1000 Gifts and Counting.....

Isaiah 44:5

Some will proudly claim, "I belong to the Lord"

Others will say, "I am a descendant of Jacob"

Some will write the Lord's name on their hands

and will take the name of Israel as their own.

1026.  facebook....I know, I know...I've struggled to find anything good about facebook and have been a lurker just to see what friends are doing because I'm too busy to see them, but as of today that attitude has changed.....my beautiful friend, Amy Cooper, who lived next to us on Ash Street "friended" me.....it was wonderful to see what their family is up to, to see current pictures and to be able to "talk" to her
1027.  time Jake & I get to "teach" our neighbors, Steve and Jake, guitar.  It is so much fun and brings back so many memories for me.  It is so fun too to see how they've improved from week one - I wish I could video each week they play so they could see their progress!  Thank you Lord for giving me the opportunity to do this with Meier...
1028.  Isaiah coming down in the morning, carrying his ball glove.....Isaiah bringing his ball glove in the car to go to co-op....he's gearing up for his favorite season
1029.  Saturday cleaning (even when done on a Friday)....I just love the tradition....I have fond memories of it when I was a kid and now I'm so proud of my kids as I watch them tackle their "job" and I wonder if they get satisfaction from it besides just the reward of a movie or Wii
1030.  Valentine cupcake drop-off from the Weldons....cupcakes that looked like they came from a bakery and the blessing given to my children who were wanting something "special" to happen like it does for public school kids

1031.  red-tailed hawk on the side of the road that we spied on our way to the first soccer....being able to sit and soak in every detail despite the time crunch we were under and to enjoy His gift of nature
1032.  hand that reaches across seats to lay hold of me
1033.  excitement...fear...tangible...in early rising before the sun to prepare for a day of family skiing adventure...safety - I didn't get any broken bones, just sprained thumbs and torn ligaments in knee

1034.  those that plow roads
1035.  moment he knows he's annoyed me so he asks 1 more request of me and then laughs as I glare
1036.  safe travel on a snowing morning
1037.  heated seats
1038.  beautiful little girl in skinny jeans, face mask - throwing and catching like she's been practicing all winter

1039.  the Camera Shop and Chadd who was helpful when my new D7000 stopped focusing and who was patient as I stood in the store over 2 hours, testing one lens and then another
1040.  Johnny coming back to church....praying that he'll find his way back to the Father
1041.  Jake & Isaiah wanting to play for the worship at church
1042.  Bakers inviting us to a Spartan basketball game and the fun we had....I love watching Sparty do his thing!
1043.  visits with Charis....playing games with my kids

1044.  new camera D7000 with Sigma 18-250mm lens
1045.  January turkey day with family over to enjoy it with us
1046.  kids wrestling with Dad

1047.  bologna and Ben (don't ask!)

1048.  loving Addie as part of our day

1049.  God's Word and how it changes all our lives....Isaiah 44:5 and how the Holy Spirit used it in Jake's life

1050.  having to fight over my guitar with my eldest

1051.  fun with Addison's t-shirt - modifying it to read "My Great-Auntie is #1"

1052.  big brother who plays with little brother and gives him a chance once in a while at shooting a basket

1053.  donut making....making donuts like my grandma did and enjoying them all day

1054.  pizza making as a family...sharing stories with kids about our years growing up and always making homemade pizza on Saturday nights and episodes of Hee Haw

1055.  69 years with my Mom...a beautifully strong lady who loves the Lord and has encouraged all of us children to love the Lord too!  What a legacy her life is for us!!

1056.  can I say thanks for Blue Moon icecream?  Only if it's for the fact that now we all can warn others to never buy it!  It may look fun but it is not!!

1057.  playing Wii with Grandma and Grandpa and laughing!  Watch out Nate or Grandma will hit you again with her "racket"!

1058.  snuggling together

1059.  jeans that still fit, even if they are not my ideal size, life is too short to obsess about it
1060.  10 chapters a day - Horners Bible Reading System
1061.  alarm clock going off at 6a.m. - unable to ignore it when I know it signals time with HIM
1062.  Ted committing time in morning to read 10 chapters of God's Word
1063.  kitty cats who peer into windows begging for spoiling

1064.  kids who endure "Singin' in the Rain" for mom
1065.  opportunity at Tuesdays soccer to give friendship a chance with a fellow BSFer
1066.  little girl making my little girl welcome and befriending her
1067.  sermon on generosity and tithing - thankful that my pastor is willing to say hard things once in a while
1068.  yawning distance that seems to separate me from others at church...it is so uncomfortable and the enemy would love for me to self-focus, instead Sunday I stood in the uncomfortableness of it and didn't begrudge anyone their connections
1069.  how Holy Spirit works to lead me in choosing songs and how unknowingly they tie right into pastor's message
1070.  being willing to say "I miss you"....to admit I need him and need his time and attention
1071.  stepping out of my comfort zone to get to know Mitch....young adult who attends our church sometimes
1072.  BSF...how it builds routine into our lives of being in God's Word, how the questions bless my children and grow them, how the leaders there spur my kids on to go "FURTHER UP, FURTHER IN!"
1073.  so many lessons gleaned from the Word thru study in BSF this past month....I wish I had done a better job of journaling them here....but may there never be any doubt GOD is AT WORK!
1074.  Eurcharisteo....reading One Thousand Gifts by Ann VosKamp...meditating on giving thanks in ALL circumstances
1075.  being left behind on Sunday evening as kids all chose to go with Dad to play basketball...fighting off the feeling that I'm last on everyone's chosen list....sitting in the quiet house realizing I now have time to do my Gratitude list without feeling guilty.  Thank you Lord for letting me be last.

Double Nature

There is a double nature in all believers. Converted, renewed, sanctified as they are, they still carry about with them a mass of indwelling corruption, a body of sin. Paul speaks of this when he says, “I find a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. For I delight in the law of God after the inward man. But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind” (Romans 7:21-23). The experience of all true Christians in every age confirms this. They find within, two contrary principles, and a continual strife between the two. To these two principles our Lord alludes when He addresses His half-awakened disciples. He calls the one flesh and the other spirit. He says, “the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

~ J.C. Ryle

Yesterday and today, I've been struggling with this reality.  And at the same time struggling against the enemy who whispers that because I struggle in this way, I'm a failure and unworthy.  Thank you Father for leading me to read this quote from Ryle this morning.  My flesh can be so weak at times and yet ironically loud!  Determining my value based on what others do and say, or don't do and say, has been the strife in my heart these past few days.  Thank you for the reminder that You know it's there, You do not condemn me for it, but that You are there for me to strengthen my spirit.  Holy Spirit do Your work in me this day and may I be more in tune to what You say, than the enemy. 

A Small Thing

Let us ever bless God that the Gospel sets before us such a Savior, so faithful to the terms of the covenant–so ready to suffer–so willing to be reckoned sin and a curse in our stead. 

Let us not doubt that He who fulfilled his engagement to suffer, will also fulfill His engagement to save all who come to Him. 

Let us not only accept Him gladly as our Redeemer and Advocate, but gladly give ourselves, and all we have, to His service. 

Surely, if Jesus cheerfully died for us, it is a small thing to require Christians to live for Him.

~ J.C. Ryle

I am struck by the last line....Jesus cheerfully - willingly died for me, what is it for me to live for Him....Do I live for Him or do I live for myself more?  When my life is over, what will be my testimony?  It grieves me to ponder how many times in a day I give Him no thought.  How dare I!  Father, may who You are - past, present, future - be revealed more and more in my heart and replace the stumbling realities of who Charli is.

Multitude Mondays

Gratitude is spiritual warfare.

1003.  worship practice before church this last Sunday....teaching Cheyenne, Natalie & Barb the motions for Days of Elijah....laughing, out of breath, worshipping God with everything in us including our joy and smiles....how blessed I am by this team God has placed in my life to love
1004.  worshipping with the body on Sunday, doing the Days of Elijah with motions and catching everyone off guard, but God sending one white haired man to say to me afterward that everyone loved that song and he was wishing we'd do it again....thank you Lord for that encouragement..... it reminds me of 2 Samuel 6:22 "Yes, and I am willing to look even more foolish than this, even to be humiliated in my own eyes."
1005.  our first night of teaching guitar to the Grice men....Jake G. made me crack up because once he got a chord, he'd announce, "Okay got it." and sit back to wait for his dad to catch up.. while Steve would just give us a look of desperation and say, "My fingers are retarded."  It was so much fun!  It brings back all my memories of when I began to play and how uncoordinated I felt and I remember thinking 'I'm never going to get this!'  I was determined to teach myself back in 2008 while the boys were on a mission trip for a week....when they came home I was so proud of what I'd done and made them sit me playing 2 songs (we videoed it and still laugh at it!)
1006.  gotta list being able to watch Addison on here....my children just love her!  Isaiah and Madeline are first in line to hold her at any moment, even under the threat of spit-up.  Jake and Nate are just fascinated with her tinyness, her sweetness and Ben can be counted on to sit next to her and keep her entertained, love also how she finds her thumb, rests her blanket against her cheek and falls asleep.

1007.  last night - having no one to spill the junk that was circling in my head out on - at first it made me more sad, but then I grabbed my bible and turned my attention off myself and onto Him, until I drifted off to sleep
1008.  husband who loves me
1009.  God-loving cousins for Jake and my children who model and come alongside them
1010.  Jake's desire to serve at T.E.C. and dropping him off Thursday night...seeing the insecurity in him....but also seeing the dying to self in him so God can use him on the Wheat Team
1011.  going out to Culver's after dropping off Jake with Charis & Steve....laughing....sharing heartaches....silly conversations about farts, "I Remember Mama", burping, puppets and fart spray
1012.  trying to save my seat for my quiet time by leaving my bible in my spot, only to come back in the room and see Annie curled around it anyway

1013.  Nate's sweet journal entries.....all about Addison

1014.  being with Bakers at co-op, giggling and laughing

1015.  friends sharing ticket to circus and having a girls' night out with them

1016.  going to TEC and being blessed by a room full of teenagers who are in LOVE with the Lord and show it to each other and being able to sing Days of Elijah with them
1017.  Jake, pure and simple, how he holds me at bay thru anger and then in a quiet moment, without my pushing, shares his struggles and how God speaks to him in it - so reminds me of myself....Lord, if it's possible make him stronger than I ever was
1018.  Noah going to TEC this time and Chaney, sweet Chaney, leading Jake on the Wheat Team, sharing her testimony snd how she desires everything to line up with God's will for her, even the difficult things that are painful to go through and her decision to not date.

1019.  HUB body having fun in their worship with motions for Days of Elijah.....so cool to see!
1020.  Nate's way of asking if he can feed Addison - "Can I milk her?"  made us all laugh

1021.  BSF....God's Word...time in van with kids and we're all talking about how good it is, how beautiful the Bible is
1022.  sweet neighbor friends and traditions....going out for each of our birthdays to someplace mexican, margeritas, and catching up - Happy Birthday Kristen!!  33 - You are a babe (as in young!)!!!!
1023.  having fun dressing a little one in outfits tooooo cute!!!

1024.  talking with boys about the foolishness of this world....dating in middle school & high school, so thankful they look to God's desire for them above anything else
1025.  God's Word....simply brings beauty into my life....This past week I've been soaking in Isaiah 40 vs 6-8

"A voice said, "Shout!"  I asked, "What should I shout?"  

"Shout that people are like the grass.  

Their beauty fades as quickly as the flowers of the field.  

The grass withers and the flowers fade beneath the breath of the Lord.  

And so it is with people. 

 The grass withers and the flowers fade, 

but the word of our God stands forever."

Eager, Expectant, and Early

I watched this and thought of our church in so many ways.  If you showed up at 10:30 a.m. (which is when church is to start), you'd see 2-3 families there.  At 10:35 or 10:40, our chairs would be almost full.  I agree w/ Josh Harris, it says something about our hearts.  Also last week at a church meeting we talked of trying to start a prayer time for corporate prayer, so when Josh started to speak of that it was as if I was meant to watch this and to share it with our pastor.  And then I'm meant to pray for a change in our local body.

Eager, Expectant, and Early from Covenant Life Church on Vimeo.

Don't Want to Waste My Life by Lacrae

I just love this song....Enjoy!  (helpful to have the words too)

Tied Down by Edgar A. Guest

"They tie you down," a woman said,
Whose cheeks should have been flaming red
With shame to speak of children so.

"When babies come you cannot go
In search of pleasure with your friends,
And all your happy wandering ends.
The things you like you cannot do,
For babies make a slave of you."

I looked at her and said: "'Tis true
That children make a slave of you,
And tie you down with many a knot,
But have you never thought to what
It is of happiness and pride
That little babies have you tied?
Do you not miss the greater joys
That come with little girls and boys?

"They tie you down to laughter rare,
To hours of smiles and hours of care,
To nights of watching and to fears;
Sometimes they tie you down to tears
And then repay you with a smile,
And make your trouble all worth while.
They tie you fast to chubby feet,
And cheeks of pink and kisses sweet.

"They fasten you with cords of love
To God divine, who reigns above.
They tie you, whereso'er you roam,
Unto the little place called home;
And over sea or railroad track
They tug at you to bring you back.
The happiest people in the town
Are those the babies have tied down.

"Oh, go your selfish way and free,
But hampered I would rather be,
Yes rather than a kingly crown
I would be, what you term, tied down;
Tied down to dancing eyes and charms,
Held fast by chubby, dimpled arms,
The fettered slave of girl and boy,
And win from them earth's finest joy."

Edgar Guest is a poet that my dad cherishes and I love his easy poetry as well. Each day this is where I want to be....tied down to my home, to my children, to our homeschool. It is earth's finest joy!