Emotions and Reason

It is true that we can't just follow emotion blindly, however, I have learned, more than I ever knew I could, that when you are a follower of Christ, He puts things in your heart that He wants for you, that He desires for you. So, it is no surprise that we want and desire things that are after God's own heart. It can be painful to live from the heart, but for me.......there is no other place to live.

"The mind takes in and processes information. But it remains, for the most part, indifferent. It is your mind that tells you it is now 2:00 A.M. and your daughter has not returned, for the car is not in the driveway. Your heart wrestles with whether or not this is cause for worry. The heart lives in the far more bloody and magnificent realities of living and dying and loving and hating. That’s why those who live from their minds are detached from life. Things don’t seem to touch them very much; they puzzle at the way others are so affected by life, and they conclude others are emotional and unstable. Meanwhile, those who live from the heart find those who live from the mind . . . unavailable. Yes, they are physically present. So is your computer. This is the sorrow of many marriages, and the number one disappointment of children who feel entirely missed or misunderstood by their parents.

Yes, the heart is the source of our emotions. But we have equated the heart with, emotion, and put it away for a messy and even dangerous guide. No doubt, many people have made a wreck of their lives by following an emotion without stopping to consider whether it was a good idea to do so. Neither adultery nor murder is a rational act. But equating the heart with emotion is the same nonsense as saying that love is a feeling. Surely, we know that love is more than feeling loving; for if Christ had followed his emotions, he would not have gone to the cross for us. Like any man would have been, he was afraid; in fact, he knew that the sins of the world would be laid upon him, and so he had even greater cause for hesitation (Mark 14:32–35). But in the hour of his greatest trial, his love overcame his fear of what loving would cost him.

Emotions are the voice of the heart, to borrow Chip Dodd’s phrase. Not the heart, but its voice."

Evan Almighty

OK, I went to see this last night and it was the most fun I had at a movie in a long time. I really enjoyed it. It was funny, good message (as Hollywood goes), and if you have not seen it you have to wait through the credits! That is the most fun part! We danced all the way out of the theater! It was great!

Faith, Hope, Love in a new light

Don't Ever Give Up!

How easy it is for us girls to forget this. It seems we have everything working against us. The world constantly telling us and showing us that we don't measure up to "their" standards because we don't look, act or conform to how "they" think we should look, act or be. It is hard, if it were easy, no one would struggle with this. Do we really trust Jesus with our heart? I have found that too is not an easy thing. So many times, it's just easier to hide than to put your heart out there one more time. But if we don't offer it, time and time again, then we won't be all that God created us to be for those He needs us to be it for. It is scary that it's out of our control when we offer our heart in Faith, Hoping to make a difference to be seen and enjoyed for who God made us to be. I can totally relate as I know you can too. We want it to matter, and we can't give up hope......ever. I have this cartoon on the side of my fridge that I have had for years. I copied it from someone. It is a picture of a Crane standing in the swamp, and he has just opened his beak and started to swallow a big bull frog. The frog has grabbed the Crane around the neck with both hands so there is no way he can swallow him. The caption reads "Don't Ever Give Up!" I live by that and it has brought me so much encouragement over the years. It's not over until its over. So read todays message below, and don't hide, don't strive, but by Faith, unveil your beauty to others regardless of the outcome and trust Jesus with it. Unveil your beauty in Hope that it is going to matter, that you are going to make a difference in someone and for someone and trust Jesus with it. Unveil your beauty in Love, truly from the heart, so that the world and all those you care about can see Jesus. He put these attributes in us because they are His attributes. Don't hide anymore. Close your eyes, take a deep breath, and jump in!------Tam

"Unveiling our beauty really just means unveiling our feminine hearts.

It’s scary, for sure. That is why it is our greatest expression of faith, because we are going to have to trust Jesus—really trust him. We’ll have to trust him that we have a beauty, that what he has said of us is true. And we’ll have to trust him with how it goes when we offer it, because that is out of our control. We’ll have to trust him when it hurts, and we’ll have to trust him when we are finally seen and enjoyed. That’s why unveiling our beauty is how we live by faith.

Unveiling our beauty is our greatest expression of hope. We hope it will matter, that our beauty really does make a difference. We hope there is a greater and higher Beauty, hope we are reflecting that Beauty, and hope it will triumph. Our hope is that all is well because of Jesus, and that all will be well because of him. So we unveil beauty in hope. And finally, we unveil beauty in the hope that Jesus is growing our beauty. Yes, we are not yet what we long to be. But we are under way. Restoration has begun. To offer beauty now is an expression of hope that it will be completed.

And unveiling beauty is our greatest expression of love, because it is what the world most needs from us. When we choose not to hide, when we choose to offer our hearts, we are choosing to love. Jesus offers, he invites, he is present. That is how he loves. That is how we love—sincerely, as the Scripture says, “from the heart” (1 Peter 1:22). Our focus shifts from self-protection to the hearts of others. We offer Beauty so that their hearts might come alive, be healed, know God. That is love." (Captivating , 147)

'Thank ya, Thank ya very much'

Memphis 6-12-07

I went to Memphis with some friends who had never been to Graceland. I am not an Elvis fan, and I have been to Graceland once before. But I was up for a fun day and to watch their reactions as they toured the property. It is a pretty place, the property that is. The house is smaller than you would have expected, but very unique. One of the funniest things that happened was we went into one of the souvenir shops, and they had this 'build a bear' section. There was this wheel on the wall that kinda looked like Wheel of Fortune and in the middle was a pipe sticking out. There was a lever on the floor so Clay stepped on it thinking it was going to spin the wheel. It didn't..........it sprayed him hard with stuffing intended for stuffing the bears! It was hilarious! We were all laughing so hard, he was still 'pickin' out stuffing the rest of the day! We had some good ice cream. It was a good day. Check out the pics by clicking on them.

The Sum of Life

The Road goes ever on and on
Down from the door where it began.
Now far ahead the Road has gone,
And I must follow, if I can,
Pursuing it with eager feet,
Until it joins some larger way. (J. R. R. Tolkien)

I don't know how to say this any better..............

The Road goes ever on and on
Down from the door where it began.
Now far ahead the Road has gone,
And I must follow, if I can,
Pursuing it with eager feet,
Until it joins some larger way. (J. R. R. Tolkien)

"The Sacred Romance calls to us every moment of our lives. It whispers to us on the wind, invites us through the laughter of good friends, reaches out to us through the touch of someone we love. We’ve heard it in our favorite music, sensed it at the birth of our first child, been drawn to it while watching the shimmer of a sunset on the ocean. It is even present in times of great personal suffering—the illness of a child, the loss of a marriage, the death of a friend. Something calls to us through experiences like these and rouses an inconsolable longing deep within our heart, wakening in us a yearning for intimacy, beauty, and adventure. This longing is the most powerful part of any human personality. It fuels our search for meaning, for wholeness, for a sense of being truly alive. However we may describe this deep desire, it is the most important thing about us, our heart of hearts, the passion of our life. And the voice that calls to us in this place is none other than the voice of God. (The Sacred Romance , 195)

Wahoo!

 
 
 
OK, I know I have not blogged in a while. Life has been busy and I probably never said anything about our Co-ed Softball team this year either. Well, It was a short season, only 6 Monday nights, but tonight was our play off! Single elimination! We won a total of 4 games this season and we won 2nd Place for the season! Yeah! Awesome job everyone. We had a great time playing. There were 6 of us girls on the team and everyone did a great job! I am proud of all of you. Sorry about my hitting (not exactly anything you would write home about), but hey! We took pic's at Chik-Fil-A tonight with the after the game crew, and of the trophy, it is huge! Softball was fun and great exercise too! Thanks everyone! Love you guys!

Gotta love those Kids!

Gotta love those kids

I had the joy of working with the 4-5 year olds at church today. What a great age! They are so much fun. They are smart, cute and funny. There was a time when I was still at home with my parents, and a 3 year old boy lived next door name Adam. He was great! They always make you feel so good. He used to watch for me to come home from work (I was working for my Dad at the time). I would go in the house to change my cloths and he would come to the front door and ring the doorbell. My Mom would answer the door, and I could hear this little voice say "Can Tammy come out and play?" That would just make my day! Of course I would go out and play with him. These kids were great today. One of my favorites is JP. He is only 3 but his grandparents bring him and he wants to go to class with his sister Julia. JP told me he went to see Spiderman a few weeks ago, and every since then, I can't call him JP.......he let's you know that his name is 'Peter Parker'! LOL! I want one just like him! Check out the pics.

The Point is.... Connecting with God

I could write a lot of things here, but today's devotional say's so much and is pretty much to the point. I can share that in the past 2 years, connecting with God in new ways, on a regular basis has changed me, my life and I am not the same person I used to be. I Praise God for that......He did that in me. And it is a journey, a process that will never end here on earth. It is about HIM and all those lives He needs us to touch for HIM. Love you guys.....have a wonderful Memorial Day weekend!

"Against the flesh, the traitor within, a warrior uses discipline. We have a two-dimensional version of this now, which we call a “quiet time.” But most men have a hard time sustaining any sort of devotional life because it has no vital connection to recovering and protecting their strength; it feels about as important as flossing. But if you saw your life as a great battle and you knew you needed time with God for your very survival, you would do it. Maybe not perfectly—nobody ever does and that’s not the point anyway—but you would have a reason to seek him. We give a halfhearted attempt at the spiritual disciplines when the only reason we have is that we “ought” to. But we’ll find a way to make it work when we are convinced we’re history if we don’t.

Time with God each day is not about academic study or getting through a certain amount of Scripture or any of that. It’s about connecting with God. We’ve got to keep those lines of communication open, so use whatever helps. Sometimes I’ll listen to music; other times I’ll read Scripture or a passage from a book; often I will journal; maybe I’ll go for a run; then there are days when all I need is silence and solitude and the rising sun. The point is simply to do whatever brings me back to my heart and the heart of God.

The discipline, by the way, is never the point. The whole point of a “devotional life” is connecting with God. This is our primary antidote to the counterfeits the world holds out to us." (Wild at Heart , 171–72)

More Graduations and City Fest

Graduations/City Fest

I have officially been to 4 graduations now. My Nephew Mark graduated today and we went to Green Hills Grill to celebrate with him. Yesterday my friend Katie graduated and then the night before was Jessica, Trey and Mikil. Andrea graduated last week and Jacob will graduate this coming Friday. Whew! Congrats to all!
We went down to City Fest tonight and Israel was awesome. Clay and RyLee and Ian and myself hung out around second aveneue for a while to show Ian the sites. We had a fun time. Click on the pic's to see! We went into Tootsies to hear the bands playing and it was from one end of the spectrum to the other to go from City Fest, listening to the testimonies and groups like Israel, to the bars. The musicians were pretty good, no doubt, some of the singers were good too. But they were without Jesus. As I sat and people watched, I remembered some friends who last year were talking about getting their band together to go into places like this to play their music and show these people about a relationship with Jesus Christ. The field is white and ready for harvest. I think that is a much needed and awesome ministry. As followers of Christ, this is one of the places where ministry is needed, as God leads. Go out into the highways and hedges and compel them to come in. What a difference we can make, as followers of Christ, if we will just go, go and tell them about the one who can change their lives forever.

Graduations, Birthdays, Softball......Misc stuff

Graduations, Birthdays, Softball

My friend Andrea graduated last night from WKU. She will be doing an internship at Vanderbilt. Way to go girl! My friend Melissa and I drove up to see her graduate......you girls rock! A little late on Birthday's, but my friend Stuart had his 16th on April 30th! He can drive now! Wahoo! Congrats Stuart! Our church did a Co-ed softball team this year and some of us girls are having fun playing. It is not the same as last year, it's just for fun, not competitive and we don't have the boombox and the fans coming out like we did last year......that was the best. But, we have won one game so far! Yea! I like that song by Chris Rice "When Did You Fall In Love With Me."
I was at some friends house recently, and they had this daily calendar that someone gave them. Here is what it said for that date: "It's not easy becoming one with another person. There is a lot of growing required. But it's not about causing our mate to grow into our image, it's about both husband and wife growing into Gods image, together." Truth. You may remember a long time ago I wrote about that. God showed me a vision about husband and wife "becoming" together and some about what that meant. "It is not good for man to be alone, I will make him a helpmate....." God never intended for us to be alone...you can't 'become one' by yourself.
We went to The Call at an Hispanic Church on Nolensville road this past Sunday night. I can honestly say it was "fun". You could not help but think, "This is what heaven is like, everyone praising and worshipping God in their own language." They had an interpreter for both Spanish and English and God moved. God is preparing our hearts and this city for a major move of God. You don't want to miss this. 07/07/07 at the Titans Stadium is going to be an explosion of people from around the world fasting, praying, worshipping, praising God. Come and be a part of it with us!

The Return of Spring and Heart

I read this from yesterday and was moved by how John Eldredge put this. After working with Clay & RyLee on their wedding and seeing how God has blessed them with each other and how He put them together, I have been thinking a lot about The Heart. It is the wellspring of life, out of it the abundance of who we are flows. Our hearts are not bad, they are God's heart and we have to learn to let it flow. He fills it with so much love, and everyone is not willing to accept that love, but nevertheless, it is still there, ready to flow out to the one or to those that are or will be vulnerable and open themselves to receive it. The heart is a very complex thing but......it means so much to God and so it should to us.

“Above all else, guard your heart.” We usually hear this with a sense of “Keep an eye on that heart of yours,” in the way you’d warn a deputy watching over some dangerous outlaw, or a bad dog the neighbors let run. “Don’t let him out of your sight.” Having so long believed our hearts are evil, we assume the warning is to keep us out of trouble. So we lock up our hearts and throw away the key and then try to get on with our living. But that isn’t the spirit of the command at all. It doesn’t say guard your heart because it’s criminal; it says guard your heart because it is the wellspring of your life, because it is a treasure, because everything else depends on it. How kind of God to give us this warning, like someone’s entrusting to a friend something precious to him, with the words: “Be careful with this—it means a lot to me.” (Waking the Dead , 207–8)

Today's devotional talks about the Spring and I think this year especially we have all longed for it. Winter has hung on this year like it would not let go. There is so much about Spring that gives us hope, a fresh start, a new begining with those around us, in every area of our life. Hope in what God has started, He will finish. He won't leave us hanging, He won't leave us in The Winter.

"Winter tarries long at six thousand feet. Here in the Rocky Mountains, spring comes late and fitfully. We had snow again last week—the second week in May. I’ve come to accept that spring here is really a wrestling match between winter and summer. It makes for a long time of waiting. You see, the flowers are pretty much gone in September. The first of October, the aspens start turning gold and drop their leaves in a week or two. Come November, all is gray. Initially, I don’t mind. The coming of winter has its joys, and there are Thanksgiving and Christmastime to look forward to.

But after the new year, things begin to drag on. Through February and then March, the earth remains lifeless. The whole world lies shadowed in brown and gray tones, like an old photograph. Winter’s novelty is long past, and by April we are longing for some sign of life—some color, some hope. It’s too long.

And then, just this afternoon, I rounded the corner into our neighborhood, and suddenly, the world was green again. What had been rock and twig and dead mulch was a rich oriental carpet of green. I was shocked, stunned. How did it happen? As if in disbelief, I got out of my car and began to walk through the woods, touching every leaf. The birds are back as well, waking us in the morning with their glad songs. It happened suddenly. In the twinkling of an eye.

My surprise is telling. It seems natural to long for spring; it is another thing to be completely stunned by its return. I am truly and genuinely surprised, as if my reaction were, Really? What are you doing here? And then I realized, I thought I’d never see you again. I think in some deep place inside, I had accepted the fact that winter is what is really true . . . And so I am shocked by the return of spring. And I wonder, Can the same thing happen for my soul?" (The Journey of Desire , 108–9)

Rehearsals,Weddings,Receptions,Brunches Oh My!

Krasner Rehearsal,Wedding,Reception,Brunch

Well, the past 2 weeks have been a whirlwind for sure. We have worked on putting wedding stuff together almost everyday for 2 weeks. RyLee and I have spent a lot of time together becoming greater friends. From wedding dress fittings, to shopping spree's to yard sales, to Sam's Club pricing, to raiding the freezer at Aldi's, we have done so much! It has been exhausting, but fun for sure. I would not have missed it for the world.
We had the wedding rehearsal dinner at Clay & RyLee's and put together homemade Lasagna which was a huge hit. I did not know we could get 30 people into their living room/dining room... but we did! Chely let them have the wedding at her 1900's historic home, which was absolutely beautiful with the original hardwood floors and the remodeled kitchen. We broke the kitchen in real good too! Chely was great and her friend Melissa/Mindy were great hosts. The wedding was in the front yard and the reception was in the back yard. Clay had the band play "The Long and Winding Road" by the Beatles before he walked down the aisle. RyLee had them play "Someday My Prince will Come". It was a picture perfect day, a fairy tale wedding! We cleaned and packed everything up after they left and I got home around 1AM. The brunch at their house was today, a beautiful, sunny day and friends were over to eat hot dogs and hamburgers. It was a nice time to visit with new friends and old alike. Clay and RyLee wanted to do this for their friends because they love everyone so much.
Clay & RyLee were so appreciative of everyone that helped bring this together. They got to tell the story of how they met in France of all places. It truly was a union put together by God. I look forward to the day when they get to help me with my wedding. I love you my friends and I pray a Wild at Heart/Captivating, Song of Solomon marriage for you. You are truly blessed of the Lord!
Now they are off to their honeymoon destination.....sunny central Florida and all of the wonderful sites it has to offer. (Click on the pic above to see all the pic's from the past few days)

Hillsong United

Hillsong United

We went to The Ryman tonight to hear Hillsong United. I can honestly say it was an amazing time in worship. When I am there with them (this is the third time I have heard them in person) it is such a worshipful time with the Lord. I just lose myself in Him. They sang many of our fav's and also some from their new CD which has not been released here yet. Their heart for worship is what makes the songs so amazing and that touch the soul. Worshipping my Lord is my true heart. I could do what United does every day of the week. What an honor to lead people into the presence of God, totally vulnerable, open and abandoned to HIM.

Also, Michael W. had a surprise guest there, Actor Jim Caveziel who played Jesus in the Passion of the Christ. He talked about how much one of Michaels songs had ministered to him and helped him through the filming of that movie when he was having such a hard time. He was struck by lightening, got Hypothermia, had his shoulder separated when he was carrying the cross. He talked about how there is nothing more important than Jesus and our influence as Christians on a lost and dying world. He spoke from the heart.

I also took some pic's while we were standing outside waiting to get in. The guys were hammin' it up for the camera. I was so very glad I got to go.

Quote

God determines who walks into your life....
it's up to you to decide who you let walk away, who you let stay, and who you refuse to let go."

Someone sent this to me today and I felt it was worth posting here. Very profound.

Birthday Week, Friends, Family, Flowers

Birthday Dinner Family & Friends

Revised: I added some more pic's. Aaron, Beth, Wes, Sherry and the kids took me to dinner before church for my BDay. They gave me a wonderful journal! I love to journal. The mexican food was great! Thank you all so much! The Parrys had a Bday party for me after church on Wednesday night! It was great! They had some friends come by to help celebrate including my nephew! There was cake and music and flowers and a swanky present "Dance Dance Revolution!" Yeah! That's what I'm talkin' 'bout! Thanks so much guys! I love you all! Also my family took me to dinner for by BDay and some close friends went with me to lunch for my BDay. Then I got flowers from one of my youth friends-Jessica, and flowers from my Area Director in Arbonne plus a surprise mini party on Monday night. Thanks so much for celebrating with me-I love you guys!

Circumstances vs Trust in God

Andy was teaching on Monday night at The Loop. It was a great message and one that really spoke to me.....I needed to hear it, and it sort of hit me between the eyes. I had let circumstances overrun my life...whether anyone else wants to admit it or not, we have all done this. It is so easy to get your eyes on the circumstances facing your life, because as Andy pointed out, circumstances scream the loudest. They get in your face and can overwhelm you and when that happens, you feel like you can't trust God.... which is exactly what the enemy wants. That is why I wanted to share the notes from his message. It truly ministered to me. It was the 4th part of a 5 part series. This night it was called "Trust Me". He referenced 1 Timothy 4:12

The theme of the message, and the statement that really hit me was "God is trustworthy and the circumstances are not!"

He talked about 4 points:
1) The beginning-God's divine plan
2) The Breakdown-where it went wrong (the breakdown came when circumstances overruled certainty. Circumstances speak the loudest, faith is a decision we make.
3) The Belief-returning to God's truth
4) The Blessing-living as a Godly man/woman

When it comes to circumstances he said to obey what has already been said to you- Gods will-Gods wisdom. Make a decision and step out by faith and do something. God will not be real to you until you trust Him. He is the one certain thing. It is our circumstances that are uncertain. Circumstances will lie to you, they do not take into account the God of the Universe. He is certain, we can trust Him.

Why do we fail to trust God?
The lie of smarts-we think we can figure things out, we think we can analyze and work through whatever we want to control, leave God out.
The lie of security-we think if we have enough money in the bank, a good car, all those things that we think will make us feel secure, but there is no security outside of truly trusting God.
The lie of safety-we will play it safe, not step out of the boat, not take chances or risks and then we will be safe. Trying to maintain security, fear keeps you from getting into relationship. Circumstances can overrule our lives.
The lie of status-trying to maintain how people view us, how we should promote ourselves, wanting everyone to think we have it all together. It takes us away from faith in God.

***Don't trade certainty in God for circumstances*** Believe God is who He says He is. We don't know what is best for us but God does. God when your truth conflicts with my life...that is when my life bends to you.

When you take a step of faith, it will rock your status, your security, your faith, it does not fit our normal thinking! What is He leading you to do? What steps of faith is He asking you to take? What are you trusting Him to do in your life? Do you believe He is trustworthy? Will you believe Him instead of the circumstances that are facing you? You have to make your own decision. God say's "trust me", He knows what He is doing.

Prayer: God we trust you, you are the one who knows how to work this out, we trust you to do it, speak it, change the circumstances in our life!"

God does not fit in the box of our reason. Nothing is impossible with God.

Time with friends............

Easter Sunday

Today was a beautiful sunny day. It started out so cold, but is turned out to be glorious! We had dinner with some of my favorite people, The Parrys, and then on to another favorite peoples.....Clay and Rylee. I am blessed to have you all in my life and as my frieds. We worked on wedding stuff at Clay and Rylees, we worked on rocker hair for Stuart and Ethan at the Parry's. Click on the pic to see the rest of the day!

Greater Love.........

It's Spring and with that comes all of the toil and struggle of nature to bring forth the leaves on the tree's, the flowers and it sometimes is a reflection of the struggle we are in.

Today's devotional is really a continuation of my last blog over a week ago, but at the same time, it comes on a day that shows God's true love, His greatest sacrifice for us.........The Rssurrection. Greater love has no man than he lay down his life for his friends. That is what Jesus did for us. There is no greater sacrifice, no greater love. He sought us, pursued us, fought for us, died for us, and now He romances us. Where would I be if He had never done any of these things? Lost for sure.

I am humbled, thankful, and in awe of how He made us in His image. The Man and the Woman each with their own distinctive attributes, yet all of those attributes are still God, still His reflection. How He see's us, what He see's in us even if we don't recognize it ourself. Sometimes as a woman, you begin to wonder if the way you are feeling is a weakness or insecurity. I mean, you have the media everywhere spinning their view of how a woman should be, should look, should talk like, etc. And then you learn more about God's attributes He has placed in you...how He made us to be, and you realize you're not weak, or insecure.....you just desire the same things God does. I love you Jesus.

"Can there be any doubt that God wants to be sought after? The first and greatest of all commands is to love him (Mark 12:29–30; Matt. 22:36–38). He wants us to love him. To seek him with all our heart. A woman longs to be sought after, too, with the whole heart of her pursuer. God longs to be desired. Just as a woman longs to be desired. This is not some weakness or insecurity on the part of a woman, that deep yearning to be desired. God feels the same way. Remember the story of Martha and Mary? Mary chose God, and Jesus said that was what he wanted. “Mary has chosen what is better” (Luke 10:42). She chose me.

Life changes dramatically when romance comes into our lives. Christianity changes dramatically when we discover that it, too, is a great romance. That God yearns to share a life of beauty, intimacy, and adventure with us. “I have loved you with an everlasting love” (Jer. 31:3). This whole world was made for romance—the rivers and the glens, the meadows and the beaches. Flowers, music, a kiss. But we have a way of forgetting all that, losing ourselves in work and worry. Eve—God’s message to the world in feminine form—invites us to romance. Through her, God makes romance a priority of the universe.

So God endows Woman with certain qualities that are essential to relationship, qualities that speak of God. She is inviting. She is vulnerable. She is tender. She embodies mercy. She is also fierce and fiercely devoted. As the old saying goes, “Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.” That’s just how God acts when he isn’t chosen. “I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God who will not share your affection with any other god!” (Ex. 20:5 NLT). A woman’s righteous jealousy speaks of the jealousy of God for us.

Tender and inviting, intimate and alluring, fiercely devoted. Oh yes, our God has a passionate, romantic heart. Just look at Eve." (Captivating , 29–30)

God's Heart for Relationship

It is funny, but I was just talking to the Lord about this very thing this week. How He created me as a woman to be the way that I am, to have the heart that I have. I was talking to Him about true love, that He is the meaning of true love and how saying "I love you" or "I love this or that" is used almost as slang everyday, instead of from the heart, heartfelt (out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks). As a very anointed guy once taught a while back, we say I love you way to easily. Do we really "love" what we say we do, or is it just a phrase. Like in the song Chasing Cars, "those three words, are said too much, their not enough." I have heard those three words come out of the same anointed worship leaders mouth in his expression of love for God, and it totally enveloped and changed the entire place because you could tell, you could feel, you could see it was from a heart that truly loves God. That can not be faked. When we truly fall in love with Him, there is a true love that just wants to come out, to flow out of us and the more time we spend with Him in that intimate relationship, the more we want to express that love, the more saying the words "I love you" means. Do we really love Him, or is it just said out of habit. God has truly given us a heart, a capacity to love more than we ever thought we were capable of. I have learned that the more I have sought God, the more I have come into intimate relationship with Him, the more capacity He has given my heart to love. Sometimes I feel like it is going to burst. Even though I have not experienced the marriage relationship....yet, I now have a better understanding of the love and relationship God wants and intends between a husband and wife. I now understand better how it is an extension of our intimate relationship with God, that true and pure love.......The Triangle. Todays devotional is confirmation to me of what the Lord and I have been talking about this week. He has given us all His attributes, and the capacity for relationships, whether it be husband and wife (the ultimate manifestation and example of our relationship with God) or friends, or our relationship with our amazing and awesome Savior Jesus Christ. I never realized, until this week, how much God made me in His image. The very things that as a woman I desire, He desires as well. It totally opened my eyes to Him in a new light, and made me fall in love with Him even more. He has filled me with a love and a capacity for love like I have never known before. I just wanted to share.................

John & Staci Eldredge (Captivating)
"The vast desire and capacity a woman has for intimate relationships tells us of God’s vast desire and capacity for intimate relationships. In fact, this may be the most important thing we ever learn about God—that he yearns for relationship with us. “Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God” (John 17:3). The whole story of the Bible is a love story between God and his people. He yearns for us. He cares. He has a tender heart.

Zion said, “The LORD has forsaken me, the Lord has forgotten me.” Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you! (Isa. 49:14–15)
I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the LORD. They will be my people, and I will be their God, for they will return to me with all their heart. (Jer. 24:7)
O Jerusalem, Jerusalem . . . how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing. (Matt. 23:37)

What a comfort to know that this universe we live in is relational at its core, that our God is a tenderhearted God who yearns for relationship with us. If you have any doubt about that, simply look at the message he sent us in Woman. Amazing. Not only does God long for us, but he longs to be loved by us. Oh, how we’ve missed this. How many of you see God as longing to be loved by you? We see him as strong and powerful, but not as needing us, vulnerable to us, yearning to be desired."
(Captivating , 28–29)

Clay & RyLee.....shopping for the reception

Clay & Rylee shopping for the wedding reception

RyLee and I went shopping today for all the stuff we need for the wedding reception. Their wedding is coming up next month and we had a great time putting it together. Clay joined us for some last minute decisions, but what he really came to look at was the Gas Grill! It was such a "Clay" grill! I love you guys so much!