AHHH I've fallen behind :O

So mad at myself because I haven't been updating this, but I started and then hit the end of the semester crunch. Which wouldn't have been to bad, but I waited til the last possible minute to finish my 20+ page senior thesis!!! It's all done now though :) (BIG sigh)

So I was doing a countdown to Christmas and well missed a lot of days, :( But I'll start a week long one with some more verses! :)

Today is 7 days (one week) until Christmas!!! WHOO HOO
The verse is Luke 2:25-38 (NIV)

"Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was on him. ²⁶ It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. ²⁷Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the Law required, ²⁸ Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying:

 ²⁹ “Sovereign Lord, as you have promised,
   you may now dismiss^[d] your servant in peace.
³⁰ For my eyes have seen your salvation,
 ³¹ which you have prepared in the sight of all nations:
³² a light for revelation to the Gentiles,
   and the glory of your people Israel.”

 ³³ The child’s father and mother marveled at what was said about him. ³⁴ Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother: “This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, ³⁵ so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too.”

 ³⁶ There was also a prophet, Anna, the daughter of Penuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old; she had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, ³⁷ and then was a widow until she was eighty-four.^[e] She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying. ³⁸ Coming up to them at that very moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem."

Isaiah 9

"For to us a child is born, 
   to us a son is given, 
   and the government will be on his shoulders. 
And he will be called 
   Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, 
   Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 
⁷ Of the greatness of his government and peace 
   there will be no end. 
He will reign on David’s throne 
   and over his kingdom, 
establishing and upholding it 
   with justice and righteousness 
   from that time on and forever. 
The zeal of the LORD Almighty 
   will accomplish this." Isaiah 9:6-7


I don't know much about the context of this verse, but still wanted to share it with you guys! This guy wrote about the verses so go check it out! :) 
http://revbickers.blogspot.com/2010/12/isaiah-96-7-coming-king.html

Malachi 3:1 and the Trinity?

23 days left until our Saviors birth! :)
 “I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come,” says the LORD Almighty." Malachi 3:1 NIV
Here God is talking about sending John. Although this is in the Old Testament we find that God is saying there is someone to be sent to prepare the way for HIM, to announce the coming of God. In the New Testament we find out this is John and God will come as Jesus. Later Jesus will proclaim in Matthew 11:10-15 that John is who God was talking about in this passage. Isn't it wonderful that God can make promises and covenants with us that we will never see but in the future it greatly helped people! What is God saying to you now that may be used in the future?


I know this is not what the verse is getting out, but I currently relate to one part. See I'm in a History of Christianity class and we have discussed the Trinity and different views on it. I'm still confused about what I'm supposed to believe. I KNOW that it's God, the Son, and the Holy Spirit and I truly believe that! But how do you wrap your mind around 3 people all in 1? I mean to us it may seem impossible! In todays verse God says 'prepare the way before me' which is the Savior he promised Adam and Eve, Jesus who came many years later. This is just one verse we can look back on and see the connection between God and Jesus, God was his father, but God was Jesus as this verse I think clearly points out. 
I never questioned how the Trinity worked before my History of Christians class this fall, but since we've discussed it I continue to think about it. How does the Trinity work exactly? With children's missions this is especially hard when kids wonder about this! One way my mom has explained it to me is that God is like my dad: he's my grandma's son, my moms husband, and my dad BUT he's still ONE person. In one article we read for class we discussed one opinion of God being a person who wears 3 different hats: God, Jesus, Holy Spirit. And sometimes he wears one, others two hats, and at times all three. This makes it a little easier to understand the complexity of the Trinity, but it's still not a full explanation because God's not more one than the other...
How do YOU view the Trinity?

Christmas Countdown: 24 days

I'm going to do a countdown to Christmas, my favorite part of the year! I found a site that has verses for each day and I wanted to share them with you day by day. Here is the verse for today:
"Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. ¹² When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped with fear. ¹³ But the angel said to him: “Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him John. ¹⁴ He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth, ¹⁵ for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to take wine or other fermented drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even before he is born. ¹⁶ He will bring back many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God. ¹⁷ And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.” Luke 1:11-17 NIV


How wonderful is our God? He blessed Elizabeth with John! Our Lord blesses you with many things as well! What things has God blessed in your life? I know it's hard to think of things when we are living our everyday life...there are bills to pay, work with people we don't necessarily want to work with, school, all those extra clubs and meetings we have, and trying to have a social life...but God is in all of these things with you and he is BLESSING YOU!!! Please take a minute and think of the wonderful things God has blessed you with...
God has blessed me with A LOT!!!
*I have a wonderful fiance who supports me in everything I do
*I have a job! As hard as it is to go to work after a long day at school, I HAVE a job, I can pay my bills, I have a place to rest my head and food to eat!
*I have amazing parents that although it was probably a pain to raise me, they have continually supported me. They were at all my school events, this meant they canceled their own things to be there for ME!
*I have my grandfather in Heaven watching over me! Although he wasn't here to see me graduate and won't be at my wedding, and never got to hear me play my clarinet, I know he is looking down and smiling at me.
*I still have my wonderful grandma with me! Although she's been sick a lot the past few years, she's still with us and she (if the Lord wills) will see me walk down the isle for my wedding!
*I have a close knit family...although we all have our differences there's no separating us...people think I have a large family, but it's just cause we are so close I know all my 2nd and 3rd cousins! 
*I have 2 wonderful brothers and though we may fight and have our difference, I know if anyone ever hurt me, BOTH would be here in a heart beat
*I have TWO adorable nephews that amaze me everyday how much they are growing!
*I have a wonderful community of supporters!


There are SO many other things I can list here...but I want to know what blessings you have in your life! Please leave comments :)