Expecting our fourth child.

Yesterday, I found out that I am pregnant. I cannot believe it though. I was not really expecting it to happen any time soon. But God is so good. I am really excited. It has been almost two years now since my last pregnancy which ended terribly in a still born baby boy. However, I am so optimistic about this pregnancy. God has not forgotten me. I just know that HE is up to something awesome. I am expecting a lot this year. And, I just know that God will answer my prayers in HIS time. I am learning through a series that we are in now called "Could God be Too late?", and of course the answer is no and never. I am learning that sometimes the delays that we encounter are God's ways of increasing our patience and faith while HE is working out for us the details to the things we have asked for.
We serve a God who is always on time. HE just knows how to make a grand entrance. HE is glorious in all of HIS glory.
I sometimes look at my situations and say how but God looks at it differently and says learning, maturing, and building up character in us. HE is just so amazing. So, yea I am pregnant now and amazed at how God is so good to me. I have to reflect and say thank you to HIM for all HE has done and will continue to do in my life. I am just so thrilled and overwhelmed with joy.

Thank You God for everything.

A Great Weekend with My Husband.

This past weekend my husband and I got a chance to have some alone time by ourselves without having our children. My closest friend, Jacqueline, had taken my children for us while we had some alone time. It has been seven long years since my husband and I had some alone time or had a date since we started having children. It was so weird because for the first time I did not have anything to say. ( And, I am a talkative person.) I was speechless.
It was hard because all our conversation has been around the children and about superficial conversations. But eventually, we started talking and it was fun. It had been so long that we did not what felt like to be without children. I have to admit it felt good to be without my children for the past weekend. We had laughed and just enjoyed being around each other. We were like teenagers. It felt good to be with my husband and not have to worry about the children for a change.
It is so important to schedule the date nights or weekend get aways because if not you both will wake-up one day and truly not know each other. I felt refreshed and anew. It was great. We will definitely be scheduling more date nights and weekend get aways together. And, now I have a good support system with my friend where we will trade off with each other. It is really great.

Awesome weekend. We will definitely be having more.

Too Many Distractions

I have been so distracted these past couple of months that I hardly had time to keep up with my journal writings. I was telling a friend of mine of how I just did not want to write because it started to become another chore. And, when my mind started flooding with thoughts of what to write I just did not have the time to sit down and write them down.
In this life we live in today, there are too many distractions and not enough time to just silence the noise externally and internally. And, come to find out the most distractions or I should say the most noise level is internally. I find that we need to silence that noise more than any other noise else where. I find myself when it is time to wind down that is when my mind become filled with the pouring in of the noise. Noise of projects not getting down to finding schools for our children.
At times, I find myself thinking of nonsense things as well. It is amazing how our minds just wander aimlessly from one thought to another. So, I have decided to silence the nonsense noise. I will start spending 5 minutes away from external distractions and sit quietly and shut off the internal noise. And, eventually I will work my way up to 15 minutes. I will start to mediate on God's word in my quiet time.

Being filled with Joy.

It has been a long while since I last wrote. A lot has happened. For one my family and I have relocated once again. Now, we are living in Houston, TX and pray this will be the last place we stay. Living here in Houston is really awesome. I am enjoying every minute of it. My husband loves his new job here in Houston. He is learning so much. He is happy as well.

Moving somewhere new is always difficult because we were finally getting settled in our old place which was Georgia. We had purchased a home and was getting use to being homeowners and now we have up and moved. I cannot believe it. We left a lot of good people behind who we really truly loved. However, we are making new friends here. I have to admit I am loving the weather here. In Houston, there is really not a winter here. I had barely wore a coat but mostly light jackets or sweaters. I am really enjoying it here. I really believed that God's Hand was all over this move.

And most of all, we are in a good bible teaching church. I mean I am truly excited to go to church and receive the Word. I have learned so much these past 4months that I have in my entire life. I can actually see the goodness of the Lord in my life. And, when I read HIS word it comes alive to me. I can actually open my bible and understand every word that is being read. It is like I am seeing for the very first time, and I am loving every minute of it. I am devouring God's word like ever before. My heart is overwhelmed with so much joy that I cannot contain it all.

I am truly happy!!!! Really happy!!!

We are laughing more. Just smiling more and loving each other more than ever. And, I am thankful to God for everything.

What is this relationship doing to me?

Like I have said in my previous journal writings, I have been going through a transformation in my heart, mind, and soul. I have been going through a cleansing process of my own soul. I have been listening to series of teaching sermons that have been dealing with the renewing of the mind. Getting our minds into totally submission to God's word. And, I have been looking at my thought process and seeing how I am just not there yet in focusing in on God's Word. It is a process and it does take effort to get our minds into submission in God's Word. For me, I am truly hearing and seeing God's Word come a live to me like the first time. It is like the veil has been lifted from my eyes and I can see.

When I listen to these series, I see that the scriptures are not being misuse for gain but are helping us to see our selves and how it is imperative to live a life for Christ. We are living in dangerous times; especially those in the church. I feel like and see that several churches in American are not truly teaching the whole scriptures or the whole gospel. Instead they are misinterpretation scriptures for their own agenda. And, that to me is dangerous especially if we are professing that we are Christians. Many of these churches are fleecing, raping, robbing their sheep of the true message of Christ. They are robbing their sheep of the ability to truly walk God's Word out in full light in their lives.

The churches today are so busy teaching a word of name it, claim it, believe it to receive messages that the people are literally dying spiritually. That to me is sad because to me than we will never truly be free. Instead, we are still in bondage. When we go to church, the Word is suppose to convict us to be better instead we say "that word was encouraging I feel good".

When Christ came to the earth HE did not teach a feel good message instead HE told us that we are sinful and need to change. As Christians we are to put on the new man daily. We are in a daily battle spiritual with the enemy and so of us are not even ready to fight nor prepare to fight.

I have been focusing on King Solomon and how God came to him and this scripture rings out to me. Of how God said " If you obey me and Keep my laws and my commands", (1 Kings 3:14). I had to mediate on these words. God truly wants us to keep HIS commands in our hearts. And, as I continue to read Solomon's story I noticed that as he got old he did not keep God's commands. So, this leads me into the series I am now listening to Called " What is this relationship doing to me?

Here are some of the notes I have taken from this series:

Text reading from: 1 Kings 2:1-4, 1Kings 3: 1-14, 1 Kings 11: 1-4
Our ultimate goal: To establish a relationship with God. God wants to be first in our lives.

Reference texts: Exodus 34:12-16, 1John 2:15-17

God is a jealous God and HE wants first place in our hearts.

Reference texts: John 15:1-10, Matt. 10 34-39

We must be connected to God. We must renounce our relationship to the world.

True Christians must reflect Christ in all circumstances.
All that I do must reflect Christ. We must reflect HIS nature, HIS character.

True Christians knows their identity in Christ.
-knowing our identity is the bases for our freedom.

When we know who we are then we are free... but if we do not know who we are then we will always be a slave to this body and world.

As A Man Thinketh In His Heart-Continued

Like I said in the previous journal, I do feel like God is dealing with me on a different level. And, I thank HIM for it. Here are more notes from Lesson 2 on the series "As A Man Thinketh In His Heart" by Pastor J. T. Fowlers.

Lesson 2 Notes:
The base scripture of the whole series is Proverbs 23:7a

Points:

• Even though Permanence is God's will for us, God does not make us enter into a place of permanence ( that is completely left up to us)
• Our greatest battle is in our minds. If we really want to know where a person is we need to only watch them long enough.
• The most difficult task is getting our minds under control.
• We will never make wise choices, you will never be able to discern the Father's voice- unless we learn how to control our minds.

If we never control our minds, we will never control our lives.

We need to realized that God's word is powerful.

References:

Matt. 12:30-37

Mark 15:16-20-The Lord is dealing with a man's state of soul.

Mark 7:18-23

Our minds must be retrained.

A man's life is a product of his soul.

I am continuing to strive. This is not an easy process but through God it can be done.

As A Man Thinketh In His Heart

I am at a place where I know that the Lord is bringing me higher. For the past couple of weeks I have saturating my soul, heart, and mind in God's word. I am yearning for HIM in more abundance. I am in a place where I want, no where I need God to renew my mind. I am at a place in my walk with Christ where I am just tired of all the foolishness and just want to live for HIM in complete obedience.

I have been listening to a two part teaching series called "As A Man Thinketh In His Heart" base on the scripture Proverbs 23:7a by Pastor J.T. Fowlers. In just these couple of weeks God has opened my mind to see things the way HE sees them. I am just thirsty for HIM. I do not want to live a mediocre life but a life full for HIM. And, I want my children to live up to that potential as well. These teachings have been bringing me up to another level. Sometimes, you listen to other pastors teachings and say okay, but listening to her has made me see myself in a different way. I had to repent and ask God to help me to bring my mind in complete submission to HIS authority. HIS complete being.

I had to listen to lesson 1 (tape 1) for about seven days before I moved on the lesson 2. That is how good God is working through this woman of God to bring the people into God's obedience. I had taken three pages of notes and could of taken more because every time I played a tape something else was being revealed.

I feel like the times are dangerous. Us as Christians are being deceived by a lot of preachers out there. We as Christians need to stop sleeping and wake-up to that issue. A lot of us are spiritual being raped, robbed by a lot of preachers who just preaching sermons; where their interpretation of scriptures are being clouded by the greed within their heart. And, frankly I do not want to deceived any longer. It is imperative for us to stop living like God is not a magician who is suppose to request our needs at a moments notice; yet knowing we have not
been walking correctly in HIS complete obedience.

Life is too short. So, my challenge to strive for a life that is righteous before God.

Here are some of the notes I had taken: (Lesson 1)

First point is that: God deals with us base upon were we are and not were we pretend to be. ( A lot of us show people what they want to see but God knows exactly were we truly are in life.)

Permanence: it is the quality, the state of being long lasting without regressive change. (God wants us to walk in a place of permanent change instead of changing up on HIM)

In order to gain "conquest of the mind" we need to grow.
-Growth and development demands self discipline.
-Self discipline demands self government.
-Self government is the result in the conquest of the mind.

Second point: Conditioning the mind is essential to the development of our character or it is detrimental to the character development.

References: Ez. 11:5, Jer. 17:10

Third point: What we believe about ourselves create our world. And none of us can live beyond our beliefs.

1. Our beliefs are the products of our thoughts.
2. Our thoughts create our beliefs.
3. Our beliefs create our convictions.
4. Our convictions create our attitudes.
5. Our attitudes controls our perception.

-the way a man thinks is the difference between those who change for permanence and those who change seasonally or make excuses for poor behavior.

Problem: is that most of the people don't see the deficit in our thinking - were right in our own eyes and declare that we are okay but God exposes the deception.

Third point: A man's life changes only when first his thinking changes.
-While salvation is instant the conquest of the mind is progressive and it is also the key to receiving revelation from the Word through the Holy Spirit; which must be translated in action on our part that God might be glorified.