i appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God which is your spiritual worship. do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
romans 12.1-2
"Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience," Colossians 3:12
prayer and discipleship
two things i am currently striving for is a better prayer life, and deeper discipleship.
i want to pray more often and more passionately.
i want God to be my closest friend.
i need His guidance and love.
i want my relationships to show His glory.
that is all, pray and ponder with me on this journey.
i want to pray more often and more passionately.
i want God to be my closest friend.
i need His guidance and love.
i want my relationships to show His glory.
that is all, pray and ponder with me on this journey.
family and fireworks
my day consits of spending time with family, and enjoying a fireworks display at weber state tonight!
after church we went out to red robin with my aunt and uncle, and their two children and their wives, and kids, and two friends. confusing, i know. but it was so much fun, and i haven't seen them in a long time. i wish corie lived here so i could spend more time with her, we are more alike now than we used to be. colorado has been good to her. anyway it was really good, and i would like to say they are doing great things for Christ. Ben (her husband) is a pastor of a small church, and they are going to change things up a bit and meet on sundays for a message, but have smaller house church things happen every other time, keeping it simple, which is where our church is headed i hope. simple makes it easier to focus on God and His purposes! so thank-you to corie and ben, you are loved my many in utah, hope to see you again soon (do i hear a family reunion coming?)
tonight is the pops concert at weber state, and we always attend the fireworks. i love fireworks, and this year we didn't see any at the 4th (although the backyard display at my parents was impressive), so this is the first this year!
hopefully you are having a great day, and if you are not, go out and buy max lucado's book , "just like Jesus" and read it. it may not make your day better, but it will make you realize your need to be more like Christ.
after church we went out to red robin with my aunt and uncle, and their two children and their wives, and kids, and two friends. confusing, i know. but it was so much fun, and i haven't seen them in a long time. i wish corie lived here so i could spend more time with her, we are more alike now than we used to be. colorado has been good to her. anyway it was really good, and i would like to say they are doing great things for Christ. Ben (her husband) is a pastor of a small church, and they are going to change things up a bit and meet on sundays for a message, but have smaller house church things happen every other time, keeping it simple, which is where our church is headed i hope. simple makes it easier to focus on God and His purposes! so thank-you to corie and ben, you are loved my many in utah, hope to see you again soon (do i hear a family reunion coming?)
tonight is the pops concert at weber state, and we always attend the fireworks. i love fireworks, and this year we didn't see any at the 4th (although the backyard display at my parents was impressive), so this is the first this year!
hopefully you are having a great day, and if you are not, go out and buy max lucado's book , "just like Jesus" and read it. it may not make your day better, but it will make you realize your need to be more like Christ.
the p.l.a.n.
i hope your weekend is going well, mine is long and relaxing (as much as it can be). right now pete and i are at got coffee? reading and such, and i am reading a book called "just like Jesus" by max lucado. it is really good. each chapter addresses a different area of life that we as christians struggle with. chapter seven is about having a focused heart. so i will share with you max's thoughts on being focused on God.
as you know, our life has been crazy lately, and it has been hard to keep focused on God with so much going on... just an update, i should be talking with mike at the high school about my job sometime next week. our offer was accepted, so we will hopefully be moving july 27thish, we are currently staying in the gompert's extra room. we are excited for everything that is changing in our life, yet it is still hard to focus on God.
max lucado made an acrostic to help us remember what we should be doing and thinking to stay focused on God.
the p.l.a.n.
am i fitting into God's plan?
what are my longings?
what are my abilities?
am i serving God now?
these are the (small) explinations to help you understand max's thinking...
as a part of God's plan, we need to be witnessing and sharing the gospel with others to ultimately bring them to God and bring God glory. we are Christ's ambassadors.
our longings and desires were given by God and we need to pray that we can surrender them to Him.
our abilities are things we are capable or strong at. we desire some things that we are not good at, and that's okay, but it is good to use the strengths that God has provided in serving others.
serving God now means we shouldn't wait until we complete this or that, He wants our service now in what ever we do. our job, or friendships, all of our lives should be serving Him.
that chapter was a good reminder for me. i know that i don't need to worry about anything, or focus on anything that doesn't further God's kingdom. i want all my focus to be on Him and everything else won't be such a problem.
"I ask-ask the God of our Master, Jesus Christ, the God of glory - to make you intelligent and discerning in knowing him personally, your eyes focused and clear, so that you can see exactly what it is he is calling you to do." ephesians 1: 17-18 (msg)
may God help you remain focused on Him for He is all that we need!
amy-g
as you know, our life has been crazy lately, and it has been hard to keep focused on God with so much going on... just an update, i should be talking with mike at the high school about my job sometime next week. our offer was accepted, so we will hopefully be moving july 27thish, we are currently staying in the gompert's extra room. we are excited for everything that is changing in our life, yet it is still hard to focus on God.
max lucado made an acrostic to help us remember what we should be doing and thinking to stay focused on God.
the p.l.a.n.
am i fitting into God's plan?
what are my longings?
what are my abilities?
am i serving God now?
these are the (small) explinations to help you understand max's thinking...
as a part of God's plan, we need to be witnessing and sharing the gospel with others to ultimately bring them to God and bring God glory. we are Christ's ambassadors.
our longings and desires were given by God and we need to pray that we can surrender them to Him.
our abilities are things we are capable or strong at. we desire some things that we are not good at, and that's okay, but it is good to use the strengths that God has provided in serving others.
serving God now means we shouldn't wait until we complete this or that, He wants our service now in what ever we do. our job, or friendships, all of our lives should be serving Him.
that chapter was a good reminder for me. i know that i don't need to worry about anything, or focus on anything that doesn't further God's kingdom. i want all my focus to be on Him and everything else won't be such a problem.
"I ask-ask the God of our Master, Jesus Christ, the God of glory - to make you intelligent and discerning in knowing him personally, your eyes focused and clear, so that you can see exactly what it is he is calling you to do." ephesians 1: 17-18 (msg)
may God help you remain focused on Him for He is all that we need!
amy-g
God is so good!
every time i post about moving, we don't move! so, you guessed it, the house fell through. i know, i know how many times, but it's okay. we still sold our house as of today, and we moved out last night. the complication comes with the place we moved to. we got a call from steve yesterday who got a call from the other realtor at our new house (actually from her secretary because she is on vacation at lake powell)... the bank is forclosing on the new house! so it turned into more of a hassle than we wanted so we told them no thank-you. we are currently staying in glendon's basement (thanks buddy) and we will be staying with pete's parents for as long as we need to. (all our stuff is at mike's house, including the dog) thanks mike!
so while we were homeless for a couple of hours, steve (the best guy ever), shopped around and showed us four houses (one we didn't even go in, it was bad) anyway, the second one we looked at caught our eye. so we put an offer in today (more to come tomorrow, we may move at the end of the month). this house is in ogden on rancho vista and it is the third house down from the mountains! (pete is so excited) it is also in the same neighborhood as his friend sebastian. lanie and josh's house is 1 1/2 blocks away! so we might be close to friends! the house is bigger than our old one with 3 bedrooms, 2 bath and a kitchen that is open to the living room (so i can chat and cook at the same time). it is cozy yet big enough!
we love you all so much and will let you know more soon (5pm tomorrow we hear about our offer) so be patient with us, and God will work this out. i forgot to tell you, the house is the same price as the one in n.ogden, and it was built in 1999. (oh yeah, also comes with central air and a two car garage!) also i have some pictures of our old house and the moving process, but the connector cord is packed. so they will come later!
love and thanks, from amy-g
so while we were homeless for a couple of hours, steve (the best guy ever), shopped around and showed us four houses (one we didn't even go in, it was bad) anyway, the second one we looked at caught our eye. so we put an offer in today (more to come tomorrow, we may move at the end of the month). this house is in ogden on rancho vista and it is the third house down from the mountains! (pete is so excited) it is also in the same neighborhood as his friend sebastian. lanie and josh's house is 1 1/2 blocks away! so we might be close to friends! the house is bigger than our old one with 3 bedrooms, 2 bath and a kitchen that is open to the living room (so i can chat and cook at the same time). it is cozy yet big enough!
we love you all so much and will let you know more soon (5pm tomorrow we hear about our offer) so be patient with us, and God will work this out. i forgot to tell you, the house is the same price as the one in n.ogden, and it was built in 1999. (oh yeah, also comes with central air and a two car garage!) also i have some pictures of our old house and the moving process, but the connector cord is packed. so they will come later!
love and thanks, from amy-g
my turn
now that i have read all of your posts, it's my turn! jen, this one's for you. yes, more often than not, i don't post because i think my life is boring, but here you go anyway... a couple of announcements (no i'm not pregnant) and an update on the house.
my mom's procedure to remove the kidney stone was successful and she is feeling fine. she didn't even take any pain pills (yet) ! love you mom
brett t. is going to be back in town on july 13thish, so hopefully we can all hang out sometime! maybe we can talk in funny british accents to remind him of the uk, not really though, my british accent is awful!
now for the update, we are supposedly closing on our house tomorrow (tues.) at 4pm. the plan is to sign some (many) papers, then move all our stuff to the garage and set up the bed. after that the plan is to rip out carpet! for those who will be at Bible study, the announcement that should be made by p.t. is... everyone is invited to come to help us paint on saturday starting around 9am! the more the merrier, i think! so that is the update. pete is going to take this week and next week off to work on the house. i will be helping everyday when i get off work. i do have friday this week and tuesday next week off yahoo!
thanks for your prayers, if you want or desire to help on other times besides saturday, call us up, we wouldn't mind the help.
boring as ever, but i may not post for a while so have a great week, and i'll let you know how it goes! love amy
oh yeah, this is for micah and whomever else wanted to know... sunday worship was good except i was all ready to be in my own zone and steve asked me to play drums out of no where when pete and i arrived to sunday school (maybe i won't go early anymore). it wasn't that bad, it's just i had my heart set on worshipping in my own seat, not in front of anyone. i merely had to change my heart (which was hard) i did pretty good, but i didn't worship much because i hadn't practiced all the songs, so i was concentrating pretty hard on staying with the group. so for all you who play on worship teams, don't run your team that way. i didn't even get to see seth and jen play for offerring! i was dissappointed. the sermon was really good, we are starting james, so come up and hear!
my mom's procedure to remove the kidney stone was successful and she is feeling fine. she didn't even take any pain pills (yet) ! love you mom
brett t. is going to be back in town on july 13thish, so hopefully we can all hang out sometime! maybe we can talk in funny british accents to remind him of the uk, not really though, my british accent is awful!
now for the update, we are supposedly closing on our house tomorrow (tues.) at 4pm. the plan is to sign some (many) papers, then move all our stuff to the garage and set up the bed. after that the plan is to rip out carpet! for those who will be at Bible study, the announcement that should be made by p.t. is... everyone is invited to come to help us paint on saturday starting around 9am! the more the merrier, i think! so that is the update. pete is going to take this week and next week off to work on the house. i will be helping everyday when i get off work. i do have friday this week and tuesday next week off yahoo!
thanks for your prayers, if you want or desire to help on other times besides saturday, call us up, we wouldn't mind the help.
boring as ever, but i may not post for a while so have a great week, and i'll let you know how it goes! love amy
oh yeah, this is for micah and whomever else wanted to know... sunday worship was good except i was all ready to be in my own zone and steve asked me to play drums out of no where when pete and i arrived to sunday school (maybe i won't go early anymore). it wasn't that bad, it's just i had my heart set on worshipping in my own seat, not in front of anyone. i merely had to change my heart (which was hard) i did pretty good, but i didn't worship much because i hadn't practiced all the songs, so i was concentrating pretty hard on staying with the group. so for all you who play on worship teams, don't run your team that way. i didn't even get to see seth and jen play for offerring! i was dissappointed. the sermon was really good, we are starting james, so come up and hear!
do you glow?
i have been reading a new book. p.t. gave it to me for graduation, and it is really good. it is called just like Jesus by max lucado. i am currently on chapter six, and it is about worship and preparing our hearts. he talks about matt. 17:1-5 where Jesus takes three disciples up on the mountain and they witness His transfiguration. max lucado uses this as Jesus' time of worship. i know it very well could be, but that part is not very well thought of in context, but it works for his point. the point is, do you prepare for worship? do you pray and get adequate sleep, do you come to church half awake and leave the same way? these things caught my attention because so often i go to church and leave the same way. but one thing i drew from the chapter was the fact that other people notice when we are truly worshipping. Our worship should be authentic and our face should "change" because of it. not litterally become shining like Jesus', but there should be a difference in our outlook. max lucado suggests that our worship can sometimes be evangelistic or the opposite. how we worship can make others want to know more about this God we are praising, or make them indifferent because we look so glum during the service, like we can't wait to leave.
i challenge you to truly prepare your hearts tomorrow and every sunday. it is hard for me too, but if we come into the worship service expecting nothing to change, nothing will. to quote p.t. (yes it's true we really can repeat his sayings like robots, but is that bad?)
"God is doing exactly in your life what you expect Him to by faith, nothing more, nothing less."
we need to expect a lot from God and we need to give a lot to God. so please join me in making an effort to worship God tomorrow in church more than i have lately. i don't know about you, but it is God who changes our hearts, but we must give Him our time and attention.
may you be encouraged in your worship times tomorrow, and let me know how it goes!
i challenge you to truly prepare your hearts tomorrow and every sunday. it is hard for me too, but if we come into the worship service expecting nothing to change, nothing will. to quote p.t. (yes it's true we really can repeat his sayings like robots, but is that bad?)
"God is doing exactly in your life what you expect Him to by faith, nothing more, nothing less."
we need to expect a lot from God and we need to give a lot to God. so please join me in making an effort to worship God tomorrow in church more than i have lately. i don't know about you, but it is God who changes our hearts, but we must give Him our time and attention.
may you be encouraged in your worship times tomorrow, and let me know how it goes!
to my friend
i had a good phone conversation with my friend tonight. we caught up on how things were going and how it seems we are both busy with not a whole lot to do. it was a conversation that made our desire to stay connected stronger. so to you, thanks for your call, have a wonderful and grace filled day! love amy
come one come all!
if you don't have any plans for the 4th, consider this your invitation. every year the town of huntsville always has a big-to-do at the park (where pete and i were married), anyway it lasts all day with fireworks at night. our church which is right across the street has an annual garage sale, with lots of stuff! there is a parade at 9am with cool cars and tractors, we are also having a bbq at the church around 7pm for anyone who wants to come. it is a great time, so come see us and have some fun!
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