looking to serve

Brady got a McDonalds gift card from my grandmother for his Birthday so yesterday when the big kids had school and he did not I look him out for lunch to use it. We ordered our food and then went to make our drinks. As I was doing this they called out our order. I looked over at the tray with our 2 happy meals on it I realized that I would have to take the drinks and the baby to the table first and come back for the food.

When I got to the table and got everything settled I turned around to go back and get our food and a man came up behind me and set down our tray. He said..."it looked like you had your hands full." I thanked him for being so kind and then had this thought.

Carrying that tray to my table was such a small thing, but it really blessed me. It made me ask myself...."am I always looking for ways to serve others?" The man saw a need, and acted on it quickly.

That is my prayer today.......For God to open my eyes to ways (even little ones) that I can serve others. And for me to act quickly. Not to think about it or ponder on it like I tend to do, but to just see a need and act.

Looking back now I wish I would have used that time to talk to Brayden about serving others and pointed out how kind that man was to us. Maybe he will still remember if I talk to him about it today.

Feelings

In this season of my life I am "feeling" a lot of things.
I am feeling tired.....I feel overwhelmed ....... I am not feeling very skinny......I don't feel very organized.....I actually have been feeling very distant from God spiritually at times.....I don't have as much time as I have in the past to really dig deep into the Word like I am used to. I don't feel filled with the Holy Spirit.

As I said all these things to my friend the other day she pointed out the obvious thing that I didn't even hear myself saying over and over again......all these things are based on my "feelings".
Yesterday my husband and I went to Chili's and shared a big bacon cheese burger followed by a yummy dessert. When we were finished I felt so yuck and fat the rest of the day. This morning after eating all that I still got dressed feeling so "fat"! Well I wentto my son's orientation at school and a girl there complimented me on how great I looked. She said I didn't even look like I had had a baby. She and another girl went on and on about how great I looked already.
WOW!! All the sudden this afternoon I feel so skinny!!!!!!

Am I really any skinnier today than I was yesterday??? NO! The truth is I am only "feeling" one way or the other based on my circumstances, or even what someone else told me!

The same is true about my spiritual walk. I can not base my relationship with the Lord on my "feelings". I am just as filled with the Holy spirit now as I have always been. My circumstances may be different, and I am may not "feel" as spiritual as I may have at other times, but God is working in me all the time, and I need to speak and act in a way that reflects his righteousness all the time despite how I might be "feeling".

Good influence

Victoria is participating in youth week this week at church. They are out doing community service in the mornings followed by fun and fellow ship in the afternoons and praise and worship in the evening. It is always a long but really fun week for our youth.

Since we moved here last summer I have prayed for Victoria to find new friends. Because she was home schooled, this was a hard thing for her. In my prayers I would always ask that she find friends of good influence. Every time she is away from me I always pray that she be surrounded by good influence.

Well yesterday I came to the realization of something......good influence at Victoria's age is hard to find. Especially when limited to the idea that most of her friends are 12 and 13 years old. Instead, why not pray that she make the right choices in the midst of bad influence. I can also pray that she be a good influence to those she is around. I think this is a more realistic approach to praying for her. It also shows her that I have the confidence in her that she knows right from wrong and is mature enough to make the right decisions despite the influences around her. That is something she will benefit from even in her adult life.

Max Isaiah

Max Isaiah Nichols was born on June 23rd 2008 The day he was born was such a special one. I believe it was the day God completed our family.

The first few days of his life I could only look at him and be overwhelmed with thankfulness for this little life that God has put in mine. I love all my children so much and could not imagine my life with out them. I did nothing to deserve such a gift, only by Gods grace and sovereignty have I been so blessed.

I am so glad to have experienced birth and life one more time. It is all such a miracle.

We named little Max what we did because Max means "strong leader". One thing my husband and I want for this little baby, that will someday be a man, is for him to be a strong leader. At the same time though, we named him Isaiah because it means "God is my helper". While we want Max to be a strong leader, we never want him (or any of our children) to forget that God is their helper and that they can do nothing without his help.