2017 - Let It Go and Embrace the New!

Instead of having a word for the new year, this year, I have a phrase - 2017 will be the year that I LET IT GO and EMBRACE THE NEW!  What am I talking about it, just what am I letting go?  Having had emotional, mental, physical and spiritual turmoil for too many years of my life the past few years - there is only one thing to do now that all is new - let it go!

God gave me a new place to live, a new church to grow in, a new home with no bad memories, a new car that feels safe and a new me that is coming forth.  In order to embrace this newness - I must let the past go.  With God's help, this year I will let go a lot of the remains of what years of tests and trials left me with.  It is almost as if I've shed the "old" and have everything new - it is kind of like being born again in a sense.  I needed this.  I needed this a long time ago but I'm not going to concentrate on the delay.  I'm going to concentrate on the here and now.

Letting it go also involves this excess weight that came from hospitalizations, stress, medications, sorrow and depression.  I felt like I was in a prison to be quite honest and I couldn't see a way out.  However, I didn't quit (like so many of my friends did).  I pressed on, endured and made it through many tests that God brought our way.  I didn't give up!

I'm letting go of the past.  I'm letting go of the person I was.  I'm letting go of the old way of thinking.  I'm letting go of people that are not good for me.  I'm letting go of insecurity in what I am in God.

It doesn't just stop at letting it go - I also must embrace the new!  I'm embracing the new life God has given us.  I'm embracing the new person I'm becoming.  I'm embracing the new way of thinking.  I'm embracing new people that God has put in our life.  I'm embracing what God made me to do for Him.  I'm embracing 2017!

This song is amazing and one that will bring in my New Year with the message it gives.  Just like that olive, we have to go through things for God to make us into what each of us are truly meant to be.

A Look Back on 2016

Wow!  Wow!  Wow!  That is what I have to say for this past year.  My post from last December was about hoping 2016 would be the year that we REBUILD what Satan had destroyed and hardship and life had broken down.  Not only did God REBUILD it all but He blessed us immensely and the blessings keep pouring in.  I'm literally drowning in God's blessings and I've been so happy that I've even lost about 10 pounds lol.

2016 started out with hope that this year wasn't going to be as tragic as 2015 was.  I started this year in physical therapy and it continued on for half of the year until I felt I was almost fully recovered.  Then, we got in an auto accident in July and I was again, back to rehabilitating some injuries.  My husband had decided around April that we were going to stay in WA state and buy a home.  That didn't end well - nothing seemed to work out, it was a nightmare!

Thankfully, sometime around the end of August, my husband said he wasn't going to fight the will of God anymore and we were moving to Ohio (a place he got in prayer almost 3 years ago).  As soon as my husband told God he would do His Will - it was like a flood of blessings and miracles flowed out on us.  The next day, we got this Ohio visitors guide in the mail (that had never come the year before I ordered it and it just so happen to show up at the perfect time).  It is pictured to the right of this - on it said: Anticipation.  Something fun is about to happen - don't you love that feeling?  Oh yes - something fun was about to happen!!

I could literally write a book on the whole thing but to keep this short - it only took about a month from his decision, to move, buy a home and be in Ohio.  Not only did we get a wonderful home at just the right price, God worked ways that still amaze me when I think on them and we got our money back that we used for our move.  Then, most recently, God blessed us with a brand new 2017 car!  Not just a car, but a very nice car.  I still am in awe at the ways of God when you ask in faith - He can do ANYTHING!!

I'm probably the happiest I've been in 10 years or more.  My husband is incredibly happy and so are our children.  We felt the presence of God when we arrived in this city that God called us to be in and are aware that He has a purpose of some sort for us.  Whether it is to just be happy or to be a help or both - we are thankful and ready and willing to do whatever God wants us to!

Some friends that know me very well have all told me they aren't used to me being so happy lol.  This is my testimony to others - just go with what you know God wants you to do, no matter if you can't understand the WHY - just obey God and understand later!  Step out on faith and God WILL bless in ways you didn't even think of.

God did the REBUILD this year - and I'm moving forward into the new year with a new life, new city, new state, new home, new car and a new me!!

How to Spot a Disciple of Christ - LOVE!

So many Christians claim they have love for others but they actually only love those that love them back.  They only love those that say nice things to them, praise them, adore them and never do them wrong.  God said that the world would know we are his disciples because of the love we have only to those that are loving back, right?  NO!  It is so easy to love those who don't say things to hurt you, those that love you back, etc.  Anyone can do that!

John 13:34-35
A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.  By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another. 

Real Christians will love those that even hurt them.  Real Christians will love those that do them wrong.  Real Christians have a love that goes past faults, failures, wrongdoings, etc.  It is God's love because God is long-suffering and He died for us while we were yet - what?  SINNERS!  You can tell whether someone is a disciple of Christ by his love towards ALL.

I've always kept a watch on those who claim to be Christians but keep a list of wrongs.  Those who will treat you differently if you didn't say everything "just right" to them or worship them like others.  Those who snub you because they are so bitter against you for who knows what.  Those people quite honestly aren't disciples of Christ - they don't have His Spirit!  God IS love - there is no way around that.

So don't be downhearted when people treat you like that, just know that they are either not right with God or they are not even His.  Pray for them.  LOVE THEM ANYWAY!  One thing I've always done is love those that have done me wrong, no matter how great the wrong - I still love them.  Even those who maybe I made upset by something I said or did - they may not love me, but I love them.

I believe God sends us people our way that will hurt us or say things about us as a test to see if we will STILL love them.  If you find you are coming across a lot of people like that or you are being "attacked" - realize that God allowed it and maybe, just maybe, he is waiting on you to respond correctly by loving them still.

I was reading various commentaries on these verses and I liked what Barnes had to say:

Christians will love their own denominations less than they love the spirit and temper of the Christian, wherever it may be found.

There are some that only view you as a Christian based upon what denomination you are but LOVE should be our measure of who is and who isn't a Christian.  When you pick up on someone that has the Spirit of God, you won't care what church they go to - your Spirit bears witness.  Denominations are a display of love as they help separate us and our differing beliefs on what the Bible says, so we won't always be striving about.  No matter what church you go to, if you don't have love, then you don't know God!!

Setting Up Our New Home

The lighting wasn't that great for the living room photo but here are some pictures of the living room and dining room so far.  I really want a new look but that is not in the budget at the moment, so I worked with what we had.





I found these 1 gallon glass jars at Big Lots for $6 each and use my chalkboard labels to give them a cute look.  The liquid in my chalk marker was running out, so I couldn't get the words just how I wanted.



We don't have a pantry in our new house, so I'm using a cabinet in my garage.



I got our homeschool room bookshelves unpacked and set up.