Footprints in the Snow

When we look at the beauty about us, its really hard to be ungrateful.

Thank Jesus, and if for nothing else this day, thank Him that your alive and pray 

that the life He's giving you is not being wasted.

Footprints

Raccoon prints?

Chicken footprints

I very highly encourage you to check out this website! I myself have listened to, looked, went to his convention and am currently reading one of his most recent books called:  'Already Compromised'.  Its an incredible eye-opening book!  A Christian, Creationist speaker, Ken Ham is making a difference in thousands of peoples lives by sharing the TRUTH of God's Word with the World!

Find answers to your questions in Genesis! 

Go to:

answersingenesis.org

How old REALLY are, the dinosaurs?  Where do people come from?  How can we know where we're going when we die?  

Those questions are common, and the answers are in the Bible.  

Are you ready?  If so, then set, GO!

Winter Wonderland....winter fancies:)

Going to 'Shining Light Music' Christmas Concert

December 13, 2012 

Joe, Andy, Me, Chloe, Elena and Abby.  We're at the music concert!

Maddie, Me, Abby, Chloe and Elena

Jordan and Austin

Posing by the snow guy

Austin, Elena and Jordan in the front of our house

Getting dressed-up for the Nutcracker ballet, on Saturday, December 22nd,

My grandma with us!  At the theatre!

GENEsis 1...GENES...the basis of ALL mankind...the basis of the Christian foundation, the basis of Christmas

'In the Beginning, GOD created the heavens and the earth.  The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep.  And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.

Then God said, "Let there be light," and there was light.

And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness.  

God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night.  So the evening and the morning were the first day.

Then God said, "Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters."
Thus God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament; and it was so.

....Then God said, "Let Us (the Trinity, God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit) make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth."

So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.'  

There was never a day without God, there was never a time when He did not exist.  It says, 'IN THE BEGINNING, GOD' the first four letters of the Bible, and yet why are so many Christians accepting evolution?  Did you know that atheists, let me repeat, ATHEISTS use evolution as their justification that there is no God?  If people that don't believe in God are pushing evolution in our culture, trying to tell us that its got all the evidence, then why do Christians believe them?  Why don't we just take God's Word for what it is?  Will we dare question the Scriptures and say that what I believe has authority over what GOD says?

You see, in the beginning, there was God.  In the end of this earth, there will be God.  But where is He in between?  How can we trust that when we believe His Word, that He will stay with us?

Let me quote Isaiah 7 to you,

'Therefore the Lord HIMSELF will GIVE you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel."

Christmas lasts forever for those that believe in Jesus Christ.  Jesus, God...with us?  Would God really want to come and die for worms like us?  Sinners that spat in His face and had no place for Him to stay?  

The answer is yes.  Jesus wanted to come to you, to I, worms that we are, because He loves us. 

But don't get me wrong, He is not just loving.  He is just.  He will give those to those what is due to them.  When you repent and believe in Christ, 'If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved.'  What you did deserve that was eternity in Hell for your sin you are saved from, and Jesus holiness is put OVER you!  But if you refuse the gift of His blood for you, then you are pushing away your salvation. 

In Genesis, it begins with God.  God made Adam and Eve, He made all Creation with the spoken words of His mouth in six LITERAL days like the Bible says, and there was also a LITERAL fall of man.  Man sinned, and perfect sacrifice was needed.  We are sinful, nothing we can do could ever be perfect.  Doomed, I once sat in that cell of darkness, doomed to death in Hell.  Doomed, I cried out to God, still doubting, still struggling on the battle field of my soul.  But then suddenly the door to the cell was knocked down, no, not just the door, the entire cell crumbled to bricks! and my chains of sin rusted from my hands and ankles, and in walked the Son of God.  Once that baby in a manger, now my Savior.

I ran into His arms and He embraced me, once His enemy, like I were His own child.  His adopted child.

O Blessed Son of God!  That You should come to save a wretch like me!  Can you say that this Christmas? If you can't, then you have no Christmas.

Repent, and believe His Word that He has spoken.

The whirlwind is rising...will you be swept away with it or be still and know that God is the Lord?

Some days I simply don't know what to do with my siblings, and other days, they can be downright irritating.  But a verse that has helped me when I feel down, is one that I came upon this morning is one in Pslam 29,

'The Lord gives strength to His people..'

When my brother throws a huge temper tantrum, when your best friend is struggling and you don't know how to help, when you feel like you keep going in circles and circles anc circles in your Christian walk, when doubts and temptation get the best of you,
you can ask God to give you strength.  He will be there, listening to your plea.
A certain time last week, I felt really low.  I wanted to be lifted from the pit that I had fallen into,  but at the same time, I felt like wasn't ready to be lifted out, like I was still hurting too much.  Have you ever felt that way?  I remember sinking to my knees in tears and wondering what God was doing, but the echoing silence proved it all.  Just because I didn't have some fabulous revalation or blinding ray of light didn't shoot down from the Heavens, that doesn't mean that God isn't listening.  There's also a verse in the Bible that says,

'Be still, and know that I am God.'

Sometimes, when everything around is whirling and we get caught-up in the whirlwind, the only thing we can do is sit down midst the chaos about us and be still.  When your still, you see God more clearly.  When I was questioning God that night, it was almost like God was questioning me.  He was testing me, testing my faith.  How will I respond to the gale that whirls about me?  As I sat on the front porch with my friend, she said something similar to,
 "I don't know what I would do if I were you..."
I looked into the darkness before us, and I stared straight ahead. 
 "Turn to Jesus.  That's all you can do."

Right that same night, we found out who our President would be.  I definetly was in a whirlwind that day, but by God's grace, He helped me to sit down and be still midst the commotion. 
Will you turn to Jesus when the gale rises? 
Or will you be swept away with the wind?

"Its Time to Take America back...for LIFE!~" From the courtesy of the 'National Right To LIFE News'

www.nrlpac.org 

'O Lord, You have searched me and known me.  You know my sitting down and my rising up; You understand my thought from afar off.  You comprehend my path and my lying down, and are acquainted with all my ways...where can I go from Your Spirit? .....For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother's womb.  I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.  Marvelous are Your works, and that my soul knows very well.  My frame was not hidden from You, when I was made in secret, and skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.  Your eyes saw my substance,  being yet unformed.  In Your book they all were written, the days fashioned for me, when as yet there were none of them.'

Psalm 139

 

Many of us know that the time to vote is this Tuesday!  Your last chance to stand up for you beliefs is on the count-down.  But let me challenge you with this question:
"What do you believe?"
And
"Is what you believe according to what America was founded on, the Bible?"
Whether you want to admit it or not, you will find out soon enough that the fifty United States of America was founded on the Word of God and nothing but the Word of God.  But if George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Monroe, Benjamin Franklin and all the others hadn't founded America solely upon Biblical principles, then where would we be now?  Would our country be even worse than it is now?

Take a look at some of the info. below and challenge yourself to be ready for the TRUTH.

How to Peel Apples with an Old Fashioned Apple-Peeler

Ways to Witness Boldly for Jesus:

If we are truly Christians, and call ourselves followers of Jesus, can we truly love Him with our entire heart if we are too scared to make a stand for His name and share His love with the lost? 
A very encouraging, inspiring and challenging book that I've been reading recently is called: "One Thing you Can't Do in Heaven", by Mark Cahill (A BOOK THAT I HIGHLY RECCOMEND) and that's obviously, witnessing to the non-believers. 

Ways you can witness to others are:

~ Write a scripture with every letter you send, bill, etc. 
~ Keep tracts with you where ever you go so your ready to hand them out
~ Strike a causal conversation with someone, and share the love of Jesus with that person.  If you truly care where their soul will spend eternity and love that person, they will see it in your eyes and will know that you aren't simply trying to shove something down their throat.


These are simply some ways and ideas that you can witness God's redeeming love to others.  Don't be fearful to ask others where they are in their faith! 
Sometimes, I feel like so many of us are too concerned about the "things of this earth" instead of the things of Heaven.  If your not certain yourself where you'll go after you die, then open up the book of 1 John, and read through it till your eyes hurt.  When I was struggling with my assurance, I complained to my dad about it and he repeated over and over, "Are you reading 1 John?"  "Yes, Dad."  I'd answer, frustrated.  I re-read the book of 1 John probably four or five times before God opened my eyes to how precious Jesus is to those that have faith in Him.

~  I had just turned thirteen, two years ago, and was sitting in the church pew listening to the pastor preach.  I can't remember exactly everything he was saying, but one thing I can remember clearly is I remember him saying, "Here's God, and here's you."  He spread his arms apart to demonstrate the huge gap between sinners and Holy God.  I remember him saying how Jesus was the payment for our sins,  how He is the answer to that gap.  We can't get to Heaven by "trying to be a good person", never killing someone isn't good enough.  Jesus said that even if you simply hate someone you have already killed them in your heart.  I can remember the times before that glorious day when I was saved, when I would be in tears of frustration, trying to figure out what was wrong with me...why I was doubting God.  I remember that I had watched the Martin Luther movie, (which is awesome by the way), and there was a part in the movie when Martin Luther was crawling up hundreds of stone stairs to the top of this platform, repeating a prayer with each step he took, and supposedly that would save his soul from Hell.  I remember thinking how evil and wrong this was, that Jesus is the only One that can save my sinful soul from Hell, but yet at that point in my life I sort of felt like Martin Luther...what did I believe?  What was I truly trusting?  I would go into the closet and close the door, getting on my knees on the hard wood floor and cry to to God to save me, to forgive me for sinning against Him...but I wasn't getting on my knees because I was repentant, but because I, in a way, was trying to look like I was "suffering" for Christ, THEN maybe I could get into Heaven.  I was no different than what Martin Luther had been doing in the movie before his conversion! 
~But that one Sunday, November 13th 2010 I think it was, Jesus found me, and I ran into His arms.  I was sick and tired and sick and tired and sick and tired a million times over of being frustrated with myself and of feeling no hope or joy.  I was ready to taste the true joy that only Jesus Christ the Son of God can give.  I wanted to know Him...and it was like, as the tears rolled down my cheeks and I looked into my lap, feeling so unworthy...Jesus showed me that yes, I am unworthy, but HE is WORTHY!  He payed the price for my sins on the cross, I don't have to try to be worthy because Jesus' worthiness is wrapped about MY shoulders when I trust in Him!  The most beautiful feeling in the world overcame me, and I simply found a peace the enveloped my soul like the sunlight envelopes a room, or the breeze blows through your hair and fills your lungs with clean, new air.  I felt like a different Samantha...I was a different Samantha!  I AM a different Samantha, and that's all because Jesus came into my heart and saved me!  Let His name be forever praised!

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away- behold, all things have become new."

And trust me, when Jesus says all things...He means ALL THINGS! 

Watch out Pork Fans of America! The first EVER pig RAP! By Sam, Austin and Elena

Autumn Dreams & Fall Colors Flashing Bright and Beautiful

Hot Wasabi Peanuts...eatin' them before our field trip as my breakfast (lol)

On a School Field Trip!!!

Ruffle me up!!!

Batman

My first Roasted Peanut Harvest

Me in our Woods

In our Woods in Autumn

Me and our cute and ornery puppy Benji

Maddie my BFF and our Chicken Ellie

Jordan munchin' on a peanut that I grew