Joyful Home

There I was minding my own business when I started to get this excitement to get back into marathon training. It has been a desire of mine for some time now, but it wasn't the right timing. I could tell. Recently I have been trying 1 mile here and 1 mile there, then I tried 2.5 miles and I thought, "okay, I can do this." Although it is at a slow pace, but who cares, it is me and Jesus! I ended up running a 3.2 mile and I was so elated that when I came in from the run, I was smiling so big and said to Caleb, "I DID IT! I RAN 3 MILE WITH NOT STOPPING!" And I had absolutely no issues with my body and the breathing was easy! I asked the Lord if He could still be a part of this... then I brought it up to some friends that I was going to train for a marathon! I took myself off guard, not them! I was like, "Whoa, God are we doing this!?"  I went for an afternoon run later that week and saw a stick and two leaves that were smiling at me as I ran past it and th...

I just finished the Attributes of God study from The Daily Grace Co. and it was an incredible study of getting to know the Lord. Afterall, He knows me, right? I knew some of the attributes but not all of them. It was fun to get into a deeper dive on omnipresence. What a beautiful opportunity He has given me to be able to sit in His presence. I am in a relationship with the Lord and I need to get to know Him so that I can understand what it is He likes, desires, and expects from me. It's been a beautiful journey. My dreams have been indicating that I am scaling rocks and jumping from one cliff to another with skill. At first I was scared, but my inner-man (Ephesians 3:16) had confidence and told my mind that I can do it with ease. So the second dream, I was scaling smoothly. In my awake life, I did a little research and found that I am under the shelter of Christ. I'm in hiding and the perfect example of this is from my favorite passage of scripture - Moses and God in the crevic...

Exodus 33:13-14 - Now therefore, I pray, if I have found grace in Your sight, show me now Your way, that I may know You and that I may find grace in Your sight. And consider that this nation is Your people." And He said, "My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest." That is my prayer for my life and yours; that we allow God to show us His way, that we come to know Him intimately (not surface level anymore), and that we would find grace with Him. All of this prayer is wrapped up in one bow - His presence will be with us and we will find rest! Psalm 32:8 - I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my loving eye on you.  When I spent my quiet time with the Lord, I noticed that there were several things that were holding me back due to fear. Fear of the enemy coming after me because of my past. But there was a revelation that I was taught from the Word of God that said that when Jesus resurrected and came back to fellowsh...

 Whoa!  1 Corinthians 13:12 - For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known. The 13th Chapter of 1 Corinthians is about love. The greatest gift is love and the greatest and first commandment is to love one another. God is love. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind' and 'your neighbor as yourself (Luke 10:27). We are such a society that is self-motivated. "How can I take care of myself? Or, how can this be about me?" Satan has deceived us so much into thinking it's about ourselves that it explains why we don't know our spouses anymore, children and even our neighbors. We have lost that touch completely. We are blasted all the time with constant ads showing us that love is lustful, sexual, boastful, parading itself around like a prostitute. It isn't thinking about the other person and what they may be going t...

 Galatians 5:16-23 (NLT) So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won't be doing what your sinful nature craves. The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions. But when you are directed by the Spirit, you are not under obligation to the Law of Moses. When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality (adultery), impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery (witchcraft), hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, wild parties and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God. But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in ou...

 God is enduring! I have been running again and I know that the more that I increase in my miles, the more endurance I am gaining. Whether it be hill work or just strength training, I need endurance to keep going. God - well God doesn't have to train, He just has ENDURANCE. Crazy to think about! He is long-suffering. We fail at that, for sure! We can handle for a while and then boom, out of no where, we lose patience. I know that for a fact with a 2 year old! There is so much to learn - that's for another post! God knows that He is the only thing that will satisfy my longing heart. God is jealous for truth and righteousness! God is jealous for His own glory. I am learning that God is patient because God is sovereign. Exodus 34:6 says, "The Lord passed in front of Moses, calling out, "YAHWEH! The LORD! The God of compassion and mercy! I AM slow to anger and filled with unfailing love and faithfulness." Can we just take a minute and think about God passing by Moses...

I went to my sisters and we went to walk the mall to get our steps in. We came upon a little play ground area where the girls could play and we could chat. There was a sense of crazy chaos that I could feel. As we were talking, I felt nausea all of a sudden and I wondered where and how that came about.  While I was driving home, I asked the Lord what that was all about and I heard Him say, "Crescendo". Crescendo means a gradual increase in volume or intensity of sound in a passage. A steady increase in intensity or force. It also means the climatic point or moment after such a progression. "Reach a crescendo means increase until hitting the most intense or exciting point!" I know that we are almost out of the wilderness and heading into our promised land that He has for us. It is almost like the enemy is throwing everything he has at us right now because he knows his time is done.  While I was sitting with the Lord, I heard musical instruments. It was so beautiful a...

Unsplash-Sixteen Miles Out Today started out a little too early for me but all is well. Emma woke up at 3:00am and didn't want to go back to sleep. Very unlike her, so I know that this will not be a daily routine thing. I did learn a few things through my tiredness hanging out with her and the Lord.  Philippians 4:18,19 (NLT) "...they are a sweet smelling sacrifice that is acceptable and pleasing to God. And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from His glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus."  Paul was grateful of the Philippian church that sent him a financial gift of help and he was stating that these gifts were sweet-smelling to the Lord. While I was in the kitchen with Caleb getting my coffee, I smelt a beautiful flowery smell. I asked him, "do you smell that?" He said that he didn't. I said that maybe it is the Lord allowing me to smell it and described the smell as spring flowers. Sometimes sacrifices com...