ADRIANA, STEPHANIE, CASSANDRA, & GIAU

These wonderful young ladies are my small group from Phoenix Christian High School. They are Adriana, Stephanie, and Giau in front from left to right and Cassandra catching a ride! I have had the privilege to work with them all school year. Today we had a great opportunity to take a "pack" of precious little people to the Phoenix Zoo. The "pack" was a group of 12 little 4 and 5 year olds from the Crisis Nursery. The Crisis Nursery works with neglected and abused children. It was so touching hearing little Jesus say how desperately he wanted to visit the kangaroos before he left the zoo and little precious Jennifer who was having the worst time with her new shoes. When they came off their bus, they wanted to give us all hugs with no reservations. Wow, what a day! Thank you Lord for the opportunity to serve you by sharing some of your love to these little people. We would have taken pictures of the little ones but we were not allowed for privacy reasons. Check out the Crisis Nursery website at http://www.crisisnurseryphx.com/

UPDATE ON ROY SHOECRAFT

Wonderful, terrific, awesome news - Dad came home from the hospital last night and is doing great. He's in good spirits and loves being home! I and my family appreciate all your e-mails, calls, posts, and comments. God has answered them in a mighty wonderful way - Thank you Lord!

ROY SHOECRAFT

Please pray for my dad, Roy Shoecraft. He's having congestive heart failure and kidney failure. Some new medication they gave him yesterday is helping to remove a lot of the excess fluid from his body and that has given him some relief and he's able to breath much better. We are waiting on a test today to determine how much blood flow he still has coming from his heart. Thank you all for your prayers, concerns, e-mails, posts - they are appreciated so much!

LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD, LISTEN TO HIS VOICE, AND HOLD FAST TO HIM. FOR THE LORD IS YOUR LIFE! DEUTERONOMY 30:20

JEHOVAH SHAMMAH

I am learning about one of God's names - Jehovah Shammah - God is there! No matter where I am, what circumstance I'm facing, what joy or sorrow comes across my path. My God is there - that brings such comfort, reassurance, strength, and courage to know I am not alone. Praise you Lord!

YALE UNIVERSITY

I'm so excited for my Buddy, my son, Brandon - he received a letter from the coach at Yale University - yes, the Ivy League school - interested in possibly having him play football for them. It's only the beginning and I know we are a long way off but I am thrilled for him nevertheless!

I have another praise - my dad's coming home from the hospital today!! Yahoo!!!!

CHECK THESE OUT

http://youtube.com/watch?v=3sdZY3oSupU&feature=related

http://youtube.com/watch?v=n-BFEhkIujA

DELIVERANCE

I had to post this as I think it is profound - at least it was a lightbulb moment for me! Sometimes God's deliverance doesn't mean ease. He always has a destination in mind when he delivers and if we can just comprehend that we should have a faith based on "who" God is frees Him completely to show us what He can do!!!!!! Genuine faith walks "steadfastly" with God for the pleasure of His company not for His results - Wow!! Powerful!! Lord help me retain, comprehend and understand these truths!

PSALM 144:2a - HE IS MY LOVING GOD AND MY FORTRESS, MY STRONGHOLD AND MY DELIVERER, MY SHIELD. IN WHOM, I TAKE REFUGE.

TOO SWEET

Blonde Joke - I couldn't resist

Last year I replaced all the windows in my house with that expensive double-pane energy efficient kind, and today, I got a call from the contractor who installed them. He was complaining that the work had been completed a whole year ago and I still hadn't paid for them. Hellloooo,...........just because I'm blonde doesn't mean that I am automatically stupid. So, I told him just what his fast talking sales guy had told me last year, that in ONE YEAR these windows would pay for themselves! Helllooooo? It's been a year! I told him.There was only silence at the other end of the line, so I finally just hung up. He never called back. Guess I won that stupid argument.I bet he felt like an idiot.

PRAISE YOU LORD

I just want to shout - Praise you Lord at the top of my lungs! God is so good. I love his blessings of miracles even in today's world. I want to share some of his great care through my dad's "incarceration" as we like to think of it. Okay, actually his time in the hospital for his bypass surgery. God answered prayer that the wonderful cardiologist that the hospital assigned him has told my parents he wants to take care of my father even after he gets out and will not charge additional fees to them as he is "out of network" for their insurance. Is that cool or what? Thank you Lord. The other "cool" thing is that my dad's surgery "just happened" to be scheduled with one of the top cardiac surgeon's in the valley:) Thank you Lord. I just think God's blessings are wonderful - he certainly is looking out for my dad and answering so many of his prayer team's prayers.

THE WISE ARE KNOWN FOR THEIR UNDERSTANDING. THEIR PLEASANT WORDS MAKE THEM BETTER TEACHERS. WISE PEOPLE'S MINDS TELL THEM WHAT TO SAY, AND THAT HELPS THEM BE BETTER TEACHERS. PLEASANT WORDS ARE LIKE A HONEYCOMB, MAKING PEOPLE HAPPY AND HEALTHY. USELESS PEOPLE MAKE EVIL PLANS, AND THEIR WORDS ARE LIKE A BURNING FIRE. PROVERS 16:21,23-24, 27

BREAKING FREE

Wow, only a couple more weeks until our new study - Breaking Free/Beth Moore starts. Feb. 18th to be exact:) I am anticipating some wonderful truths to be revealed that will challenge me and grow me closer to Christ. I am excited to meet the ladies who will be attending, learning and journeying through this study with me. I pray that God softens our heart to his truths.

I am so thankful for God's unfailing and perfect love. He's soooo patient with me and for that I am truly grateful and humbled. Lately, He's been showing me his comfort, strength, peace, and calm through the storm that we have been facing with my dad in the hospital and the "close" calls. I know that my dad is in his hands and that He loves him more than I can begin to imagine. I love the story of Joseph and how God's sovereignty was revealed - God has the "big" picture in mind even when we don't even recognize the "little" picture at times. Thank you Lord for the trials we face to grow our faith and the amazing blessings you show through friends, brothers and sisters in Christ, and our family.