Being happy, grateful, and having God's grace....

My Outpost reading....PSALM 100

Make a joyful noise all ye lands

Worship the Lord with gladness

Come before Him with joyful songs

Know that the Lord is God

It is He who made us and we are His

We are His people, the sheep of His pasture

Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise

Give thanks to Him and praise His name

For the Lord is good and His love endures forever

His faithfulness continues through all generations

I cannot recite from memory any quote from the Bible

I am amazed at the people who can.

My middle son,Paul, learned this psalm when he was 5 and it has always stuck with me

Aside from him being as cute as ever trying to pronounce the words,(& yes we have it on video!), he didn't really understand the meaning....but to me it was a clear instruction of what we are to do -

and that is to obey God. This is a blueprint to teach us how to worship God joyfully and be thankful.

Singing is a way to make a joyful noise. It can provide unity in the hearts of people involved.

I have always enjoyed music and singing - even though I don't have a show voice! God doesn't care how good our voice is!

It brings joy to my heart and singing with others can give me a feeling of fellowship. God truly wants us to be happy and enjoy all he has given us!

Also if we listen to His voice - it is only a result of the training provided by Him and His continuous loving kindness towards us that we are able to change our behaviors and become better people

We must continue to obey, worship and praise God throughout our lives - even in the most challenging times.

That is when he hears our prayers even more! Why? Because he knows that we have faith in Him and that we will trust Him to help us get through our hard times

Keep your eyes and your heart on God - always!

Make a joyful noise all the earth! God made us all - He is not prejudiced to one group on people

Just as a son is his mother's...we are God's own. Therefore give thanks!!

Author Dennis Prager writes in his book "Happiness is a serious problem" that there is a secret to happiness and it is gratitude.

All happy people are grateful and ungrateful people cannot be happy.

We tend to think that is is being unhappy that leads people to complain, but it is truer to say that it is complaining that leads to people becoming unhappy. Become grateful and you will become a much happier person!"

Enter God's gates with thanksgiving...it is good to give thanks to the Lord but not because God needs it - but because WE need it.

It was a very inspiring meeting today at Outpost and the speaker we had spoke of Gods grace - how it is free to only those who are weak. I tend to believe that for the most part but I believe that God's grace is there for the taking for us all - whether we even realize it or not! He is constantly present in our lives and wants what's best for us but we have to be cognizant of his presence to get the full benefit from it. We need to be aware of the "religion" of God and not the "religion" of our agenda for being a mom, wife or an employee or whatever. And in that respect we need to "weaken" ourselves or empty ourselves of our control of things and let his grace shower us with to love He feels for us. Life is precious and goes by so fast that we all need to take time to reflect on the goodness and be grateful for all that we have....then we can be truly happy! God bless!

Graduation, Family vacation and Outpost

Well, we've made it through our 3rd and final child (daughter) graduating from college!! What a great feeling! There is definitely a sense of pride in knowing we were able to work hard and be able to put our 3 children through college and get them started on their careers! It certainly wasn't always a smooth ride, but we've learned a lot through the process! Now the job search begins which is another bridge to cross! But I feel that God will lead her in the right direction as long as she is open to listening! That is always the key!

We then ventured on a family vacation....yes all 5 of us for the first time in about 8 years!! Usually my oldest son isnt able to join us because of his travels with his entertaining work, but this year it worked out and it was so much fun! We did a little white water rafting, beaching, boating, and kayaking , but most of all we got to be together! It was really fun to see my adult kids act like kids again and to enjoy each others company! It will definitely be one to remember and who knows when that opportunity will come again. Carpe Diem!!

There is an organization in Newtown, Ohio called Outpost which is "a gathering of women committed to encouraging, motivating, challenging, and developing our walk with Jesus. Whether you are a life-long follower of Christ or still unsure of your relationship with Him, these gatherings will point you in the right direction."

I went to my first one a few weeks ago and it was wonderful! There is a mix of song, testimony and scripture reading for 1 1/2 hours and an amazing group of very welcoming women there! I have been asked to read a scripture and give my insight for what I pick next week . Now understand that I am not a public speaker and have NEVER really done anything like this before but - HEY - this is all about stepping outside of the box a little.....ok a lot... and see what great inspiring, MEANINGFUL things come my way!

I will write more about it after I have presented and see what happens!