Deck the halls....

We decorated our Christmas tree today!

Water To My Soul

My heart was just feeling heavy this afternoon. It was over alot of things, but in the end God is so faithful to encourage. I sat down with my laptop and Bible and listened to these two songs and my heart was just refreshed by the Spirit.

Fireproof

My mom and I went to go see Fireproof on Friday night. It was a wonderful movie and I cried several times throughout the movie. It just had such incredible lessons, and such a beautiful story about marriage (how ironic that was the topic, since that's been on my mind recently!). I don't want to give anything away!!! But it was just SO GOOD! :) I would definitely recommend it. If someone needs somebody to go to it with I'll go again lol.

Bargains!!

Go check out: www.vistaprint.com for AMAZING deals on 2009 calendars that you can make yourself!! Upload your own pictures and they'll insert them for you!! :) All you have to do is pay for shipping!!!!

Proverbs 31 Wife

I spent some time surfing blogs tonight while we were watching a movie and I found myself at several blogs of mothers who had posted/commented/highlighted Proverbs 31 as their "theme verse." I also saw a couple of blogs of girls my age who said in their profile that they wanted to be a "Proverbs 31 wife." I thought that was so cool and I was so encouraged to find other girls like me who already are striving to become Godly women that we might serve our husbands well (whenever that stage of life happens!). It's hard to sum up all of my thoughts on this topic and I know that since I'm not married I really am clueless lol. And yes, I know I'm only 17. I have no idea if I really ever will get married. Yes, I know that marriage isn't everything. Yes I know that it's one of the hardest things ever. BUT it is also one of God's highest callings, something He started way back in the Garden of Eden. So anyways, I did write a poem, trying to express myself. It doesn't even begin to do the job but.... it's something!!1

Proverbs 31 Wife

This calling God gives, to be a mother and wife
My heart hopes and longs that this may be my life

I pray that I'll be all he wants in a wife

That I'll comfort, respect him even in the midst of strife

Though it feels far away, my teen years are nearly over
I have so much to learn to be the woman I hope for

With God's help may I be this “wife of noble character”
One who is faithful, loving, and a very hardworker

A woman whose words are gentle and quiet
A mother who teaches her children with wisdom

May my arms be wide open to welcome the orphans
That Christ's love might be shown through the beauty of adoption

I look to this Scripture and pray it will guide
My prayers to the Savior, in whom I will confide

My prayers, hopes, and dreams for that season of life
Where God calls me to marriage, to be a Godly wife.

Molly 11/27/08

Thanksgiving Post 2

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving as I hope all of you did!

We started our day with the Macy's Day parade. Here's most of the clan minus Jon and mom (who's taking the picture!):


So at our house we do not have an ice maker. Nope. We're old-fashioned. We have the ice cube trays that we refill several times a day. It's annoying (but I'm thankful for a freezer in which to keep ice and water to make ice with!). So when we visit my aunt and uncle's house we LOVE using their ice maker. I had to laugh when I saw Noah filling his glass up this morning (on his knees I might add! maybe he was tired????) so I snapped a picture.

Our family gathered around the table. I love timers on camaras!!! :)

Playing euchre!! After a little bit I had my strategy down and was quite pleased to keep up with the "euchre experts" in the family.

The other euchre table!

Thankful Thursday

How appropriate that Thankful Thursday is on Thanksgiving?!! So now you get to hear all about what I'm thankful for on this day of giving thanks to our great God! I'm just going to use this to summarize my thoughts from today as I've pondered all that God has done in my life. The things will probably be redundant as I've blogged about all of them in the past but oh well! This post is for me and my heart as I praise God for all He is! I find that I take for granted these incredible, core parts of my faith and this should not be!!

1. At our girls bible study we've been reading Romans. Anna and I sit and look at eachother, just trying to fathom how and why He would possibly forgive us and then LOVE us! How amazing is that?!!

"But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation. "

Psalm 13:5

Show the wonder of your great love, you who save by your right hand those who take refuge in you from their foes. Keep me as the apple of your eye; hide me in the shadow of your wings."

Psalm 17:7-8

2. This season of my life has, along with many other lessons, been a time of finding hope. Through scripture and words of encouraging people I've come to realize that as Christians, we are never left without hope. I'm so thankful for that!! It is almost healing to have the promise of hope when one's heart has been left wounded by the disappointments, harshness, and pain of this world. I find comfort and rest in knowing that there is hope for a future, hope for a new day, a second chance. My heart is so much more joyful and my outlook so much more positive since the Lord revealed this great hope to me.

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

Jeremiah 29:11

3. I am so thankful for the beautiful body of Christ. It has been so amazing as I've gotten older to see firsthand what it means to be apart of this body. Serving and being served. Rejoicing for and with others. Crying on their shoulders and letting them cry on mine. It is just an incredible group of people, pieced together like a jigsaw puzzle, linked by each person's gifts and personalities, and saturated by the love of Christ in all of our hearts.

"Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man's gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully."

Romans 12:4-8

4. And, lastly, I'm thankful that when I think about the past year I see so clearly the kisses from heaven and fingerprints of God ALL OVER!! HE has changed me, stripped me of idols, and taught me despite my sin, rebellion, pride, and selfishness. He could just leave me yet He didn't! He chose to teach and guide me that I may look back on my life and give Him glory saying, "My gracious Father, look what You have done!! Great are you Lord and worthy to be praised!!!"

Blessings,

Molly

Thanksgiving Post 1

We drove to Aunt Diane and Uncle Dan's house last night. We started out the evening with a yummy dinner (i will be excercising when I get home lol!). Dad had printed out some Thanksgiving/turkey/duck riddles and we had a contest. Noah and I tied for 1st. We finished the night with some board games, darts, foosball (sp?), and the new Indiana Jones movie.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Bloggy friends, I pray that you all have a happy thanksgiving!!! May the Lord fill you with joy and peace, and may He bless your families greatly! :)

We have so much to be thankful for!

And, I stumbled upon this Scripture passage this morning and love it!

"3May all the gifts and benefits that come from God our Father, and the Master, Jesus Christ, be yours.
4-6Every time I think of you—and I think of you often!—I thank God for your lives of free and open access to God, given by Jesus. There's no end to what has happened in you—it's beyond speech, beyond knowledge. The evidence of Christ has been clearly verified in your lives.
7-9Just think—you don't need a thing, you've got it all! All God's gifts are right in front of you as you wait expectantly for our Master Jesus to arrive on the scene for the Finale. And not only that, but God himself is right alongside to keep you steady and on track until things are all wrapped up by Jesus. God, who got you started in this spiritual adventure, shares with us the life of his Son and our Master Jesus. He will never give up on you. Never forget that."
1 Corinthians 1:3-9 Message Version

Cleanin' House!

I was in a cleaning mood today so this evening I tackled my bedroom. I literally emptied everything but the clothes on hangers out of the closet and reorganized. I was so surprised to see how my busy life had let my room get so out of control! I used to keep my room meticulously clean. But.. I suppose I've gotten used to the little pile of clothes in the corner, my stack of papers on the dresser, and my stack of shoes on the floor of the closet. So I cleaned it all up! There's not one stray item in my room. Yet I know in another couple of months I'll have to do the same thing because I won't keep it cleaned up!

I started thinking about life, sin, and forgiveness. I thought about how many times I commit a sin, repent, God forgives me, and I do it again. I do this ALL THE TIME! Sometimes, I'll go awhile before repenting, getting comfortable with my sin, and then God has to do in my heart what I did in my room. He has to help me dig through the piles of garbage in my heart and clean out to make room for Him again. When my room is clean I walk in and feel at home, secure, and peaceful. When I walk in and see piles of stuff on the floor I just want to leave- it's dirty and reminds me of the lack of care I've given to my room! The same happens when I study my heart. I look in sometimes and am disgusted and just want to leave. Yet God says, "Molly, I will forgive you of ALL of those things! I'll be here with you and will help you work through it all! I'm here for you, my daughter, and love you for who you are!" Praise God for His forgiveness. He just astounds me with His grace and mercy. We do not deserve such forgiveness. We deserve the death that Jesus died. Yet that is not what God chose! Christ died for US! He bore the pain and suffering for US- sinners! When I think upon this wonderous love I can't begin to comprehend it. I'm so thankful for such an incredible God!!

"In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace."

Ephesians 1:7

Fabulous Weekend!

I am incredibly frustrated with the computer at the moment. My laptop is in the shop getting fixed (long story!) and I really miss it. Anyway, I can't get the pics to post in any other order and I really want to go to bed. But I really want to post after spending time getting the pics ready so here you go!! lol!

Noah had a basketball game Friday night and they won!! Good job buddy! :) (picture of him at bottom of post!)

Sat. morning we braved the cold weather and took family pictures! They turned out great! We were so thankful Spencer was willing to freeze right along with us to take the picture! :)

Sat. evening we saw Iona come home! She's SO beautiful!

Chloe and I after our walk (me with no makeup..can't believe I'm putting this on my blog lol!)

Looking MUCH better than the first pic!
Noah at his game!

It was just a really good weekend!!! 1 more day until Thanksgiving break! Woohoo!

Beautiful Love

>"22Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. 23For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. 24Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.

25Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her 26to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, 27and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. 28In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29After all, no one ever hated his own body, but he feeds and cares for it, just as Christ does the church— 30for we are members of his body. 31"For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh." 32This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church. 33However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband."
Ephesians 5:22-32

Tonight at Bible study we had a great discussion on marriage out of Ephesians. I came home and really felt the Lord inspiring me to write in response. The talk of marriage always excites me and I really love how Paul describes it as a "profound mystery." Because I don't get it lol. But I do know that, when built on Christ, it can be beautiful and amazing. I LOVE seeing couples, specifically ones who have been married for awhile, walking and holding hands. That, to me, is just a precious example of a marriage that has stayed strong through the years. That they have chosen to stand strong and lean on eachother and God. I know this may not be true but that's what I always think of when I see people like that. Anyway, here's the poem I wrote. May it bring glory to God, because He is truly the author of these. I'm merely the "communicator" of His whisperings of the poem in my heart.
So... here it is!

Beautiful Love

It’s a beautiful image
Just like God and His Son
Displayed in a man and a woman
Who are united as one.

Those sacred vows bind
Their bodies and hearts
No other love may they find,
Never till death do they part.

The cry of her heart
Is met by this man
To be affirmed, loved
Just as written in God’s plan

She submits to her husband
And trusts in his care
That his judgement is good
That he’s sought God in prayer.

They trek up the mountains
Help one another through
They walk down in deep valleys
They stay steadfast and true

Through the thick and the thin
Lots of smiles and tears
Through the cycles of sin
They grow old through the years

With children a plenty
And gray hairs to show
They walk hand in hand
The path of life they well know.

He turns to his wife
And he still can find beauty
Her face full of life
Her heart devoted to him fully.

“I love you”, he says
And she ponders the words
45 years of wedded bliss
Is rarely ever heard.

“It wasn’t easy, my darling,
But I’ve loved every minute.
Your love has changed me forever,
I’ll never regret this commitment.”

May the beauty of marriage
Never be lost in this world
May the value of a kiss
Not be cheaply sold.

This profound mystery,
This creation of God
Is not meant to be forgotten
But held high by everyone.

As we look forward to marriage
To that season of life,
Look at the beauty in the Bible
Of God’s plan for husband and wife!

11/20/08
Molly

Thankful Thursday

1. Joy- I have felt tangible evidence of my prayers for this being answered this past week. I had been praying that the Lord would fill my with joy- joy from Him!! This will sound weird but I've felt like a different person this week. At first I attributed it to the fact that I just got back from a retreat and that I was just riding the high from that. But as the week has gone on, my joy has not diminished. So I began thinking of other reasons of what I had done to make myself so happy. Of course, the answer is NOTHING! Nothing I did has given me more joy. It's all God. Praise you Jesus! The joy of the Lord is present always, it's not a "happiness" dependent on circumstances.
2. Precious precious precious family and friends. Thank you to each person who loves me SO well. I appreciate and love each of you so much! You bring out the best in me, make me laugh, and make my life so much fuller. I wouldn't be the same without you!!
3. Awesome youth pastor- Our church has been SOO blessed by incredible pastors. Pastor Dave, my youth pastor, is phenomenal. He is so dedicated to us. I had lunch with him yesterday and realized again just how fortunate I am to be in a church that has such great leadership and to have a youth pastor who cares about us and what's going on in our lives.
4. This one is random. I turned on the radio in the back file room at work the other day (i don't like being back there by myself without music- it's too quiet lol!). Anyway, I turned it on and Christmas music started playing!!! :) That made me so happy. I love the Christmas season. So I'm thankful that the holidays are quickly approaching. I have my little list of gifts that I need to prepare/buy and I'm getting excited.
5. 6 more days till Thanksgiving Break!!! Yaay!!!
6. And... it's time to go to work. So i'm thankful for a job to go to! :) I love it there!

Have a great Thursday! :)

My Christmas Princesses

I have two little Christmas Princesses this year. I don't know where they live. I don't know their names. I don't know what they look like or exactly how old they are. But i love them just the same. I went shopping last week for them and had the best time picking out adorable pink things for these precious girls. My little Christmas Princesses are two of the thousands of children who will receive gifts from Operation Christmas Child, run by Samaritan's Purse. It's a project that collects shoeboxes full of gifts for children worldwide. You can pick if you want to give to a boy or girl and what age you want. Then you find a shoebox, and fill it with gifts (they have a list of items on the website). You drop it off at your assigned location (also on the website) and they deliver it to a child who wouldn't get ANYTHING at all for Christmas. You are their Christmas hero. IT IS NOT TOO LATE to participate!! It is SO worth it!

I had picked some stuff up at Meijer's, but was in Target the next day. As I walked through their dollar section I was elated to find Disney Princess things for "my girls!" After that, I started referring to these girls as my Christmas Princesses.

If you are interested in doing Operation Christmas Child, go to http://www.samaritanspurse.org/index.php/OCC/ They have everything you need to know on there. Drop-off runs until next Monday. That's a whole 6 days from now, and we have a whole weekend left!

Let us not forget to give this holiday season. In the past I've gotten too wrapped up in the getting part. This year, I hope that I give much more than i get.

I cannot get over these socks!! They are so cute. I kept envisioning Claudia in them and was wishing I could send her a box of Christmas gifts too! :)

Devotional Recommendation

Girls,

This post is for you!! :) I know it's always a struggle for me to find good devotional books that aren't too cheesy and superficial. I went to our local Christian bookstore in search of a new devotional book, really wanting something. I must have stood in the devotional aisle for 10 minutes trying to decide what to buy. I was praying, "Lord, there's so many to choose, which one do you want me to read?!!! I'm getting overwhelmed here!!" I ended up buying Pure, by Rebecca St. James. If you have not heard of this woman, she is amazing. She spoke at the purity ball I went to with my Dad a couple of years ago and she is really inspirational. Her passion is purity, and saving ourselves for our husbands. I know that I tend to disregard alot of the purity books, just because they say the same thing over and over again and I'm too prideful to admit that it wouldn't hurt me to read another one. Anyway, this devotional does not just focus on physical purity. Alot of us girls do not have that pressure at the moment. I'm not dating anyone so that's not a huge issue/temptation for me at this point in my life. However, I can focus on purity of the heart and mind. This is what Rebecca St. James talks about in her book. Purity of heart, mind, and body. So far, I'm REALLY enjoying it! The devotionals are pretty short, so I've been supplementing with a study of Isaiah which is really good too. So.... hope that someone benefits from me sharing this! :)

PS- if you haven't listened to Rebecca St. James' song Wait for Me it's really good too! :) A great song to pray when you're praying for your future spouse! :)

Babysitting Week!!

It's been a great week so far!! Lots of babysitting, which is one of my favorite things to do! I've taken my camara along and attempted to capture some of their adorableness on film. It's not really possible but it's as good as I can get without having you meet them!

So these are my buddies: :)

Grant:

He also has a little brother who was asleep when I pulled my camara out. They also just got a referral for a little girl from Korea! Yaay!! I'm so excited for them!

Grant is SUCH a fun little boy. I babysit for them every other Monday night. I get to put them to bed too, which is SO fun. His prayers are precious. They sound like this:

"Dear dod,

tanks Mommy

tanks Daddy

tanks mailman

tanks Daddy

tanks Alex

tanks books

tanks food

tanks Daddy

tanks house

tanks Daddy

tanks toys

tanks Daddy

AaaammEN!"

Charlie:

Also an ADORABLE little boy! :) He's obsessed with the movie "Cars" and somehow we managed to play for 3 whole hours with just his Cars collection and Little People. The other hour was spent eating lunch and taking him to see Chloe (or Tolee as he calls her!). It was so weird (and fun) to be driving with a little kid in the backseat of my car. I felt very old, yet it made me excited to think that this could (hopefully!) be my life someday, a precious 3 year old in the back seat chattering away about Cars, Grandma, Papa, and Tolee (Chloe). Fun to think about.

Catch up

Wow. I looked at my posts and realized it's been two whole weeks since I've blogged. And it's been almost three since I've actually blogged about life. I'm not really sure why I haven't blogged. I could say that I've been busy (true) but then I should have plenty to blog about. I think I've realized the past month just how incredibly precious friendships are. So I think that the main reason I haven't blogged is because I've really just treasured my time actually talking with people and not really enjoying the computer world as much. Anyhow, there's my reasoning!

So to catch up on life.

1. I'm done with the ACT for now! Yaay! My score went up a point but i'm still a point below what I want. It's okay though! I can always bring it up another point. I'm fairly confident of that.

2. We took a trip to Ole Miss to see the college. It was a fun trip with lots of laughs (thank you Mrs. Brown for going with us!! lol!). I loved this college as well. It has SOO many amazing opportunities and some really neat people. It was good to see another college but now I'm more confused than ever on where I want to go. There's so many pros and cons to all of them! But... I have a year to decide.

Gotta love the scarves.... thanks Mrs. Thomas! :)

3. The Juvinalls (roll your mouse over their name to go to their blog) headed to Ethiopia on Friday. They've already had some travel difficulties but are in Dubai right now, and should arrive in Ethiopia soon. They're getting back on Saturday with their precious daughter Iona and I am so excited. I'm going to lose it when they walk in lol. Definitely planning on bringing kleenex. So hop on over to their blog and be praying for them!!

4. I went on a youth retreat this past weekend with church and had an amazing time. It was a great weekend. I always have trouble coming back from retreats because I SO love being with people and coming home is kind of a letdown but I've stayed busy today and will be very busy this week babysitting kiddos Monday-Wednesday so the week should go by fast! Anyway, back to the retreat I think the thing that God most convicted me of is in my study this morning of James 4:1-10 which is basically about prayer. Verses 2-3 say, "You want something but don't get it. You kill and covet but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures." I was just convicted of all the times that I just don't ask at all because my faith is too small, as well as the times that I selfishly ask for things. This has especially been true the past couple of months when the Lord has made evident His plans for the next year (which is exactly opposite what I wanted!). It has been a tough month but God has shown His faithfulness through it all. This weekend was just a good time of focus and renewal, a reminder to put God's kingdom above my own. His plans above my plans. His desires above my desires. To seek Him first with all of my heart!!

4. We met Aunt Diane and Uncle Dan for Monical's pizza tonight. Yummy...

5. And just a funny thing that i just remembered. I wrote a paper last week about Slavery for my English Literature class and the teacher made this comment, "Molly, Great work! You had several interesting and valid points. Try to write more formally in the future......" I looked back on it after I'd received my grade and realized that it sort of resembled my blog post style. I nearly laughed out loud. I did too much blogging there for awhile and forgot how to write a formal paper.

6. Pics from our small group girls cookie party. We got together to make cookies and messed up the dough because we got busy talking (i think that's what happened at least!). So they wouldn't really make good cookies. Not to be robbed of our dessert, we got out a pan and made a cookie cake. Add some ice cream, chocolate sauce, and sprinkles and we were good to go! :)

Love these girls!!! Thank you Lord for these friendships!

7. I just got new updates on my sweet Claudia girl. I just cannot get these sweet kids off of my mind. A few tears trickled down my cheeks when I opened up the email with these pics in it. This precious girl who absolutely captured my heart is growing up without her family. And I could go on and on. I don't know what God has in store for me but I know that these kids are etched into my heart somehow. And it makes it hard to sit here and do school all day when I know that they need help!

I love you, Claudia! I pray that someday i'll hold you in my arms again and hear your enchanting laugh. I pray that your mommas there are teaching you about Jesus, our faithful God, and the love that He has for you. He is your Father!! He says in John 14:18 "I will not leave you as orphans, I will come to you." He has adopted you, sweet girl! He has broken through the bondage and set you free, giving you a family like no other through Christ and the church. I wish that I could give you the earthly family that you need but I can't do that. All I can do is pray, for we cannot receive what we do not ask for!

Have a great week! I'm determined to keep up on this now. I think I really missed blogging...

Really Sweet

Just really like this song. Alot of adoptive families have used it in their slideshows of their kids which makes me cry because it fits so perfectly. Anyway, just felt like sharing it! My brother is sitting here teasing me for liking this song lol. I'm a girl. What can I say?! We're supposed to like sweet songs about love!!!

Begone Unbelief
by
Undelible Grace

Begone, unbelief,
My Savior is near,
And for my relief
Will surely appear;
By prayer let me wrestle,
And He will perform;
With Christ in the vessel,
I smile at the storm.

Though dark be my way,
Since He is my Guide,
'Tis mine to obey,
'Tis His to provide;
Though cisterns be broken,
And creatures all fail,
The word He hath spoken
Shall surely prevail.

Chorus:
Begone unbelief, the Savior is here.
Begone unbelief, the Savior is here.
Begone unbelief, the Savior is here.
Though cisterns be broken, and creatures all fail.
The Word He has spoken will surely prevail.
The Word He has spoken will surely prevail.

His love, in time past,
Forbids me to think
He'll leave me at last
In trouble to sink:
Each sweet Ebenezer
I have in review
Confirms His good pleasure
To help me quite through.

Why should I complain
Of want or distress,
Temptation or pain?
He told me no less;
The heirs of salvation,
I know from His Word,
Through much tribulation
Must follow their Lord.

How bitter that cup
No heart can conceive,
Which He drank quite up,
That sinners might live!
His way was much rougher
And darker than mine;
Did Christ, my Lord, suffer,
And shall I repine?

Since all that I meet
Shall work for my good,
The bitter is sweet,
The medicine, food;
Though painful at present,
'Twill cease before long,
And then, oh, how pleasant
The conqueror's song!

This song was introduced to our church this morning and i LOVE it. The words are so powerful, a balm to the soul, an encouragment to press on for the victory and sing the conqueror's song!! We all know what our cracked cisterns are, the parts of our heart that ache and ache, even when we're happy. We try to fill them up with things of this world, attempting to supress the pain. We cover them up, not letting anyone else see. But the Father sees our hearts. He sees the silent, hidden tears shed when nobody else is looking. He gives us the everlasting fountain of life that will fill the cracked cisterns to overflowing! What great hope is that?! Thank you Jesus for your hope and love! Help me to believe, even when it's hard and it seems that the path is hopeless. Help me to trust, when the way is unclear! Fill our cisterns with living water, that we may be consumed with YOU!