From Him, through Him, & to Him

Romans 11:36
"For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever."
The other day someone asked me to tell her how I was feeling. It's not often we make time to ask that of others, to listen to each other, to care. It's even less often that we find the time to answer that question. I know I don't often stop and think about how I feel emotionally, spiritually, or even physically unless things are really going well, or things are going really bad. The answer is always, "oh, uh...fine!, Thanks. How are you?"
But this day was not an ordinary day. And circumstances in my life weren't necessarily ordinary at that time. There were unseen forces at work in my life. More like "at war" in my life. When I took the time to stop and think about my answer, a floodgate opened. Events in my past were fresh on my mind. I gave the honest ugly answer, but God knew I needed that time to release it and get out from under that grey cloud.
God has recently helped change my opinion from "Unfortunately, we cannot change our past" to "God I know that all circumstances in my past have come thru your perfect hands".
The Holy Spirit is helping me understood afresh what it looks like to have joy in all circumstances, to be thankful in all circumstances, and what it means to live "all things to His glory." I mean I am at least really trying to live this out today. Forgive my fickleness, Lord.
I am thankful God brings the caring people in my life right when I need it and so glad my friend gave a listening ear. Maybe you need to be listened to today. Go ahead, share. Give it a try! Or maybe you need to ask that question with readiness to listen. I know God uses both!

Always Something to Celebrate

With the exception of my youngest son, whose birthday is in August, we get to celebrate everyone's birthday during Autumn. I love any reason to celebrate...days off, holidays, early outs from school (which is up to me now!), days Scott gets to come home, birthdays....you name it. There is always always always something to be thankful for, so it has been said. Therefore, there is always always always something to celebrate!
Laura, seen here with her butterfly wings, had her 2nd birthday earlier this month. Two weeks prior, my oldest became a teenager. I reached 33 this year on 11/11/11. That was fun. Scott had his day in September. Each year we get older we have more to celebrate.
Homeschooling is still proving to be fun for all. We are all learning so much about each other with our extra time together. There has been some fun projects going most weeks. Joel built a ship like one Columbus would like, Eric has been busy creating movies that correspond to science and history. From Creation vs Evolution, to Reincarnation-eyes are being opened to the world around us all.
Our schedule seems to keep busy, and the days and weeks are quickly passing. Joel, seen skateboarding here, practices as often as Mom allows. Theres lots of fun and laughter to keep us going. Toddlers to teens, all at the same time! It's quite a fun mix at our house.
October and November taught us many lessons:
- Don't come between a princess and her candy!
- Broken dishwashers aren't the end of the world
- Feet and frosting don't go together....well. And,
- Jesus sticks closer than a brother.
Now that's something to celebrate!

Half the summer; all the fun

With summer half over, I think it's time to start having some fun! We are planning some family time in August-- so we look forward to that. Next week is a trip to KY for some cousin bonding for my kids. We still have a Cubs game to go to, annual camping trip to fit in--once the heat wave leaves, and a trip to the local water park. Eric has college for kids, while Joel is busy showing off for the neighbor girls! Both boys (&Dad too) received their Tae Kwon Do BLACKBELTS'!!!!!! in June. Eric is going for the 2nd time this summer to get X-rays. That blasted trampoline and scooter! I started the summer with a broken toe-that blasted trampoline again! We have had two garage sales already...Scott has been busy training a sales rep to service his Michigan accounts with the hopes of traveling more close to home-thank you God! Laura says more and more things to make us all laugh everyday. Lately, besides singing her version of the "ABC's", she sings the opening line to the song Clementine: "oh my darlin', o me darlin, o me darlin- Laura Gwace"!!!! So so so cute! She recently enjoyed getting her toenails painted for the first time, and everyday wakes up....looks at her toes, and says "Laura toes still pritty!" I love what each of my children bring to my life! Scott had been building/painting/preparing a classroom for the kids as we will start homeschooling in September. I have been reading like crazy this summer and preparing to be teacher-mom! We are all actually looking forward to our new adventure together. As fast as June and July have gone, I know Fall will be here faster than I can ready myself for it. You better believe the next 6 weeks are gonna be packed full of fun at the Morgan house! Hope your remaining summer days are funtimes too!

Guard your heart & fool-proof your life

As it turns out, today is week one in a six week series that will discuss fool-proofing with Jan Silvious every Wednesday on Mid Day Connection. I am pretty sure you can listen to the programs at your convenience (after they air).

I just listened to the first week/day and was so encouraged. God confirmed my decisions of late and reminded me how much he cares about my struggles. The series is a must if you want to learn more!

Here are a few great points I took away from today's program:

• you cannot be up close with your fool and upclose with God. The fool will likely consume your thoughts and emotions, so understand what to do if you realize this has happened. Go back to God, give over your fool to him, and back away from the fool in order to "guard your heart".

• Think of the analogy of a castle: "The name of the Lord is a strong tower"
Run into Him for refuge from even the fool in your life. So encouraging!

• There is a 6 week Bible study that can be purchased to correlate

Hope you are encouraged today!
Love,
April

Revolutionize Your Life

We've all heard the phrase, "life is hard, but God is good!"

Yet I used to think on hearing that statement, "but my life is VERY hard.". My husband travels mon-thurs every week. We only see him on the weekends. I have three kids. A 12 year old son I am trying to develop into a Godly man, a 9 yr old son who is sensitive to his middle child position and terribly wants to fit in at school, and a 15 month old daughter who has health issues. Life is very hard sometimes. I usually feel depleted physically by 2 pm, emotionally by sometimes 9 AM, and spiritually depleted by the littlest upset. Life is hard- a lot of times. My boys need so much more quality time and direction and help than I can give them. Life is HARD. There is little help from out of the home available, no time for friendship, and a to-do list that I am responsible for that never gets done on time. I am tired of this being so hard. Discontentment was clouding my view, my judgement, my joy. Once I realized that I was actually not content with God's decisions for my life, I knew I had to revolutionize my view, my attitude, my heart, my expectations, AND my relationship with my God. I believe He is in control of all things, but I wasn't living it. So this year, I am working on change in my attitude. A wise "friend" recently reminded me that "Disappointments are inevitable, discouragement is a choice." I would also say that discontentment is a choice. I am going to start giving to God those things I can't handle anyway, and start living all things "to His glory" !!!

Here's to giving up, letting go, and giving in: to God!

Sonic the Hedgehog: Character Designer Online Game

Sonic the Hedgehog: Character Designer Online Game

Our Favorite Faces Photo Book 2010

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