Greater Than Gold

I am so excited about the start of Jami's new linky party, We Encourage.

At first, I thought I'd just link up the post I wrote on Sunday night...but after reading the following section last night, I decided to write a new blog.

These verses spoke volumes to me last night:

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
(1 Peter 1:3-9, NIV)

I love this.

Our faith, is of greater worth than gold.

We go through trials so that our faith may be shown to be genuine...which causes us to praise Jesus.

And, why do we have inexpressible and glorious joy? Because we are receiving salvation.

What a wonderful God we serve!

Childlike Faith

We read through the first two sections of Matthew 18 in church tonight...

The sections about when the disciples tried to keep the little children from coming to Jesus...and the shepherd that leaves the 99 sheep to go after the one that is lost.

We also compared it to the same story in Luke 15.

I was blown away at this reminder of how much my Savior truly loves each and every one of His children.

He is willing...at any moment...to leave 99 of us behind, that are following wholeheartedly after Him, to pursue the one of us that has gone down our own path.


Does that make you stand in awe of your God?

Does that make you long to worship Him?


As we looked at the section about the little children, we talked about how we used to be when we were children.


The things we used to get so excited about.

The things that we were awestruck with.


Things like:

Eating ice cream for the first time.

Seeing someone we looked up to (i.e. pilot, police officer, super hero, singer).


Why don't we automatically have that same awe and excitement about Jesus and the amazing things He's done for us?

It's time we return to a state of childlike faith...

It's time we take the opportunity to stand in awe of our God...and be excited for all He's done and is going to do.



(Make sure you pause the music at the bottom to listen to this great song)

Tests

Life is chock full of tests.

Some are written, some are oral.

Some are graded, some grant credit.

Some bring smiles to people's faces, other's bring tears of sorrow.

Some we go through on a daily basis, others are once in a lifetime...or come and go.

Regardless of the kind of test, we all deal with 'em.


In light of dealing with some various kinds of tests myself, I hope my response will be a positive one. I hope the light of Jesus will shine through me...even on days when it might be really hard to do so. I hope God will get a lot of glory.

Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.
(James 1:2-6, NIV)

Amen.

(Linking up with Casey)

Headband Challenge

Being a lover of my just.lovely.things headbands, I happily accepted Little Miss Momma's challenge to wear a headband every day for a week! It was a lot of fun and much easier than I thought. I even tried to do my hair different every day, to find other ways to wear my headbands. Here are the pics of my week!

At a pro ball game with our college group! (Hair in a ponytail)

Before college group! (Hippie style!)

My night out by myself...I went to see Harry Potter again! (Messy ponytail not pulled all the way through)

Getting ready for my sister's dance recital (Straight hair)

On my way to church! (Scrunched up curly hair pulled back at the sides)

Getting ready for a date night with the hubby! (Ponytail)

Getting ready to head out to my women's Bible study! (Half up, half down)

I pulled off the challenge...seven days in a row!

My thoughts on the challenge?

I definitely need to buy more headbands! I only have four, which I love...but I would definitely like a few more!

Loved this challenge!!

(Sorry the Instagram pics are so grainy...they looked much nicer on my phone!)

Change

A lot of changes are occurring right now.

Mostly because a new school year is starting soon...and that always brings change.

My hubby's work schedule is changing back to normal (he was working four 10 hour days in the summer and had Friday's off, which was so nice). We have some students in the college group moving to go to school, or moving up into the next group.

I also spent the weekend by myself because Josh was down south for his best friend's wedding. I would have gone with him, but it would have cost us so much extra money to do so. With me not going, he was able to stay with his guy friends and save money. So, we sacrificed going together.

It was a lot harder than I thought it was going to be...mostly because my initial plans were changed and I was at home by myself most of the weekend.

But, we survived, he's back home, and life is back to normal...

Sort of...

I don't really like change. It's probably one of my least favorite things. I like trying new foods, going to new places, and meeting new people, for sure. But, in all of those things, I can return to my normal life. I don't like the kind of change that shakes things up or causes me to lose parts of my life that I've loved for so long.

And yet, I always seem to adapt and adjust...just like we all do when things change. It's just hard at first to get over that initial hump.


It is now a new week, full of new possibilities...and I am hoping to embrace them.

Deo Volente (God willing)

(Linking up with Casey)