise the Lord. Just for instance Psalm 150 ends by saying, "Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord!" The Amplified Bible says, "Let everything that has breath and every breath of life praise the Lord! Praise the Lord!" Imagine that, with every breath of life we should be praising the Lord!

We don't praise Him because we feel like it. We don't praise Him because we are at church or at a christian concert. We don't praise Him because everything is perfect in our lives. We praise Him because of who He is! We praise Him because He loves us! We praise Him because He sent His only Son to die for us so we could live eternally with Him! We praise Him because He created us to praise Him! Isaiah 43:21 says, "The people I formed for Myself, that they may set forth My praise."

I also believe that we can see in the Word a pattern of praise followed by victory. In Joshua 6:5-20, we read about the children of Israel at the Wall of Jericho. The Lord commanded them to shout with a great shout and that the wall would come down. The wall didn't fall until they shouted. II Chronicles 20:21-22 tells of how a whole army was defeated through praise. "And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed those who should sing to the LORD, and who should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army and were saying: 'Praise the LORD, For His mercy endures forever.' Now when they began to sing and to praise, the LORD set ambushes against the people of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah; and they were defeated." Acts 16:25-26 tells us that Paul and Sylas prayed, and sang praises. It was during this time of praise that the answer to their prayers came. The Bible says that suddenly there was a great earthquake.....and everyone's bands were loosed!

Prayer is important, indeed, but sometimes we need to go beyond prayer and enter praise. Instead of begging God to do something, let's focus on praising Him for what He has already done! Let's praise Him, knowing that He has heard our prayers! Let's give thanks, knowing that He will answer our prayers! Let's rejoice in His wonderful works!! Psalm 107 repeatedly says, "Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!"

Psalm 117:1-2 Praise the LORD, all you nations; extol him, all you peoples. For great is his love toward us, and the faithfulness of the LORD endures forever. Praise the LORD.!!

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Wow! It's hard to believe it is Thanksgiving tomorrow! Time goes by so fast. I decided I would blog about some of the things I'm thankful for. God has been so good to me and I thought this would be a perfect opportunity to Praise Him!!

I am most thankful for my redemption through Jesus Christ. I am amazed at His sacrifice, awed by His love and strengthened by His joy!

I am very thankful for my husband! To think of my life without him brings too much sadness, so instead I Praise God for my life with him. He is an amazing man that I love more and more each day.

I am thankful for my six wonderful children, each fascinating in their own way. I am so blessed by them and thank God for entrusting me with their care. I love them so much and truly LOVE being their Mommy!

I am thankful for my family, both immediate and extended. God has blessed me with an extraordinary family who continues to show love and support to me, my husband and all my children.

I am thankful for my friends. God has surrounded me with friends of "like precious faith". They have laughed with me, cried with me, and prayed with me, comforted me, challenged me, and stood with me in faith. I treasure each one of them!

I am thankful for my church, a place I go and can hear sound doctrine, fresh revelation and receive a supply in the Spirit. I can worship my God freely and can expect to be challenged in my faith with each message preached.

I am thankful for my Country and my President. How amazing it is to live in a country that offers so much to it's people. I am blessed to have so many freedoms and blessed by the soldiers who continue to fight for those freedoms.

I am thankful for my home, a place of love, security, peace and joy. It's not a house, but it's our home. I am blessed with the fact that no matter what house we lived in, it would still be our home. It's not the house that matters, but what dwells inside.

I could go on and on, but eventually you might stop reading so I will stop there. I pray that on this Thanksgiving you will remember the important things in life. That you will be thankful for all God's blessings, and most of all remember that without Him we would be lost.

Psalm 107:22 Let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving, And declare His works with rejoicing.

If only it could be so simple!

There have been lots of mission trips lately and Mia sent the following message to me...

"I love her and I want her to come here and take me to Evansville."

If only it could be so simple.

Lord, please reveal to my Haitian children that we are trying to do just that. Please let their hearts know we are not delaying because we don't want them to come. Please show them how much we love them, how much You love them and how one day You will grant their and our desire.

Mia,

Si se nan Seyè a ou pran tout plezi ou, l'a ba ou tou sa ou ta renmen. Som 37:4

Mwen renmen ou anpil, anpil. M'ap priye pou ou vini nan Evansville tale!!
Bondye se bon!! Li tande e reponn priye nou.

Mwen sonje ou,
Manmi ou

Basking in His presence...

The presence of the Lord is such an amazing place!! There are often times that the circumstances of this life can weigh heavily on us. We long for the day when Heaven will become our home and the fact that we will no longer have the evils of this world to contend with. We think of spending time with our Lord and Savior face to face and what a joy that will be. I want to encourage you today, though, to bask in the presence of our Maker. Acts 3:19 tells us that times of refreshing come in the presence of the Lord. When we spend time with Him our spirits are enlightened, our flesh is strengthened, and our minds are renewed.

He desires us to come to Him. Matthew 11:28 says "Come all you who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest." The Amplified Bible says, I will ease, relieve and refresh your souls. How good does that sound? Why then do we neglect so great a salvation? Why do we sometimes postpone our time with Him waiting for a more convenient time and the next thing you know it's tomorrow. Why do we not cast our care over on Him and allow Him to give us that rest?

We have recently experienced some challenges and the only thing we could do was trust Him. I am so thankful that we can go to Him, trust Him, cast our care over on Him and just spend time in His presence, being refreshed! I am thankful that His Word can speak to us and even though I have been beat down by circumstances I have truly been refreshed in His presence.

Psalm 37:5 Commit your way to the LORD, Trust also in Him, And He shall bring it to pass.

Psalm 23:6 (Amplified)Surely or only goodness, mercy, and unfailing love shall follow me all the days of my life, and through the length of my days the house of the Lord [and His presence] shall be my dwelling place.

More pics.....

Here's a few more pictures from last month. I hope you enjoy!

Do I have the three best looking kids in Haiti or what?

Ok, so I realize most of you have your own children in Haiti. What I meant was the best looking kids besides your own of course.......

Now serving number 38......

Gosh, Carsen, you are so close....don't give up.

Ok, so again, I had a great time in Haiti. I had to take a moment to thank my two hostesses. We had so much fun. We laughed, we cried, we prayed, and we had a wonderful lunch(best $772 I have ever spent, don't you think girls?) ; ). Thanks for letting me invade both of your homes. You guys are a blessing to me and Three Angels! Thanks for all you do and thanks for a fabulous week. Love you both!