40 Days of Praise: Day 26

It is funny I think that even though I have work that I love I can still catch myself feeling restless like there is supposed to be more or "something" is going to be "more" fulfilling. I caught myself feeling this way for the first time in a while today. Not envious of someone or something, but just restless. Now don't get me wrong, I understand what I am doing is important, but for some reason today it just felt like it wasn't enough. Not sure, just being honest.

So that being said, here comes the praise. Yesterday I made a post and began with saying that I did not feel like praising, but decided that I had to anyway. That post ended up dissappearing into cyber space or something. Today's blog has the same feeling of blah, but if I am to change my perspective I must "resolve" to praise through the crap.

Lord, I praise You for Jeremiah 29:11. Though today I feel like I am falling short and am not offering enough, or there is something bigger for me, You know the plans that You have for me. That means for today and beyond. Help me to see the impact that I may be making today and be thankful.

And for those that are interested and praying, this weekend was supposed to be my first unsupervised weekend with Vaughn and it does not appear that will be happening. Please pray for God's timing in all of this. Thanks.

And just for fun because I thought this was awesome. At the risk of being a progger:

40 Days of Praise: Day 25

today's praise has got to be for an amazing weekend... the break was nice, the kids on the basketball teams played amazing and for the first time ever both boys and girls won the championship in the same year and my time with my son was excellent...

and for the record as a totally biased father my son is a kick butt bowler for a 2 year old... he may or may not have beat me if i was keeping score... so we did that for 2 hours and to be honest i think he could have gone til they turned the lights out... then we ate... that was nice... things are looking good... so...

Lord, I thank You for an awesome weekend filled with fun, rest and my beautiful little boy... Your blessings are amazing and though I sometimes struggle to show it, I am thankful... Praise You!

and if you are looking for a funny, yet accurate depiction of the basketball games, see www.habhater.blogspot.com

40 Days of Praise: Day 24

Today's praise is for His provision. Have I used that one already??? Oh well, He never ceases to amaze me. In short, I have had the vehicle situation, hotel situation all taken care of for this weekend. Which means that I get to see the games, most importantly see my son and also get a bit of a break off of Grand Manan which is appreciated always. So thank you Tim (car), Julie (accomodations),Geoff (my ride to work on thurs), Jo (for prayers) and most importantly God for always seeming to work things out. You are all amazing. Have a blessed weekend "ALL". I am blessed to be an acquaintence with you all. May God give you a wonderful weekend of rest over these next few days.

Gloria Dios!!!!

In regards to the Jeep... to be continued...

40 Days of Praise: Day 23

Today is going to be honest. Actaully everyday is honest, but I will openly admit today that I don't feel much like praising. But I will anyway. I think I heard Joyce Meyer or someone say something like speak truth even when it doesn't seem real and watch God make things happen. Something like that. I can't believe I just quoted Joyce Meyer on my blog. Weird.

First I will say why I don't "feel" like praising just to face it and determine to not be defeated by it. As well I could use some prayer on this issue ASAP. Basically my Jeep died today. I think it is the starter, but the timing is the issue more than the actual event. I am suppose to take Sid to Fredericton Friday night for the Provincials and then I will be staying Saturday to spend some time with Vaughn. Ya see the frustration here. Prayer is appreciated. Thank you.

So in the midst of all this, I will say that I am glad that;

"My God will never leave me or forsake me. Whether I see it or feel it or get to go away this weekend or not, THAT IS FACT. "

40 Days of Praise: Day 22

As was mentioned before this whole process of 40 Days has been a changing of perspective time. God has used this time to take things that normally I would complain about or just not like and help me to see the blessing in them. I had one of these moments yesterday.

As has been the case a lot lately, yesterday was a snow day and school was cancelled. Normally this bothers me and I hate to miss days at work. This was the case for yesterday as well, but God redefined some of my thinking. I don't like winter and missing a day of work because of it does not make it any better, but as I was driving home yesterday after a "relaxing" day off I had a moment. There is a car comercial where the guy who is driving his car "arrives" at what he calls the perfect moment and ends up losing it because he got distracted by what was for lunch. Well as I was driving home God blessed me with one of those moments. As I was entering Seal Cove it was amazing. The sky was beautiful and orange, the sun was glistening on the snow, the water on the left was calm and the village just seemed like something off of a post card. As I was put in awe by this beautiful scenery these are the words that I heard in the background being sung to a beautiful acoustic guitar.

How can I keep from singing Your praise?
How can I every say enough,
how amazing is your love.

How can I keep from shouting Your name?
I know I am loved by the King
and it makes my heart want to sing.

As this was happening God took what I normally hate (snow) and revealed it to me as one way that He decorates His creation to bless me with its beauty.

Thank you Lord that You would do that for me. What amazing love You must have for Your children.

40 Days of Praise: Day 21

well here we are... we are now on the back 9 of the 40 Days of Praise... there was a while when i thought i would never get this far... but here we go...

todays note of praise goes to God for His transforming power... i shared a bit of this last night at church and i will touch on it a bit today... i am just amazed by God and His patience as we (I) go through this every day routine (or not routine) called life... honestly, i would have given up on me a long time ago, but God has not and despite the rough edges He still blesses and moves in me and through me... i love that though i may never understand it...

just a bit of my testimony: when my mother was pregnant and i was the one inside of her blessing her with my wonderful kicking skills God did something very significant... yes even more significant than having me brought into the world... hard to believe i know... well my mother was pregnant before she was married and i was concieved outside of the confines of marriage... now my mom was a woman who was serving the Lord so the guilt that she felt was tremendous... moving along... there was a night that she went to her church and there was a special evangelist there and he was known for his prophetic ministry... after ther service there was a call and because of the guilt my mother was glued to her seat... a bit later on this man approached my mother and the words he spoke rocked her (and apparently me) to the core... he said to her without ever meeting her, "Donna, do not be ashamed and do not be discouraged because inside of you is a baby boy who is going to win God's people to Him."

the funny thing about this testimony is that my mother never told me this part of her life until i was in my third year at bethany training to be a youth pastor... and to be honest there have been a lot of days when i have felt that i am not fulfilling that word very well, but it is good to know that God does have a purpose regardless of my foolishness at times...

so this is why i have changed my blog's name to "Grindstone"... God is and has been taking me through a process where He is transforming me by taking of some rough edges and to be honest in a lot of cases it has been painful... but ultimately it is good to get to a God centered perspective bit by bit... So:

I praise You God for Your Transforming Power. Mold me Lord.

40 Days of Praise: Day 20

Today's note of praise is something that I have not been thankful for for a long time. This past week we celebrated a familiar holiday to all of us which wells up good, gushy emotionns in some and bad, bitter emotions in others. That's right boys and girls, I am talking about Scottie's birthday eve otherwise known as Valentines Day. In the past and a lot over this past year the thought of that day or lovey dovey couples in general made my skin crawl, but God has been doing something in me this week. For some reason I have appreciated my singleness over this past couple of weeks more than ever. I don't know if I can fully explain that because I am not sure where this transformation is coming from, but it is kind of cool I guess. It also dawned on me again last night as I was sitting amongst a group of friends eating way too much birthday cake and peanut butter cookies. As I scanned the room of 10-12 people all were couples except me and one other. Now just a few months ago (around Christmas break) I sat in the same type of situation and left the group of people at one of the lowest points that I have been at emotionally. All I could see is what these people had and what I did not. It was brutal on my head and my heart. Yet as I sat there last night, not only did I have a peace, but almost a thankfulness for my current dating (or lack there of) situation. This is new, but I like it.

Now don't get me wrong here. I don't think along the same lines as Paul and feel that I am called to be single and life is better that way for all of my days. Also if God were to say to me, "Here she is Scottie. Now do things right this time" I would not complain, but until that day comes I think I may survive if this attitude of thankfullness can stick around. So here it is and to be honest, I can't believe I am saying this"

Thank you God for my singleness. Even though I don't always feel it, it is a gift from You. May I take advantage of this time to invest in others, invest in me, invest in my kids, and in my future mate by prayer and becoming the man that You want me to be. Amen.

40 Days of Praise: Day 19

i wanted to leave a video on here but i am technologically challenged so i will not... but given the recent 2 days where we have snow days and i do not get to go to work, it was titles "things not to do on snow days"... i liked it and if i can figure this out i may post it later... go progger go...

today i think that my praise has got to be for the people around me that God has provided for me this winter... be it with financial help or whatever, God has blessed me with good family, friends who genuinly care for me and for that i am thankful... everyday is still a battle, but i know that there is help and even if all these people fail me, God's still got my back... it sounds so cliche, but each day that rings true...

now am i where i wanted to be when i was to turn 29? not really, but i guess i am not in control and that is alright... i have a good way of messing stuff up... better for me to have someone bigger handle my affairs...

not to quote a country song but "Jesus, take the wheel"... i am tired of swerving...

40 Days of Praise: Day 18

Getting close to halfway there and it has been kind of cool to see how things swing a bit when one's perspective changes. Still hard times and annoying interruptions in life, but it is easier to cope with a more God centered perspective.

Todays praise is for answered prayers. It is so easy to take for granted the "little stuff" that we pray for and just assume will happen. This happened to me on Saturday. The weather was snowy and rotten as I was about to drive to Fredericton to see my little guy, who by the way is a kick butt bowler. Before I was about to get off of the boat I slipped up a prayer asking for safety on the road as I travelled there and back. When I returned to Black's Harbour it dawned on me that God answered my prayer. What caused me to realize this was the fact that I saw a car in the ditch on the way to Freddy, a fender bender in Freddy and a car that slid into the division between the highways between Saint John and Black's. Apparently it only took me three times to notice before I clued into what the Lord was telling me.

So...

Lord, I thank You for answered prayers even if I forgot that I prayed them. You are faithful.

40 Days of Praise: Day 17

As I have been doing a little reading lately God is challenging me on how I use my time... I believe that He is moving me from being lonely to being alone with Him... That sounded much nicer in my head... crap... Anywho, what I mean is that I think God is changing my perspective on my alone time... Having some insight into others lives has helped me to realize how fortunate I am to be able to be alone and get that intimate time with God...

The thing is this... I basically work from 8:45 to 8 or 9 at night, but it is amazing the way that God has orchestrated these jobs so that I can step back and attempt to "just be" with Him... For example, as I am travelling to work I take a half hour boat ride which is amazing for reading and sitting silently with God... Even in the silence God speaks through the beautiful nature that I see each trip... On the trip back there is a Christian radio station that has a sermon for the exact half hour of my trip... Adrian Rogers is the preachers name and I swear that he is speaking right to me most days... As well with my job during the evening it is so nice to be able to step back and go to my room and worship on my guitar while my student entertains himself... This is so unique and the more I think of it, I am thankful for this situation...

So here it is:

God, I am thankful for the times that YOU have set aside for me to be with YOU... May I take advantage of them and not complain about being bored and lonely... They truly are precious and I don't want to take them for granted anymore...