Wow! I have had such an awesome week! I knew that Satan would be attacking me this week, but I continued to press on. I spoke at our MOPS meeting yesterday and it went great. I was very nervous beforehand because I purposefully did not write anything down. I specifically prayed for the Lord to lead me and to speak through me and I really didn't want anything to get in the way of that. I knew that I not only wanted to share my testimony, but that I wanted to share the plan of salvation. And I did! I was very honest. I tried not to sugarcoat anything, to tell the Truth and to back it up with Scripture. I even gave an invitation at the end which was quite unexpected, even for me. I just felt that the Lord gave me the opportunity to share the gospel and that he wanted to me to give everyone the opportunity to accept it. There were quite a few moms who raised their hands and wanted to live a fuller life for Jesus. I'm tired of being a mediocre Christian. I've finally realized that I have to answer to no one except Him and I'm going to quit making apologies for it. I know that Satan will continue to attack me and I know that if I don't have my armor on, then I'll give in. But, I pray that if that happens, I will get right back up, dust the dirt off my britches and raise my hands to the Lord. Thank you, Lord, for allowing me the opportunity to introduce others to you. I have planted the seeds, may you make them grow. You are the one and only way...may I always chase after you. A verse from one of my favorite songs (and we sang it today at the Ladies' Tea at church)..."Light the fire in my weary soul. Fan the flame, make my spirit whole. Lord, you know where I've been so light the fire in my heart again!"

Satan is definitely on the attack. I knew he would be. I don't want to give him too much credit or attention so I'll stop with that. I'm finding myself a little short tempered with my kids and becoming too busy to read my Bible or if I do, doing it half-heartedly. I pray that God will strengthen me and remind me to put on the full armor of God everyday to protect myself from the devil's schemes. Please pray for me as I think about what I want to share with our MOPS moms this Friday. With the shootings at Va Tech and the anniversary of a friend's death coming, I'm reminded that we never know how long we'll be here on earth. Only the Lord knows the number of our days. We must have a sense of urgency to share Christ with others and to not be ashamed. Lord, please help to not be ashamed of You. Please give me the strenth and determination to tell others about you, starting with the people closest to me. Thank you, Lord. Amen.

I don't know what God's doing in my life right now. My spiritual walk ebbs and flows just like everyone else's, but today it's flowing and I like it! I have been trying to read through the Bible and I'm currently reading in 1 Samuel. I've learned so much. Amazing, isn't it! I actually read something the other day that I had never read before...ever...and I've been raised in church since before I was in my mother's womb. Today, for some reason I just couldn't get enough. I'm at the part where Saul becomes very jealous of David and wants to kill him. David knows that he hasn't done anything wrong and he's scared for his life. I should stop here and read the book of Psalms...since it's an account of David's spiritual life which, by the way, also ebbs and flows. Anyway, I don't really know where I'm going with this other than to say I'm excited about God! I am giving my testimony to our MOPS moms next Friday and I don't know exactly what I'm going to say yet. I mean, I know my own testimony but I want to give the moms more than that. I want to give them Jesus in a way that they understand. I'm praying that the Holy Spirit will be at work and that we'll see more moms come to trust in our Lord. God, please continue to allow me to be a part of your work. Thank you for the opportunity to tell others about you and may I not be afraid to tell them what you've done for me and for them. Right now, all I can think of is a phrase that Chris' friend, Colby, always wrote in his journal..."All of me for only You." Colby died suddenly on May 14, 2006, at the age of 26. He was playing ultimate frisbee with some friends and then a few minutes later his friends were performing CPR. Colby was an awesome guy and loved the Lord with all his heart. Because of Colby's close walk with the Lord, we know that he is spending eternity with Jesus. My burden is for those people I know who don't trust in the Lord. We aren't promised another minute on this earth. Death is real. And so is eternity apart from our Savior. God knows exactly how many minutes, even seconds, each of us will live on this earth. He determined it before we were ever born. The problem is that we think we'll die when we're ready to die, that somehow we'll be forewarned. Well, the truth is that we won't know, so we always have to be ready. We always need to be telling others about Him so that they can spend eternity in Heaven. Lord, please give me the courage to tell others about you and fuel the fire within me to do your work.

My, how time flies! I can't believe it's been a week since I've written on the blog site. I am healing wonderfully from my surgery. I'm feeling better everyday and I'm pretty much back to normal now. Our family had a great Easter weekend. We went to church Sunday morning and had our family from the surrounding area over to our home for Easter lunch. After lunch we had an egg hunt for the kids. My yard was covered in eggs - Grammy Sandy went a little bit overboard!! But, the kids had a great time. We are very thankful for our Savior and the price he paid for us. Even though Easter is the formal day when Christians celebrate Jesus' resurrection, we should actually celebrate it every day. Thank you, Lord, for loving me enough to die for me. Our pastor said something in his sermon Sunday morning that really pricked my heart. I have wondered this myself before, but he put it so eloquently. He said that some people demand to read the fine print in order to buy a $29 coffee maker or have their 6 lawyers read over a business deal to make sure it's "safe", but they are willing to roll the dice on eternity. Basically, people won't dare take a chance on something trivial, but they ARE willing to take a chance on where they'll spend eternity. They won't take the last step of faith in order to ensure that they'll spend eternity with Christ. Why? I don't get it. I will continue to pray for my family members and friends who aren't on the straight and narrow path. Only the Lord can save people, but I can do a better job of introducing them to the Savior. I have a few people in my family and circle of friends whom I know are not believers in Christ. Some of them will tell you that they don't believe in who Jesus is. Others may call themselves a "Christian", but the Bible tells us that we will know a tree by its fruit. I'll continue to pray for the Holy Spirit to soften their hearts to His calling and I'll continue to try to minister to them the best way I know how. Hopefully, more of them will celebrate Easter next year and believe in it's true meaning.