God is good. God is faithful. I was running a few minutes behind on my way to school last night. About 6 or 7 miles before my exit, I saw break lights on all the cars ahead of me. Soon, we were motioned to move into the right-hand lane by a police officer. Moving very slowly, we followed the instructions by officers to exit the interstate, go through a town and then onto another road. I was aggravated since I was in a hurry but after calling my husband, he assured me that the road I was detoured to would take me right into Lincoln. I couldn't figure out what the problem was until right before I came to Lincoln. I could see that a semi was tipped over on its side across the entire southbound lane of the interstate. There were cars backed up for miles behind it.

I was once again reminded of the fact that God knows what is ahead of us - he knows the future and we do not. I was frustrated because I didn't know why I had to make the detour but the police officer did and if he would not have sent me on another route, I would have been stuck in all that mess and probably been late or even miss my class.

When I got to school and parked my car, smoke started rolling out from under the hood. I opened the hood to check it out and noticed my antifreeze tank was empty again. I called my husband to let him know the situation and that I would fill it with water and come home after class. But being the wonderful husband he is, drove down, loaded my car on a trailer and left his truck for me to drive home.

Since last night was the end of my current class, the instructors had invited a panel of people to discuss their Lincoln Christian College experiences with us. One thing that all of them said and wanted us to remember was - it was the times that were the hardest, the times that they were discouraged and overwhelmed the most, that they learned the most from.

This morning, I was reading about John Mark in my Bible. It has inserts about different people in the Bible. Here's an exerpt: Mistakes are effective teachers. Their consequences have a way of making lessons painfully clear. But those who learn from their mistakes are likely to develop wisdom. John Mark was a good learner who just needed some time and encouragement.

1. Personal maturity usually comes from a combination of time and mistakes

2. Mistakes are not usually as important as what can be learned from them

3. Effective living is not measured as much by what we accomplish as by what we overcome in order to accomplish it

4. Encouragement can change a person's life.

Hope this all hits your heart like it did mine. Just a few reasons that we can be thankful for the hard times we endure.

Have a great day
Living fearlessly in Christ
Christie

Good morning and happy Monday my bloggy friends! I'm still chuckling and nodding my head over the writing by Lysa Terkeurst on Friday's post. She cracks me up!

What a wonderful weekend we had with the opportunity to share in the celebration of baptism. My husband's aunt and brother were baptized yesterday and we were elated with their decision. It all took place at our previous church and it was great to see faces that I hadn't seen in a long time. We then had a big party at his parent's home with friends and family. What fun!!

Dan and Peg have made a vow - they accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior and live their lives for Him.

We were discussing vows last night in our small group. The Bible tells of many who made vows to God: Jacob Gen 28:20, Jephthah Judges 11:30-31, Hannah 1 Samuel 1:9-11 and many more. We must be very careful what we vow to God.

I have made the vow to God that I will say yes to Him even when I am afraid and do not understand. Well, once again, I am in that state.

I thank God because He provided a home for us. We have been looking since January with no avail. We purchased a home in our town and then it all fell through a few weeks before closing. Through much prayer, God lead us to the house we are to live in. It meets each of our needs.

There is one problem though, it is in another town. We will be moving from Chenoa to Fairbury which is only 10 miles away but when you have a daycare in your home, 10 miles in the opposite direction of your daycare parents' work, causes issues. I have one daycare family that is still debating but all others have told me that they will be finding a new childcare provider to keep from the extra traveling. So, the possibility of having no job is very concerning to me, to say the least.

What will happen? I don't know. What will I do for an income? I don't know. But what I do know is that I will make the choice to trust in my Lord. I will plant myself in His Word and resist the devil.

I thank you for your prayers for us to find a new home. Praise God, our prayers have been answered! Will you please pray for this new adventure I am on with finding a means of income?

Now, don't get me wrong - I would love to not have to get a job and be a stay-at-home mom who volunteers her little heart out but I'm thinking that when you take a loan out for a home they actually want you to make payments on it - crazy idea! :)

You could of course also be praying that my husband gets a HUGE raise which allows me not to have to work - that would be quite cool too!! :)

Thank you for praying - I'll keep you updated on this crazy little thing I call LIFE.

Have a great day

Living fearlessly in Christ
Christie

Good morning and happy Friday! I hope this post finds you doing well. Today, I want to post yesterday's blog from Lysa Terkeurst for all you moms. I totally agreed as I read each sentance. Enjoy.

For the sake of a mighty fine tastebud
Dear children of the world,You are loved. You are absolutely adored. You are one of the best gifts God ever thought of!All that said, please listen carefully to the following instructions lest you send your mama to the crazy house:

1. It's never okay to wipe the treasures you dig from the depths of your nostrils on anything other than a tissue headed in the direction of a trashcan.

2. When you need your mama, get up out of your chair and quietly go find her. Screaming "MAMA! MAMA! MAMA! MAMAAAAAA!" will make her blood pressure rise to the point of no return for like an hour. And when she finally lays her sweet little bulging eyes on your sweet little self, there better be something bleeding.

3. If your mama ever asks if anything about her body looks big, say no. Just say no. Let's practice. "No mama."

4. When your mama stands in her hot little kitchen, to cook a hot little meal for your hot little tummy- do not tell her you'd rather have mac and cheese. Nope. Do not do that. Don't even utter the word mac. It will make her want to sit down in the middle of the kitchen and scream. Really loud. Loudly. You get the point.

5. Your eyeballs are beautiful. Yes they are. But if they roll at the wrong time, they will be your greatest downfall. Oh yes they will. Especially if said eye roll occurs while you simultaneously mumble the word "whatever." Ewww, that might be a really bad moment of your life.We mama's don't like bad moments. We like happy moments. Kodak moments actually. The more of these you give us, the less our hair will gray, the less our skin will wrinkle and the less potato chips and chocolate we'll consume. Then the less cellulite we'll have.And it will be very bad for you if cellulite starts to take over our bodies because we'll strip the kitchen of everything that tastes good and replace it with fiber and no fat everything.

So, for the sake of your taste buds- be nice to your mama.

Thank you and have a nice day.

Have a great day and a great weekend!
Living fearlessly in Christ
Christie

John 14:1 "Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in god, believe also in Me."

You never know what you may learn from a child!

As several things were already overwhelming my mind, I began reading the syllabus for a class that I will begin in a week. As I read over all the assignments and what I would have to learn, my insecurities came through full force and I began to hear those lies from satan: you aren't smart enough to be in college, you will never have enough time to get your assignments done, you don't have the ability to learn these things they will be teaching, you might as well quit now.

My 13 year old daugther walked in the room and noticed my despair. I explained that I was feeling overwhelmed by the information I just read. She gave me an immediate response in a very non-chalent way; "Mom, you don't need to worry about all your assignments, just look at the one that needs to be done before you go to your first class - the rest will take care of itself."

Words of sweet wisdom. How I love it when my children give back what I have shared with them in the past. Maybe, just maybe they really are listening. :)

In our Bible study group last night, I was able to share this story with a friend who is hurting financially and was worried about what the future may bring.

We must learn to focus on today. Why worry about tomorrow when we don't even know if tomorrow will come. Now, don't get me wrong - this is much easier said than done and I feel like a hypocrite even allowing the words to come from my mouth, but it is truth.

Matthew 6:34 "So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."

Have a great day

Living fearlessly in Christ
Christie

Good morning and happy Wednesday to you! I was sharing my current life "storms" with a friend the other day and she said something to me that gave me a different perspective.

"You must be doing something right because the devil sure is trying to work on you."

I had been so consumed with my circumstances that I never considered that it could be satan trying to trip me up. That is his goal, you know - to keep our minds focused on everything else, anything else besides God. It took that reminder from my friend to awaken me to be very cautious of satan's schemes.

The negative thoughts, the feeling of hopelessness, helplessness, dread and confusion - all schemes of satan.

It is time to stop - stop allowing him in my mind, in my thoughts, in my actions, in my words.

Get behind me satan. I am a follower of Christ. I am a child of God and I want no trace of you in my life!!

Say it with me - I refuse to allow satan any hold in my life. I refuse to believe satan's lies when I know the Word of God to be true. I will trust in God because He is my Creator, my Father, and my Savior. He loves me and wants the best for me and satan only wants to destroy me.

Do you feel empowered? You should, the Creator and Sustainer of the Universe LOVES you!!!

James 4:7 Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.

Living fearlessly in Christ
Christie

Well, I promised pictures - so here you go:

Liz and I in a cave
A beautiful waterfall

Liz thinks she needs new shoes for every occasion - this one being no different. These polka-dot rubber boots are a must for playing in the water. I can't tell you how many comments she got on them from the other people we saw.
And finally: Mike, Liz, Nate and two of our great friends, Dan and Christi. BTW, Nate has decided that he doesn't want to smile in any picture - he really is happy here, just STUBBORN!! (like his father, of course)

Oh, the fun we had! Oh, all the mud I had to clean yesterday - shoes, clothes, jackets, etc. but it was worth it all. We're ready to go again! :)

Have a great day

Living fearlessly in Christ

Christie

Good morning and happy Monday! This is the first day of spring break around here - which means lots of children and lots of CRAZINESS! Please be praying for me!! :)

We had a beautiful weekend and we took every opportunity to spend it outside. Saturday we spent at Humiston Woods as a family and with the dogs. What an experience! Since we live on 5 acres, our dogs run free so when you put leashes on them and expect them to walk beside you in the woods, it causes quite the problem. I started out with Cooper, our 80 pound yellow lab and he proceeded to drag me through several inches of mud. It didn't take me long to hand him off to my husband and take our 45 pound lab who was much easier to control.

After church on Sunday, we headed to Starved Rock with some friends. We were much smarter and didn't bring the dogs and we enjoyed the exercise, fellowship and warm weather. (I have pictures that I'll post later, but the camera cable is in my daughter's room and she is still sleeping)

After returning, my husband was heading out of our driveway and accidentally ran over our dog, Grace. We weren't sure of her internal injuries and after calling around for help from all the local vets without any luck, we loaded her up and headed to the Animal Hospital in Bloomington. They did a wonderful job of taking care of her, took some ex rays and concluded that she probably just had a concussion. We are taking her to our normal vet today to make sure she still doesn't have any internal bleeding. She is moving extremely slow and definitely isn't acting herself, but hopefully within a few days she'll be feeling better.

I hope you had an enjoyable weekend and are refreshed and ready for your Monday.

Mark 5:36 ......"no longer fear, only believe"

Living fearlessly in Christ
Christie