Whew! I am exhausted! It's actually almost 11 at night as I'm writing. So, yesterday I had my friend, Vicki, over from about 2-8 PM and we had an absolutely awesome time! Mostly what we did was talk. Which, if you know me, you know that talking is what I do best! And we looked at funny pictures and cracked ourselves up, and we took a walk. So it was really, really good to be able to see her.
Then today my friend, Courtney, came over and we talked, then went for a walk and talked some more. When we were about half a mile from home, one minute it was sunny, and then Courtney looked up and said "Is that rain?" and, sure enough, it was sprinkling. Then about a minute later, it started to DOWNPOUR! We ran into the woods, but still got soaked. When we got back we changed into cozy PJ's and were gonna make hot cocoa, but we didn't have any, so we made coffee. (I don't really like coffee, but with enough cream and sugar in it, it's good lol) Unfortunately, I accidentally put the filter in wrong and it got filled with grounds. So we had to re-filter it! haha. It was about lunch time so we thought we'd get some food, but we were really in need of groceries! And I mean REALLY in need of them! So after a lot of searching we came up with rice, cottage cheese, baked beans, and broccoli for lunch. haha. It was a CrAzY day!! So I have had an AWESOME 2 days!
I also learned a lot. I read Isaiah chapter 1 today and if you've not read it recently, GO READ IT!!! It was so convicting, it made me almost cry. It is God telling Isaiah what to tell Israel, and it's all about their sin. But He doesn't leave them hopeless, He promises to be with them and to forgive them if they will put off their sin and follow Him. It was really a great encouragement and very convicting.
I also started to watch a lecture thingy on DVD by Paul Tripp, and he was talking about how the mouth speaks out of the abundance of the heart, and it was, again, very convicting. We often say, "If my circumstances were better, I wouldn't be having an angry outburst." Well, maybe you wouldn't be at that moment, but that's not the problem. For example: A man is in a traffic jam. He is angry because he's already late for work. He hits the dashboard and yells, "If I weren't in this traffic I wouldn't be so frustrated!" Well, if it's the traffic's fault, then you would think everyone in the traffic jam would be upset. But then, there's a woman in the car in front of him and she is just SOO happy! You see, she's putting on her make-up, so she is really grateful for the extra time! The reason the man is angry is because something is getting in the way of what he wants, and he is choosing the wrong response. If He were more focused on living for Christ, he could be in the traffic and be joyful. We are, by nature, worshipers. We were created that way. Now, not everyone worships the right thing, but everyone worships. Some worship food, others money, others appearance, etc. We don't realize it, but we are often worshiping things in subtle ways. The way to tell if something has become an idol is to stop and consider if you would be upset if you didn't have it or it didn't work out right, or whatever. If you would be, it has an unhealthy hold on you. Wow, isn't that a scary thought! That means for every time we get upset, we are worshiping the wrong thing! So I have been very challenged, especially today, to keep my focus on JESUS not ME. Tough, but SOOOO worth it! And I could really use prayer, so please do pray for me as I am growing in Christ and living out life.
That's all I have to say now, so thank you to anyone who took the time to read it! =]
