"Oh I Want To Know You More" (Steve Green)

Oh Lord, let this be the constant prayer of my heart

I pray for life

Water (Foto Friday)

Visit Rebecca's Blog to see other pictures of water from this week's Foto Friday, or for details on how to participate in next week's challenge!

Black and White (Foto Friday)

Visit Rebecca's blog to see other "Black and White" pictures from this week's challenge or to participate in next week's Foto Friday!

A Slight Breeze (Foto Friday)

I am a novice photographer, and was hard-pressed to find wind with the 100+ degree temperatures we've been having, but did manage to to catch a little breeze. :)

To participate in Foto Friday, visit Rebecca at Renaissance.

Take My Life and Let It Be

We sang this song at church a few weeks ago, and the first part really struck me...
"Take my life and let it be consecrated, Lord, to Thee. Take my moments and my days, let them flow in ceaseless praise."
As I sang these words, I really started to think...what would my moments and days truly look like if they were flowing in ceaseless praise to my Savior and King? Yes, I do try to live my life for Christ, but I don't think I am really that conscious of how I am living my life moment by moment. In the little decisions I make throughout my day, is my life honoring Christ?
"In everything I say and do, let my life honor you, here I am living for your glory"

Rain

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy mother's day to all the mothers out there!

Happy Easter!

On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, "Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: 'The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.' " Then they remembered his words.
-Luke 24:1-8

And the winner is...

Using this random interger generator, I selected a winner for my baby hat giveaway. And the winner is...
Result: 4
Beth!!!
Congratulations Beth, please contact me at anb1122@live.com and let me know what hat you would like!

Baby Hat giveaway!

I make knit baby hats, and am giving one away as a prize through 5 Minutes for Mom's Ultimate Blog Party. The hat is prize number 124, but there are a bunch of other great prizes, so be sure to check it out! If I win a prize, I'd love to win (in order) number 19, 21, 22, 58, 7, or 118, or, in no particular order, number 27, 26, 13, 5, 1, 23, 102, 51, 52, 45, or 77. But really, I think it would be fun to win any prize! I will also be giving away a baby hat separately from the blog party, so leave a comment below stating why you would like to win one, and I'll choose a winner on March 28.

Prayers for a little baby

A childhood friend of mine had her second baby, Mia Amore, on February 4. And this precious baby girl has been in the NICU struggling to breathe on her own and fighting for her life ever since. Please pray for baby Mia, and visit her family's website to learn more about her and see the latest prayer requests.

It's a good thing...

...he wasn't president when he was born, or he just might not have been!

I have never...

Or rather, I have done the things in bold below:

Started your own blog (more than one, actually)

Slept under the stars

Played in a band

Visited Hawaii

Watched a meteor shower

Given more than you can afford to charity

Been to Disneyland/world

Climbed a mountain

Held a praying mantis

Sang a solo

Bungee jumped

Visited Paris

Watched a lightning storm at sea

Taught yourself an art from scratch

Adopted a child

Had food poisoning (probably)

Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty

Seen the Mona Lisa in France

Slept on an overnight train

Had a pillow fight

Hitchhiked

Taken a sick day when you’re not ill

Built a snow fort

Held a lamb (in Peru)

Gone skinny dipping (does it count if I had my suit on?)

Been to a Broadway show in NY

Ran a Marathon

Been in three states at once

Ridden in a gondola in Venice

Seen a total eclipse

Watched a sunrise or sunset

Hit a home run

Been on a Cruise

Seen Niagra Falls in Person

Visited the birthplace of your Ancestors (I wouldn't know where that is, but I have been to Bristow, Oklahoma)

Seen an Amish community

Taught yourself a new language

Had enough money to be truly satisfied (if only money would truly satisfy...)

Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person

Gone rock climbing

Seen Michelangelo’s David

Sung karaoke

Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt

Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant

Visited Africa

Walked on a beach by moonlight (sort of...we didn't walk far)

Been transported in an ambulance

Had your portrait painted

Gone deep sea fishing

Seen the Sistine Chapel in person

Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris

Gone scuba diving or snorkeling (and I was so terrified I almost wouldn't get out of the boat!)

Kissed in the rain

Played in the mud (my favorite childhood pastime!)

Been to Grace Kelley’s grave in Monaco

Gone to a drive-in theater

Been in a movie

Visited the Great Wall of China

Started a business

Taken a martial arts class

Swam in the Mediterranean Sea

Visited Russia

Served at a soup kitchen (homeless shelter?)

Sold Girl Scout cookies (I've bought them)

Gone whale watching

Gotten flowers for no reason

Donated blood, platelets or plasma (I do it every 8 weeks)

Gone sky diving

Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp

Bounced a check

Saved a favorite childhood toy (I saved nearly all of them, actually)

Visited the Lincoln Memorial

Eaten Caviar

Pieced a quilt

Stood in Times Square

Toured the Everglades

Been fired from a job

Seen the Changing of the Guards in London

Broken a bone (my 2nd toe)

Been on a speeding motorcycle

Seen the Grand Canyon in person

Published a book

Visited the Vatican

Bought a brand new car

Walked in Jerusalem

Had your picture in the newspaper

Read the entire Bible

Visited the White House

Killed and prepared my own meat

Had chickenpox

Saved someone’s life

Sat on a jury

Met someone famous

Joined a book club

Lost a loved one

Had a baby

Seen the Alamo in person

Swam in the Great Salt Lake

Been involved in a law suit

Owned a cell phone

Been stung by a bee

What is this country coming to???

My older sister lives in LA. So on Friday, she's driving her car, and a lady runs a stop sign, causing my sister to hit the lady's car. Now, the lady doesn't speak any English (my sister speaks fluent Spanish, however, so they can still converse) and doesn't even have a driver's license. She also has no auto insurance. My sister calls the police, but when they arrive, they refuse to make an accident report. So basically, they do nothing, when this lady is here illegally, driving without a license, and has no car insurance?!?! At the very least they should have written her a ticket and impounded the car. Or at least made an accident report! Now that is jacked up!!!

a word of life

"God is higher than anything and anyone,
outshining everything you can see in the skies.
Who can compare with God, our God,
so majestically enthroned,
Surveying his magnificent
heavens and earth?
He picks up the poor from out of the dirt,
rescues the wretched who've been thrown out with the trash,
Seats them among the honored guests,
a place of honor among the brightest and best.
He gives childless couples a family,
gives them joy as the parents of children.
Hallelujah!"
(Psalm 113:4-9, The Message)

Haha

The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), the FBI, and the CIA want to see who is best at catching perps. So a rabbit is released into the forest, and each of them has to catch it.
The CIA goes in. They place animal informants throughout the forest. They question all plant and mineral witnesses. After months of extensive investigation, they conclude that rabbits do not exist.
The FBI goes in. After two weeks with no leads, they burn the forest, killing everything in it, including the rabbit.
The LAPD goes in. They come out two hours later, dragging a bruised mountain lion behind them. The mountain lion is yelling, "Okay! Okay! I'm a rabbit! I'm a rabbit!"

Joy to the World

"Your Father loves you!"

About a month ago the pastor at my church gave a sermon on finding God in difficult times and how He helps us through trials and is there in our pain. At the end Pastor Dane told the story about Steven Curtis Chapman's youngest daughter Maria getting run over (and killed) by his 17-year-old son Will back in May, the night before Will was to graduate highschool. And Pastor Dane said that when Will ran over Maria, he ran and grabbed his sister and held her and screamed for his parents for help. And since they live in the country, a helicopter came to airlift Maria to Vanderbilt. And as Steven went to get into the helicopter with Maria, knowing she was probably going to die because of the severity of her injuries, he called out, "Will! Your father loves you!" And when asked about it later, he said, "I didn't want to lose two children that night." And when Will was asked how he has gotten through this most difficult time, he said through the love and support of his parents and family. And Pastor Dane said it's like that with God. In the midst of our most difficult times, He's calling out to us, "Your Father loves you!"

The End of the Spear

I watched this movie, about Jim Elliott, Nate Saint, and the others who gave their lives witnessing to the Waodani people in Ecaudor in the 1950's. I know the story well; I've known it since I was little. But for some reason, while watching this movie, something struck me differently...at one point, Nate Saint's little boy asks him if he will defend himself if the Waodani attack. And he says something like, "No, we can't. The Waodani aren't ready to meet the Lord. We are." And just like that, these five brave missionaries gave their lives, not fighting back when the Waodani attacked them, even though they had guns with them. Because they were ready to meet Christ, and they knew that their attackers were not.
Given the same opportunity, I don't know if I could do the same. I can only hope so.