sweet serenity.

[taken december 25, 2007 at my house, its my moms piano.]

this is my moms favorite instrument, a baby grand piano.

every time i see and hear my mom playing the piano i feel like everything is right with the world because i can tell she is totally worshiping God with all that she has when she is playing and beautiful music comes from this simple yet complex instrument.

but most of us think that singing is the only way possible to worship.

why is that?

is it because we are able to tell that person is truly worshiping by the way they express their emotions when they sing?

worshiping is not just about singing.

it is about doing what God placed in you to be passionate about.

God wants us to worship him with the gift that he placed in us.

God gave some people the gift of musical ability, some the gift of teaching, some with the gift of acting, and there are so many other talents that are out there that God gave to us.

God wants to be glorified by them.

but we have to be careful.

we can sometimes get caught up in knowing that we are good at what we do and end up glorifying ourselves instead of giving the glory to God.

when we are giving the glory to God nothing else matters, we become unaware of our selfish desires and actually praise God for all he has done for us.

i get goosebumps when i am truly worshiping and i know that i am because i can not fake the goosebumps and i can not deny the presence of God surrounding me.

do not be afraid to truly worship.

allow the holy spirit to fill you up.

praise the one who as made you.

God made us to worship him with the talents he placed in us.

what will you do?

will you give yourself all the glory?

or

will you praise God with your whole heart like my mom does when playing the piano?

i can not decide for you.

only you can.

God is so awesome!

[taken october 8, 2006]

look how beautiful and amazing the sunset is!

God is just totally awesome like it blows my mind!

God forgives sin and loves and cares deeply for his children and grants news mercies every single day!

how can someone not believe in God when this photo shows the awesomeness of God!?

who else can take the sun and as it sets to change it different colors and reflect it off of the lake? NO ONE!

God is just so awesome! not only did he send his son Jesus Christ to die on the cross to save us from our sins and give us eternal life in heaven with him for all who believe, he also gave us another day to live. another chance at redemption. another day to glorify him. another day to accept and listen to his awesome and mighty word. another day to grow closer to him. another day to see what he has created. another day to realize how awesome and powerful he is.

God is so awesome i cannot even begin to explain.

God is my Heavenly Father and i love him with all my heart mind and soul.

do you?

do you even believe?

if not, why not?

if you would like to know more read the book or rent the video called "The Case for Christ" by lee strobel, you will not regret it!

shadows of light.

[taken january 1,2008 at my house]

notice the shadow from the ball it is there because of the way that the sun hit the ball.

i know that everyone knows that and it is simple first grade stuff but please stay with me here.

if the sun had not been shining on the ball then there would have been no shadow and of course no photo either.

lets compare the shadow of the ball to our walk with God.

if we do not get into God's word and do not spend time with him then how can people tell that we believe in the Son of God?

they cant.

but if we stay in God's word and dig deeper into it and allow God to use it in our lives; people can tell that we have something so amazing that they would want to know more.

we do not actually cast a shadow so that people can tell that we are christians. its through our attitudes and actions.

i love being able to allow God to shine through me and use me for his glory.

God does not want us to sit around and wait. he wants us to get into his word and go out and make disciples of all nations! and the only way that we can do that is by learning and having a close relationship with God. if we do not have that then no one can tell that you believe in the one who came to save us by sending his only son Jesus to die upon a cross and raise to life again so that we may live eternally in heaven.

would you rather be like a basketball with no light shining on it?

or

would you rather be like the basketball and give off the shadow showing the world that you are in love with the one and only Savior Jesus Christ.

you choose.