440/365

Man, I'm thankful for my parents!

439/365

Blessed by the BODY of Christ. Thankful for the Gospel and how it affects my life. (I think I talk about being thankful for the body about once a week. I'm telling you... I never realized how important it was!)

Enjoyed fellowship today at both UBC and Crosspoint. Thankful for God's Word and how applicable it is to TODAY. Thankful for worship, and the opportunity I had today to worship my precious Father with so many different believers. Thankful for Dan's message tonight from Mark 7. He spoke on the Pharisees--

" the people honor me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men. You leave the commandment of God and hold to the tradition of men." (Mark 7:6-8)

How often in my own life do I do what I do because it is comfortable? Am I going through life living vicariously through traditions that have been set before me, not giving thought to why I do what I do? Do I think that I'm "OK" or even "spiritual" because I go to church two or three times a week, I give money to the church, I say the right things, I dress the right way?? Or am I truly seeking to give God my heart of worship?

Great exhortation. Blessed today. Thankful for Jesus Christ and His working.

438/365

Hiked Table Rock today with my boyfriend... ohhhh you know... :-)

It was a BEAUTIFUL day for a hike... but a wee bit chilly and breezy...

Ronnie suggested that I do some push ups on the "table" to warm up... thanks to Bear Grylls
he knew this clever trick.  So smart. :)

Thankful for this friend! And our frozen smiles... brrr, it was cold!

What a great day! Maybe the best day yet.

437/365

I love my Ellie Belly... She is precious!

436/365

Thankful once again for my POWER group girls. So thankful for our study in Philippians-


[Christ's Example of Humility]
[2:1] So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, [2] complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.
(Philippians 2:1-2 ESV)


We decided to make some instant application of this passage. We figured sharing this spread would encourage our unity... same mind, same love, full accord and of one mind. :)

Of course, we all made different contributions to the spread. That's where the unity comes
into play... we all worked together to provide for each other and love one another.

:) (maybe stretching it a bit, but boy... it was delicious!)

435/365

Several things to be thankful for today...

A) Bible study tonight was such an encouragement. We are studying the book of Philippians and have been challenged by Paul's single focus on Christ. We are to be purposeful in our lives to share the Gospel- whether it be with people we are very close to, or a complete stranger. I was encouraged to be with my brothers and sisters for a quick recharge after a busy few days.

So thankful Caralee could make it!!!

2) Coffee with Elizabeth Bundrick today was a blast! (as always!) We are starting a new Wednesday coffee date tradition. Sarah is going to join us whenever school permits! So thankful!!!

& D) Ellie is a GREAT new employee. I posted this on my facebook the other day but wanted to share in this forum. So thankful for this little life. Can't wait till we can play basketball together...

Sweet little Ellie bright-eyed and busy-tailed!

434/365

Happy Birthday Celebration, Achieng! One of my dear friends at Clemson had a birthday yesterday, so we grabbed dinner tonight to celebrate.

Steph, Achieng and I ate dinner at Tokyo and then dessert at Chick (naturally!)... 

Achieng tried Treasure Island (my FAVORITE roll of all time), and I tried a new one (can't remember the name).
It CAME ON FIRE! HOW EXCITING! I was fearful that It would catch my
hair on fire before I could blow it out, but no worries, I took care of the flame. :)

Thankful for encouragement from these two! And for Achieng's life!!!

433/365

Tonight I was able to meet Kristy and Kerri Fincher for coffee and it was such a blessing. I thank the Lord for bringing these girls into my life- they have recently joined my POWER group. It is neat to see how God provides encouragement from the exact people we need it from. (I feel like this has been a theme- God providing encouragement in my life from various people-- from friends I've known forever to friends I've just met. He provides!)

Before we left Kristy asked if we could pray together, and what a sweet time we shared... in the middle of Moe Joe's. This is part of the function of the body. Prayer for one another and encouragement in truth. Striving together in unity, passionately pursuing the One person worthy of the pursuit of every human heart.

Thankful for these two, thankful for Moe Joe's coffee (mmm, it was good! Haven't been in a while!), and thankful for my POWER group!!! (and for Madison Carpenter who introduced all of us!!)

432/365

Visited Crosspoint today with my sweet friend Abby (Anna and Steph came also!) and was so blessed. Enjoyed a time of worship (Jesus, Thank You.) and then encouragement from the Word-- Joel 1. Pastor Ken  is doing a series on the book of Joel and my heart was so convicted.

He shared about our need for repentance and restoration with Christ. Often we see our sin as we see it, not as Christ sees it. If I am bothered by my sin I deal with it, but if it doesn't bother me, I often overlook it as not a big deal. My sin, even the "little things" that I brush to the side and justify, offends God!

It's interesting to see the verbs used in Joel 1 to describe our needed response to sin.
(1:13-14)
*Lament
*Wail
*Several times being clothed in sackcloth is mentioned
**CRY OUT to the Lord

It goes on further but I will stop there. I circled several of these verbs in my Bible as they jumped out at me- THIS is how seriously I should respond to my sin. When I get angry, I need to see it as God sees it. Not accept it because "I'm ok, it's ok for me to get angry. Nobody knows what's in my heart and I can fake it. It's no big deal, everybody gets frustrated- it's part of life!" And the list goes on with different sin patterns we all face.

The blessing is that as we cry out to God and plead with Him for forgiveness, He is there ready to restore us to Himself. Amen! It all comes to obedience- then restoration. Thankful for a God who desires to restore us and give us a life of victory.

A life of repentance is a life of JOY and Blessing- and brings true intimacy with God. 

431/365

Thankful for a fun morning run with Sarah, Rach and Jon around Clemson. We ran about 6 miles in rain, and it was just BEAUTIFUL!!!! Getting ready for the Easter Bunny Run in Clemson... you should sign up! There is a 5K and a half marathon-- not too late to start training!! Check out the info below!!

http://www.halfmarathons.net/usa_half_marathons_south_carolina_clemson_easter_bunny_half_marathon.html

Sarah and I enjoyed running with 70's Running Barbie... :) Love you, Rach!!!