I’d like to wish you all a happy Valentine’s Day!! This is one of my favorite holidays. It sounds a lot like my name, and I love being associated with, well, LOVE!
Thank you all for your friendship and prayers for my family. It’s been a very hectic week, but the Lord has taken care of us through it all. He has blessed beyond measure. The Lord’s love is there for me everyday of my life. I am so thankful that I am not only saved, but that I know Him closely. When things started falling apart yesterday, I knew He was there with me, for I had already talked with Him that day. As I fought worry, I felt Him offer reassurance. When I was afraid, He calmed my fears.
He’s so wonderful. I love the words to this song, which is based on a Jewish poem.
(This was sung at my wedding, too!)

The Love of God

Could we with ink the ocean fill and were the sky of parchment made,
Were every stalk on earth a quill, and every man a scribe by trade
To write the love of God above would drain the ocean dry
Nor could the scroll contain the whole though stretched from sky to sky.

Oh love of God! How rich and pure,
How measureless and strong!
It shall forever more endure
The saints’ and angels’ song.

Here’s one of my Dad’s and Mom’s favorite songs…and mine too! :o)

John W. Peterson

When in darkness Jesus found me
Touched my eyes and made me see,
Broke sins chains that long had bound me
Gave me life and liberty

O Glorious love of Christ my Lord divine!
That made Him stoop to save a soul like mine.
For all my days and then in Heav’n above,
My song will silence never, I’ll worship Him forever
And praise Him for His Glorious love!

Who needs today’s modern “Christian” music? Not I! I’ll take the ones written by holy men of old! These songs proclaim how I feel in my heart! God’s love is so great, it reached even me! He had to bend way, way down to get me, but He did it. I’m so grateful that I have a loving, merciful and LONG SUFFERING Saviour! Do you know Christ’s love in your own life first hand? If not, then click here. You’ll never regret falling in love with Jesus. What a perfect way to spend Valentine’s Day! Getting to meet the One who loves you more than anyone else in the entire universe.

Have a wonderful day ~

John 15:5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.

Have you ever told the Lord about someone else’s faults? I have, many times! After all, it is better to complain to the Lord than to take it out on your family or upon the one with whom you are irritated! Well, today, I was giving the Lord an “earful” of what I thought about a certain situation. I told Him how it was clear to me just who was at fault in that situation. After this, I went on my merry way, feeling much satisfaction after my time of “unloading” upon the Lord.
Well, it wasn’t long after my prayer time that the Lord reminded me that this year I was trying to lay aside pride…and that I had just picked it up and carried it forth happily. I was so ashamed. Later, my husband (without knowledge of my prayer time diatribe) pointed out an area in which I had done the exact same thing as the person I was “lining out” to God earlier.
The Lord scolded me sharply within my heart. He brought to mind the verse above, especially the last line: for without me, ye can do nothing. That’s the long and short of it. Without Him, I can not achieve any good thing. Without His giving me a clear mind, I could not form these words that I am writing in my mind, much less type them! Without His giving me strength, I could not even rise from my bed each morning. I cannot persuade the folks in my town to come to Christ, I can only tell them that there is a way to Heaven through Christ. The Holy Spirit does the real work. I want the Holy Spirit upon my life so that He can work easliy through me. It isn’t up to me to “save” people – though at times I do act as though it all depended upon me! Do not misunderstand – I am fully aware that we, as born again believers, have a responsibility to tell any who will listen about Jesus’ gift. But without HIM I cannot even do that!
This has changed my prayer life. I do not want to habitually read off names mindlessly to my Lord, nor do I want to be known to Him as a complainer. I want to come before Him realizing fully that I need Him, for without His help, how can I raise children who are like Him? Without Him, how can I be a wife that would be an ornament to my husband? Again, I ask, how can I do anything? The answer – I cannot. I am reminded today that I need Him. I want my prayer to be from this day forward, “Lord, I need You! In all I do, think, say, desire – I need You.”

I do not understand why some people do not want to come to church. There are times when I invite a stranger to come visit my church, and they look at me like they’d rather have a root canal…
Oh, and speaking of root canals, mine are through finally. Let me tell you – I’d rather spend a lifetime in church than ever have another one!
I have a wonderful Endodontist (that’s a dentist who only does root canals all day every day – yes, he’s very busy). But no matter how nice they are, they are still having to do something for which no personality could ever compensate. On my first visit,[see my archives: Dec.31,2007] I went to him in pain, and left feeling sweet relief. This time, I went in without pain, and left miserable. This visit he had to put in a real filling in my tooth, the last one was just temporary. Well, I have never been punched in the jaw – thank goodness- but I would imagine that if I ever was, I’d feel the way I do now. My whole head hurts. My teeth really hurt. Will I ever have pain free teeth again?
I’m sorry I didn’t get pics of this exciting procedure, I just couldn’t do it. It’d be great if I did! For 1 1/2 hours I couldn’t say anything!! I had a rubber dam in my mouth (it wraps around the tooth that he’s working on and protects your mouth from the debris created by his work) and it is very uncomfortable. I was so miserable that when they stepped out of the room for a minute, I thought about just “hulking out”: turning green, ripping the rubber dam out of my mouth, and then growling as I stared at them and ran out of the building. But…I thought better of it. Honestly folks, it wasn’t fun. I did survive the claustrophobia brought on by having a piece of rubber in my mouth and people crowding over me and placing various and sundry tools in my face. Boy, did I breath a sigh of relief when it was over.
I came home and Mitch was still sick and Leslie and Laci were cranky because they still feel rotten. I was done for the day. I got supper, had the kids bathed and was in bed by 8:30.
I had better go take care of all the little sick ones – and take a big dose of Vicadin myself (relax, I’m just kidding) and get busy.

The next time you invite someone to church and they look at you like they’d rather have a root canal, just smile and say “Hey, it’s painless…really!” (I ought to know!)