My prayer for you this year

I am having trouble sleeping tonight and so have been sitting here reading and thinking. I have been thinking about how I want to pray for my loved ones this year. I have been thinking about what I want to see the Lord do in your lives and that I want to see you "be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God..." (Colossians 1:9-10) Sounds like a pretty lofty goal, right?! But, I figure that if Paul could pray that for the people at Colosse than surely I can pray it for you too!

As my mind has been drawn to prayer this evening, I was wonderfully encouraged and surprised when I opened up my One Day at a Time devotional by William McDonald and saw that it's all about a prayer for the year. And so tonight, before I lay my head on my pillow to hopefully finally drift off to sleep, I will be praying these things for my life and for yours in this New Year! (The following is taken from One Day at a Time. It has been modified and is not quoted in its entirety.)

Lord Jesus, I rededicate myself afresh to You today. I want You to take my life this coming year and use it for Your glory. "Take my life and let it be consecrated, Lord, to Thee."

I pray that You will keep me from sin, from anything that will bring dishonor to Your name.

Keep me teachable by the Holy Spirit. I want to move forward for You. Don't let me settle in a rut.

May my motto this year be, "He must increase; I must decrease." The glory must all be Yours. Help me not to touch it.

Teach me to make every decision a matter of prayer. I dread the thought of leaning on my own understanding. "I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps." (Jer. 10:23)

May I die to the world and even to the approval or blame of loved ones or friends. Give me a single, pure desire to do the things that please Your heart.

Help me to speak what is edifying and profitable.

Give me tears of compassion for the perishing.

Help me to be a good steward of everything you have entrusted to me.

Help me to remember that my body is a temple of the Holy Spirit. May this tremendous truth influence all my behavior.

I pray that this may be the year of Your return. I long to see Your face and to fall at Your feet in worship. During the coming year, may the blessed hope stay fresh in my heart, disengaging me from anything that would hold me here and keeping me on the tiptoes of expectancy. "Even so, come, Lord Jesus."

Amen.

Rain, Rain, Go Away!

Today Sonja and Jake came to visit me! It was so much fun! Unlike the day Ethan and Simon came for a visit, today was very rainy. So much so, in fact, that as Sonja was buckling Jacob into his car seat he sang "Rain, rain, go away" at the top of his lungs! So cute!

It was so fun to have them here today, to have lunch with them, and play and read books with Jacob! I love getting to know my friends' kids! It is such a joy and blessing to be a part of their lives. I don't know what I would do without all their smiles and hugs...I just love 'em!

And, even though Jacob was ready for the rain to go away, I enjoyed having the thunderstorm today. The rain came down in sheets and it was sooo beautiful! Here's a picture of my mums this afternoon as the rain was coming down! (Keep in mind, I merely stuck my arm out the front door to get this pix!)

Sunshine and Picnics

Today I had three of my favorite people visit me! Rachel, Ethan, and Simon drove in today and it was such a gorgeous day for them to visit! The sun was shining and though the breeze was brisk (and it was a bit chilly in the shade!) we had a wonderful time at the park. We had a picnic, played on the jungle gym, and in the sand box. We even got in a quick game of hide-and-seek! It's always so wonderful to see Ethan and Simon...to see how quickly they are growing and all the wonderful things they are learning! And, the fellowship with Rachel was oh-so sweet too! I am so thankful for the wonderful friends that the Lord has blessed me with!

Girls Night

Last night a few girls came over for dinner. I made some chili and the girls brought Fritos, crackers, corn bread, drinks and dessert! It made for such a yummy meal...and the fellowship was great too! It was a great way to really introduce my new dining room table to a "real" dinner experience! You see, it's much more enjoyable to have dinner at the table with friends/family than with a book! :-)




Many of you have asked to see some pictures of my house....

...introducing my dining room and the new table it now houses!
We're all ready for company! (You also get a sneak peek at my living room!)

Another view of the table...the table that was sooo excited to
have the guests arrive! (And, another peek at the living room that
still needs a little bit of TLC...it will come with time!!)

This is how my table sits on a "normal" day. I push it up against
the wall so that it's easier to maneuver through the house and
I don't constantly stub my toes on the table and it's chairs!

I hope you enjoyed the first phase of the house tour! I thought my
Girls Night table preparation was the perfect opportunity to begin the
tour. I'm only saddened to tell you that I completely forgot to pull the camera
out while there were people actually sitting at the table!