...rehearse the righteous acts of the LORD...

So I've been a bit of a funk and having a pity party for myself way too much so I thought I would start at the beginning and recount all the things that God has given me through my life to remind myself.

1) A mom who did not have an abortion when she found herself unmarried and pregnant at 17.

2) A granddaddy who took me to church when I was little. He also let me drink coffee with him and let me splash in puddles with new shoes on!

3) Another grandpa who took me camping.

4) A grandma who loved to take road trips and was very patient with kids' silliness.

5) Another grandma who loved me and didn't let me get away with stuff at her house.

6) A stepmom in the Air Force who was stationed in Okinawa. So many fun memories from over there! Crawling through storm drains and finding that cave full of human bones! Also got two extra brothers out of that.

7) A mom who took me to church through my teen years and established a lifelong habit.

8) A father who did stuff with us. Took us camping and took us on motorcycle rides.

9) Another stepmom who taught me to crochet, something I enjoy very much today!

10) A stepdad who loves me like his own. He likes to pretend he just tolerates me but inside I know he's just a big softy!

11) The year my mom got to stay home from work. I believe that year built a relationship with my mom that made us friends.

12) A baby that got me off the destructive path I was on and brought me to a place where I could see my need for Christ's salvation.

13) A wonderful friend who taught me so much about what serving God was and showed me what a Christian marriage looked like.

14) A dear friend who is blessed with the gumption to be honest and yet still love me when I mess up.

15) A husband who loves me and puts up with my childishness and dotes on me all the time. He works hard without complaining to provide for our family.

16) Seven children that are healthy and intelligent. Each one is so unique. They each have different talents and strengths. I cannot imagine what life would be like without any one of them.

17) A church where I do not feel oppressed and condemned all the time. A church family that has been a blessing to me and my family in so many ways!

18) New friends. Friends who are there to help when I need it.

19) Hardships. They make me learn and build character. This small house with only one bathroom makes us all have to learn how to get along and compromise. Financial struggles teach us to value what is really important and realize that we can do without a lot of things many people think are necessary.

20) Salvation. Justification. Sanctification. God's word and the Holy Spirit to help me understand it. That God, the creator of the universe, looks down on me with compassion and love and calls me his child... it is humbling.

I know there are so many other things I could add, God really has been good to me, but for the sake of time and space I'll stop there.

God supplies right on time!

Kyla wanted to participate the the Christian Youth In Action (CYIA) this summer. The training program is 12 hours a day for 10 days and the cost is about $250. Kyla also wanted to take a babysitting class at the college and Cora wanted to take gymnastics and compete. We did not have the money for all of that.

On Sunday Hubby was given a check. Someone had given money anonymously to us. That was enough to pay for Cora's gymnastics class ($158) and her sweats ($82) and Kyla's babysitting class ($72) and Kyla's passport (for her trip to Zambia next year) and a little leftover to pay for Cora's leotard.

Well, yesterday when we went to the CEF (Child Evangelism Fellowship) office to get Kyla's application and talk with them about payment arrangements, we found out that she had been given a full scholarship! Someone had donated the money she needed to pay for the program!

I am so thankful that God loves us so much to provide for even the things we want and don't necessarily need. :D

God really is too good to me!

Originally written June 20

I thought I would share my meditation from my devotions this morning. My heart is full right now and I want to get it out.

I read in Matthew 27. Verses 28-31, "And they stripped him...they had plaited a crown of thorns, they put it upon his head...and they...spit upon him, and took the reed and smote him on the head. And after they had mocked him...and led him away to crucify him."
In looking over those phrases from those verses I was so humbled.

Christ, the creator, suffered so much pain and shame and yet his grace extended even to his tormentors. But the men who beat and whipped and mocked him were only the vessels used to deal out the judgement. Every blow of fist, every stripe from the whip, every harsh word, every drop of spittle they cast at him was for MY sin! I was his tormentor.

It was for my sin that he stood and took it all without a murmur of complaint! The Bible tells us that he suffered all of that for "the joy that was set before him". What was that joy? My salvation! My freedom from the penalty of my sin. My liberty from sin's power.

He took joy in his suffering knowing that the end of it would be the salvation of the one responsible for it! What grace! What compassion!

He knew that most of his creation would reject this ultimate love offering and yet he did it anyway for the few who would accept it.

What right have I to give into bad attitudes or discontent when the creator of the universe was willing to suffer so much for me that I might be free?! What right have I to become frustrated when my children disobey when God graciously forbears with me when I go astray?! What right have I to be offended when my husband or someone else hurts my feelings when Christ suffered so much humiliation on my behalf?!

The troubles I have are so transitory. They are nothing compared to what he suffered. To give into worry or despair insults the grace of God.

My prayer is that I would 'walk worthy' of Jesus' sacrifice. That I would remember that he gave all that I might be free. That every moment of every day would be filled with thankfulness for what he has done, and does, for me!