When you need a little encouragement...

For me, it's one of those days that I need a little encouragement. Here is goes... We are without a fridge and trying to find a used one. The kitchen has a bad smell to it because of the food that went bad in the fridge, and my candle isn't exactly doing the job. The house needs to be cleaned. I have a pile of laundry that I'm working on. I could go on. I'm plain overwhelmed with life.

Yesterday a girl at church sang a song that really spoke to me, so about an hour ago I looked up a video of it on YouTube. It's by Hillsong and is called Here in My Life. I'm about to play it again. Samuel enjoys music, so I've been playing several videos on YouTube for him. Maybe it will help me to get past this "stuff". The words are surely powerful and convicting!

Maybe you could use a little encouragement today too. If so, watch this:

A 2.7 year old memorizes and recites scripture

I frequent Monica's blog; she goes to my church and has so much encouragement to offer me on her blog. Her sister also has an inspiring blog. Today on Monica's sister's blog, I was amazed by the scripture memorization of her niece. Here's a link to the You Tube video. If you're like me, you will be in awe. You will also be encouraged to memorize more scripture yourself and continually read scripture to your children. It would be great to have the Word on your child's heart at such a young age. They might not understand it when they memorize it at such a young age, but I believe it's the beginning of understanding. Be encouraged!

Everlasting God By Chris Tomlin

This is one of my favorite songs, and I found a video of it that someone posted on YouTube. I loved seeing all of God's creation as I listened to the song! Enjoy!

Parenting with Kingdom Purpose

As I was driving home from my parents' house tonight, I caught the beginning of the Family Life Today program with Dennis Rainey. It was Part 2 of a series on Parenting with Kingdom Purpose. (This is right along the lines of the book I recommended called Revolutionary Parenting by George Barna.) I can't wait to get the 2 part series downloaded onto my iPod. If you don't have an iPod, there are other ways to listen or read it.

My prayer is to be a kingdom parent. Maybe you too desire to be more concerned about your child's spiritual life than how well he or she played baseball or danced. So many times we lose sight of the reason that the Lord has us on this earth. I want Samuel to grow up in a home that is focused on the Lord and His kingdom. The Lord gave us children to share a godly heritage. I ask myself if I am doing that... I need to take the steps to make that happen because that is what I desire.

Bible for families of the deployed

A month ago I heard an advertisement for a cool new Bible for families of deployed military. I was super excited because we live in a military town. Immediately one neighbor came to mind. I decided to order 5 Bibles, and I'm going to pray for God to lay 4 more families on my heart. If you know any military, consider this small $ investment in their lives. For $3.99 plus shipping, you can have an eternal impact on a family. Go to the International Bible Society page for more information. While you're there, you can also search the Bible online. This is something I had never seen before. They have all kinds of things to offer you for free!

Encouraging song

While I was in Charlotte, I listened to music in my car, and then I listened to that same station on the internet at the condo. I heard a song by Casting Crowns called Praise You in This Storm. It brought tears to my eyes every time I heard it because I describes how I am feeling and what I am going through. It encourages me in my faith through the storm we're dealing with. Everybody's storm is different. Some are worse than others. I'm not claiming that some of you don't have bigger problems than I do. I'm sure some of you do. I just know that all of us go through storms in our lives. It's so important to praise the Lord through the storm, knowing that He is the one in charge of all things including our storms. I didn't actually know it was a Casting Crowns song until tonight when I found a video of this song on a blog I follow. I don't know how I originally found this blog, but I love it. Where the Heart Is... is the blog of a Christian mom living in Japan. I know the Lord led me to her blog tonight because of this video. I wanted to put it here for you to be encouraged! My heart is definitely encouraged. Thank you, Lord, for always finding a way to do just that!

Campaign Against Financial Myths: 82 Myths Busted!

I subscribe to a blog that sent out a link to this very informative list of 82 financial myths busted.
It was very interesting. Not all of it was new information to me, but it's never a bad thing to review things you already know. If you're like me, you want to learn more about making smart financial decisions. Learn away!!!