2016

In 2016 I want to choose faith over worry!!

What exactly is worry? Well, worry is nothing more than borrowed trouble. Worry is unbelief in disguise. Worry does not relieve tomorrow of its stresses, it merely empties today of its strength and joy. Worrying will not change anything. Worry can be crippling both physically and emotionally. 

Websters Dictionary defines worry as:

WORRY

verb  wor·ry   \ˈwər-ē, ˈwə-rē\

Simple Definition of worry

1. to think about problems or fears
2. to feel or show fear and concern because you think that something bad has happened or could happen
3. to make (someone) anxious or upset
4. to cause (someone) to worry 

What the Bible says about worry.
 Jesus said:

25 “For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they? 27 And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life? 28 And why are you worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin, 29 yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. 30 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith! 31 Do not worry then, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear for clothing?’ 32 For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. 34 “So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Matthew 6:25-34
Corrie ten Boom said:"Worrying is carrying tomorrow's load with today's strength -- carrying two days at once. It is moving into tomorrow ahead of time. Working does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow; it empties today of its strength."

Joy To The World

Joy To The World

Joy to the world, the Lord is come! Let earth receive her King; Let every heart prepare Him room, And Heaven and nature sing, And Heaven and nature sing, And Heaven, and Heaven, and nature sing. Joy to the earth, the Savior reigns! Let men their songs employ; While fields and floods, rocks, hills and plains Repeat the sounding joy, Repeat the sounding joy, Repeat, repeat, the sounding joy. No more let sins and sorrows grow, Nor thorns infest the ground; He comes to make His blessings flow Far as the curse is found, Far as the curse is found, Far as, far as, the curse is found. He rules the world with truth and grace, And makes the nations prove The glories of His righteousness, And wonders of His love, And wonders of His love, And wonders, wonders, of His love.

Issac Watts is the writer of this amazing hymn. If you notice the lyrics of the song, Joy to the World, you will see nothing about shepherds, a manger, wise men, angels, that we normally associate with the Christmas story. The reason is because Isaac Watts did not write Joy to the World to be a Christmas song. The original theme of this song was intended to be about the second coming of the Lord. Christmas won’t always be a joyful time but Christ's return will definitely be pure joy!!!

Joy to the World was written in 1719 and based on Psalm 98 which says:

O sing to the Lord a new song,

For He has done wonderful things,

His right hand and His holy arm have gained the victory for Him.

The Lord has made known His salvation;

He has revealed His righteousness in the sight of the nations.

He has remembered His lovingkindness and His faithfulness to the house of Israel;

All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.

Shout joyfully to the Lord, all the earth;

Break forth and sing for joy and sing praises.

Sing praises to the Lord with the lyre,

With the lyre and the sound of melody.

With trumpets and the sound of the horn

Shout joyfully before the King, the Lord.

Let the sea roar and all it contains,

The world and those who dwell in it.

Let the rivers clap their hands,

Let the mountains sing together for joy

Before the Lord, for He is coming to judge the earth;

He will judge the world with righteousness

And the peoples with equity.

This Christmas as you sing this beautiful song take time to meditate on the words. The words most definitely apply to Christ's birth. Our Savior is come!! This is reason to both  rejoice and be joyful. But, let us not forget that Watts lyrics point to the REASON that Jesus came, and that was to save the world. He is coming again!!! When Christ returns it will be a glorious day of rejoicing. Joy to the world!!!

Christmas Eve

Luke 1:30-35

The angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary; for you have found favorwith God. 

"And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus. 

"He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His fatherDavid; 

and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end." 

Mary said to the angel, "How can this be, since I am a virgin?" 

The angel answered and said to her, "The HolySpirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy Child shall be called the Son of God.

Christ birth is the most perfect gift that the world has ever been given!! 

The Battle of the Thumb

Thumb sucking is hard habit to break!! Our youngest sucked her thumb in utero and within minutes of birth soothed herself by putting her thumb in her mouth. My daughter, now 7 1/2 years old, sucking her thumb is becoming more of an issue that needs to be cease. Over the past couple of years we have tried many of the normal tactics to help her stop sucking her thumb. Eventually, like a best friend, the thumb finds its way back. The adage that "30 days will break a habit" did not ring true for us. We do have some extenuating circumstances that makes stopping the habit much more difficult than your average kid. Due to a medical condition called FPIES my daughter is unable to eat. Add in Sensory Processing Disorder and the task becomes like climbing Mt. Everest. Thumb sucking is a calming, self soothing technique that my daughter has used since before birth. Recently, while looking through a site containing tools to help kids cope and deal with a wide variety of issues I came across ScratchSleeves. Oh, how I wished I would have had this when my middle child was younger to help her deal with her severe eczema!! It is like a shrug with mittened hands. The material is so soft and the hand mitts are made of silky satin. It is extremely sensory friends for those kiddos that having various clothing issues.