#241 - Rejoice!

Proverbs 8:30 - Then I [Wisdom] was beside Him as a master and director of the work; and I was daily His delight, rejoicing before Him always,

Proverbs 31:26 - She opens her mouth in skillful and godly Wisdom, and on her tongue is the law of kindness [giving counsel and instruction]. 

A master and director of the work. I picture a director of a movie. He's not just any director, he is a really good director! He is amazing. Directing here, positioning there. Passion. You see the light in his eyes. He is not just a good director, he is a master! And, it is evident by his work. There is a reason for everything. I picture that "director," that "master" our Father. Literally directing my life. If my life were the "movie," He would be positioning things just perfectly. Events would be lined up in a sequential order that was important. All things would be positioned just so to accomplish mastery, to accomplish a "perfect movie." A masterpiece. Maybe it's joining a group... maybe a business, a mom's group, a Bible study.... a bit unsure why you're joining it... but it's all part of the line-up.... it's all part of things coming together perfectly. The director is positioning things "just so" in order that you will be in position to meet the crucial person that needs to be in your life. A friend, a future spouse, a publisher, a pastor, a business investor, an entrepreneur.... the person that you need to meet that is going to change your life. The person that the Director has placed there in order for you to continue on and fulfill your calling.

I noticed that in Proverbs 8:30, Wisdom is talking here. The notes in my Bible called "Wisdom" an "attribute of God." What does it all mean? How does it all come together? I'm honestly not sure... I wanted to also see if "Wisdom" was the same Hebrew word in both Proverbs 31:26 & Proverbs 8:30... I came up empty-handed. Nonetheless.... as I was digging, something that I found interesting was this: Wisdom is rejoicing. Wisdom, aka: an attribute of God, Wisdom is rejoicing. God is rejoicing. We're told in Philippians 4:4 to "rejoice always" and here we see God doing just that! God is rejoicing! He doesn't just give us His word, but He follows it too.

Honestly, this is something that I have not done enough of. Rejoicing. Thanking God. Praising God for the blessings in my life. I was recently just looking at my fingers and thanking God that I had 10!! I mean, imagine if one of your fingers were gone, cut off... it sure would make life a little different. What seems like such a little thing that can be so easily taken for granted. So, I began thanking God for my fingers and toes. Then, my kids fingers and toes! They have all theirs too! Praise God! We have working vehicles, we have a great marriage, a great business, a nice home to live in, we have furniture in all of our rooms, a great kitchen, new TV, washer, dryer & fridge.... we have money to buy groceries, ALL of our needs are met! We do not go without! Praise God! Not to mention, I am BLESSED to be able to be a stay at home mom and raise my kids!!! PRAISE GOD! I was also thinking of that the other day... I CAN SEE! I can hear! I can touch, taste & smell! What an awesome blessing! So often, I forget about "major" things that are a blessing if I did not have them! I need to do a better job about rejoicing!

So... I leave you with this, "Rejoice in the Lord always and again I say REJOICE!" What do you have to be thankful for today? 

#240 - $1.79

Ephesians 5:4b -  ... voice your thankfulness [to God].

Proverbs 31:28a - Her children rise up and call her blessed...

Have you ever learned a simple lesson that caused your heart to melt? From the unexpected, that you just thank God for having eyes to see & ears to hear. The kind of lesson that really makes you step back and look at your own attitude & gratitude. I recently had just that kind of lesson. 


One night this week I was driving in the car with both kids running a few errands. Tyler Jr was being such a good boy and listening so well, I wanted to reward him for his obedience. As we were at our last stop, I went ahead and got him some candy. It wasn't anything too special. It was a sucker... $1.79 sucker, so it was a good one. Before we took off, I opened it up and gave it to him, and here's where the lesson began. He said, "Thank you Mommy candy. Thank you Mommy candy." For a 2 year old, he's pretty good at saying please & thank you, so I wasn't surprised to hear it. I responded with a smile, "You're welcome." Politeness can go a long way. Well, over the next 15 minutes as we drove home, periodically Tyler Junior would pipe up again and say, "Thank you Mommy candy. Thank you Mommy candy." He continued thanking me for the candy. He was really enjoying it and he kept letting me know. Each time he thanked me, my heart began to melt. That something so little as a sucker, could cause such thankfulness from my 2 year old. Each time I responded with something like, "You're welcome buddy. Mommy really appreciates you being such a good boy tonight." 


This morning as I started to journal and get into the Word, the Holy Spirit stopped me. He reminded me about how far a grateful heart could take you. True, honest, genuine gratefulness. Thankfulness. A heart of gratitude. A heart that thanks our Father for all that He has done & all that He is doing. I started thinking about ALL the many blessings I had to be thankful for. Would my Father take the same amount of pleasure if I were so verbally thankful, like Tyler Junior? Even if I thanked Him for something that I had already thanked Him for once? Would He like my thankfulness? Absolutely. I have been made in His image. As my heart melted hearing my doll baby, my 2 year old sincerely look at me and thank me for his candy probably 6-7 different times, it made me thankful that I bought it. It made me want to do more good things for him. I believe our Father is the same way. I believe our Father wants to bless us and our thankfulness causes the same response in Him. The response that says, "I just want to bless my daughter more. I want to do more for my son. His thankfulness, her thanking Me makes it all worth it. How else can I bless my child?" 


As I drove that night, I was beaming. It was worth it. I learned a great lesson in gratitude for $1.79. 

#85 - I love you because....

Good morning! It's going to be a great day! Amen? Amen!


So... I began reading today in Proverbs and then I just felt the urge to read Psalms backwards. Not literally.... but to start at Psalm 134 versus starting at Psalm 14. I did and the Holy Spirit told me that's as far as He wanted me to go. So... short read today. Psalm 134 only has 3 verses.

Psalm 134:1-3 - BEHOLD, BLESS (affectionately and gratefully praise) the Lord, all you servants of the Lord, [singers] who by night stand in the house of the Lord. Lift up your hands in holiness and to the sanctuary and bless the Lord [affectionately and gratefully praise Him]! The Lord bless you out of Zion, even He Who made heaven and earth.

Affectionately and gratefully praise. 


I was reminded of a frequent conversation that Tyler and I often have..... at least weekly, if not daily. It goes something like this. 

• "Do you like me?" 
• "Yep!"
• "Why do you like me? Tell me." 
• "Well... I like you because your cute. I like you because you brought me a butterfinger. I like you because you love Jesus. I like you because you read books all the time and are always growing...."
• "Yah? You like that? What else?"
• "Yep! I like my husband growing. What else? I like you because you let me be a mama and you let me stay at home with my boy. I like you because you are out chasing our dream and making it happen. I like you because you provide for us. I like you because you're HOT!"
• "HEY!" 

It may continue... or that may be the end of it.... but pick a day, any day, and it is often that one of us asks the question, "Do you like me?" Then it is followed up with the wonderful, famous question of most 2 year olds, "WHY?" 


As I read the Psalm today... the WHOLE Psalm focused on the action of blessing the Lord. Praising the Lord. And since we use the Amplified Bible... it goes further to say affectionately and gratefully praise. 


I will be completely honest... I don't bust out in a "Praise & Worship" time every morning during my quiet time. I'm sure it would probably be good to do, but I don't do it. I remember a time where Tyler and I were praying and needing a breakthrough in a certain area of our life so we committed to praising through it. Every morning for 30 days, we got up, put on praise and worship music and praised God together for 30 minutes. We may have lifted our hands, got on our face before God, some mornings our songs were accompanied with tears. We spent time praising and thanking God. It was actually pretty wonderful. We looked forward to it. 


As I was asking the Holy Spirit about it this morning I got a pretty eye opening response, "I like you to thank Me. I like you to have a grateful and appreciative heart. I like you to tell Me! Amy, you were made in MY IMAGE. You like people telling you good things about you, where do you think you got it from?! ME! I love my children telling me all the things they are thankful for. It blesses Me."


I began telling God my list today... and thanking him! It began like this:

• Lord, Thank you for that cutie picture of Tyler Junior, and the nice frame.
• Thank you for his play room.
• Thank you for giving me creative ability to paint.
• Thank you that the valance turned out well and it looks cute.
• Thank you a for my yummy water with raspberry joint health twist tubes. 
• Thank you for Tyler Juniors blue car. 
• Thank you for my health.
• Thank you that I have an awesome husband!
• Thank you that I get to stay at home!
• Thank you that You hear me and I can talk to You!
• Thank you for blessing our business with growth.
• Thank you my family and how awesome they all are. 
• Thank you .........

And the list goes on. 


We were made in God's image! It's sometimes amazing to think that things we like are no coincidence. He likes it too!  


Today maybe you could take some time... either put on a praise and worship CD.... or stream it on Pandora or You.Tube, and sing praises to God. Worship Him. Tell Him how wonderful He is, how much you love Him. Or make a list... maybe you write it down in a journal..... or maybe as you drive down the road you just have a conversation with God.... you just spend time thanking him for everything! Thank him for your car, whether it's good or bad, Praise God you have one! Your Job! Your children! Your spouse, friends, family, house! Praise the Lord! Thank Him today. All that you are thankful for, or all the reasons why you love Him! "I love you because....." 


And the greatest reason of all.... I love you because you first loved me and you sent Jesus to die for me. Thank you that you loved me enough to give me life! Thank you for my salvation!