SINGING OVER ME

The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing." {Zephaniah 3:17}

I was listening to the song "Singing Over Me" by Building 429 and I got to really thinking about God singing over me. How amazing is that?! Can you just imagine - Almighty God rejoicing over you with singing?!

I get an awesome mental picture of God - the One who sets the stars in place and counts each grain of sand - singing over me. I see a father who spends countless hours gently rocking his newborn child as he softly sings a lullaby. Can you see the love? Can you sense the warmth? Can you feel the strength?

If you understand the delight a parent has in singing over a child, you recognize that God doesn't sing over us out of duty, but out of joy, because of who we are and because of who HE is!

I don't believe that we are truly able to appreciate the joy that we give to God when we listen to His song of love for us! That makes me want to spend more time in His presence. I want to know what it means to have been in his presence!

Read that verse again, putting your name where appropriate. "The Lord your God is with you. He is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing."

Sounds great doesn't it?

"Charles Spurgeon once said that when a jeweler shows his best diamonds, he sets them against a black velvet backdrop. The contrast of the jewels against the dark velvet brings out the luster.

In the same way, God does his most stunning work where things seem hopeless. Wherever there is pain, suffering, and desparation, Jesus is. And that's where His people belong - among those who are vulnerable, who think nobody cares.

What better place for the brilliance of Christ to shine?"


--from "Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire" by Jim Cymbala

Faith Of A Child...

I helped out at church tonight back in Team Kid with the 5 year olds. Their prayer time was one of the sweetest things that I think I have ever witnessed! These precious babies were pouring their hearts out to God and didn't care who heard them. They weren't trying to speak with eloquent words for others to hear in a big fancy prayer...they were simply talking to their Father God the way they would their daddy. I heard everything from prayers about a filling at the dentist today, prayers for a little girl hurt at ballet class and even one little girl begging for her grandpa to be saved so he could go to heaven because she didn't want him to go to hell...5 year olds!! And every one of them believe that God will answer their prayer no matter how silly or small they may have seemed to us. We should all pray that God would fill us with the wonder of a child...the complete joy of a child...the faith of a child.

Faith shines brightest in a childlike heart.

Trying

"Trying is lying. There is no such thing as trying. You do it or you don't. You get results in life or you have excuses why you didn't. When people say, 'I'll try', they usually mean, 'I'm not going to do it now.'"— Dick Sutphen

PreTeen Sunburst Queen!

On March 14th, Darian participated in the Sunburst Pageant at the fairgrounds. She did a great job! I was very proud of the way she presented herself. She won her division (PreTeen) for Beauty and Casual Wear and she also received the Photogenic award. She is deciding now whether or not she is going to participate in the State Pageant in May. So, possibly more to come!...

Bradford County Fair 2009

Well, the 2009 Bradford County Fair has now come and gone. I don't know how you feel, but for me, the fair just isn't what it used to be. Maybe I'm just getting too old...who knows! :) I know that I definitely cannot ride all of the rides like I used to. I was doing just fine until I got on the Rock N Roll...that pretty much did me in for the day. I think my stomach must grow weaker with age. I guess we really go for the kids now anyway. The kids had a great time. So here are a couple of pictures from our fun day.

Strawberry Pageant

The Strawberry Pageant has come and gone. My baby girl was beautiful! She did a great job for her very first pageant and most important she had a lot of fun and made some new friends. She can't wait to do it again next year! She was named the 2009 Bradford-Union Jean Queen for collecting the most jeans (128 pair) to be given to women and children in need and she received an Ad award. She had so much fun participating in the pageant that she wants to participate in some other pageants. Does that mean I'm a "Pageant Mom"? lol She will be in the Sunburst Pageant this weekend at the fairgrounds. It will give her some more experience and we'll see what happens! :)

Strawberry Princess

Well, Saturday night is the 47th Annual Bradford-Union Strawberry Pageant. I just wanted to take a minute to say how proud I am of my daughter for participating in this. She is in the running for Strawberry Princess. I don't think people on the outside looking in realize how much work goes into this. I know I didn't until now. It takes a lot of work and a lot of courage. So, I just wanted to say how very proud I am of my beautiful daughter. I can not wait to see her shine!

Better Late Than Never?

Okay, so I haven't really done a good job of keeping my blog updated. I'm not really sure that anyone reads it anyway so I guess it doesn't matter that I'm almost 3 months behind in posting the Twilight Movie blog! lol

I'm a firm believer that movies are never as good as the books. Books are just so much more descriptive and detailed...I don't know...just better. That being said, I thought Twilight was a very good movie! I saw it twice and loved it even more the second time that I saw it. And...I am not so patiently waiting for the DVD to be released on March 21st!!!

I actually started reading the Twilight Saga again over the weekend. Friday my youngest daughter had finished Twilight and was starting New Moon. I just picked up the Twilight book and was looking at it and began reading. Next thing I know, it was 1:00 in the morning and I was almost done with Twilight for the 3rd time! :) Let me just say that it is just as addicting (if not more) the 2nd and 3rd time you read it. I even had to start on New Moon Sunday as I was laying around not feeling well and could not put it down until I finished it. These books are just so amazing!

Anyway, enjoy the pictures from the premiere and I'll try and do a better job of updating my blog and if I must, I will include things that are not Twilight related! lol