I have been attending a class that my pastor has been speaking at every Tuesday for the last 4 weeks. She has titled the class, "If there is one thing I know." It being based on things that her mother taught her and countless testimonies from her walk with God. Every week I am in awe of the opportunities that God has given her and how she was obedient. Here are some things that really stand out to me...

Philippians 3:13&14¹³ No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it,^[d] but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, ¹⁴ I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.

John 10:27 ²⁷ My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.

Luke 17:1 ¹ One day Jesus said to his disciples, “There will always be temptations to sin, but what sorrow awaits the person who does the tempting!

 James 4:1&2¹ What is causing the quarrels and fights among you? Don’t they come from the evil desires at war within you? ² You want what you don’t have, so you scheme and kill to get it. You are jealous of what others have, but you can’t get it, so you fight and wage war to take it away from them. Yet you don’t have what you want because you don’t ask God for it.

Philippians 4:7&8 ⁷ Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. ⁸ And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.

2nd Corinthians 10:3-5 ³ We are human, but we don’t wage war as humans do. ^{4 [a]}We use God’s mighty weapons, not worldly weapons, to knock down the strongholds of human reasoning and to destroy false arguments. ⁵ We destroy every proud obstacle that keeps people from knowing God. We capture their rebellious thoughts and teach them to obey Christ.

Isaiah 26:3 3 You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you!

• You become what you think.
• You have to have boundries.
• Those that you are offended by or about are the ones that you are closest to you.
• You have to disipline your thoughts.
• Offence builds walls around your heart, which turns into strongholds.
• Hurting people hurt people.
• Don't loose heart, wait on the Lord.
• Be of good courage, He will strengthen your heart.
• Find something in the Word to stand on when you are going through something.
• Don't permit certain things and thoughts.
• Bind is what you prohibit, Lose is what you permit.

(All scripture was added from Bible Gateway in the New Living Translation)

Beauty :) {via}

Ephesians 6:12

¹² For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.

- We are constantly in spiritual warfare.

- Don't have a poverty mentality. Don't just think money, It is any kind of lack.

- Don't let the enemy bring in "what ifs" into your life.

- Offence is unfulfilled expectations.

- People make the wrong choices then blame God.

- You will have the desires of your hear if you are in God's will.

Hosea 4:6

6 My people are being destroyed because they don’t know me. Since you priests refuse to know me, I refuse to recognize you as my priests. Since you have forgotten the laws of your God, I will forget to bless your children.

- It is up to us to learn His word.

- We need to be accountable to each other.

- Do not suffer from lack of knowledge.

- Speak the word over everything constantly.

- Don't let the things you do become your identity.

- The Holy Spirit wants to show you things.

- We have to have discernment.

- Ask God to show you people's true colors.

- Be in constant prayer!

- Take God at His word.

- Let everything go.

- Don't let fear have even 1 inch in your life.

- Learn everything you can about the word.

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Such an amazing Sub30 Babes tonight!

James 1:2-8

2 Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. 3 For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. 4 So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing. 5 If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking. 6 But when you ask him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind. 7 Such people should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. 8 Their loyalty is divided between God and the world, and they are unstable in everything they do.

James 1:12-17

12 God blesses those who patiently endure testing and temptation. Afterward they will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him. 13 And remember, when you are being tempted, do not say, “God is tempting me.” God is never tempted to do wrong, and he never tempts anyone else. 14 Temptation comes from our own desires, which entice us and drag us away. 15 These desires give birth to sinful actions. And when sin is allowed to grow, it gives birth to death. 16 So don’t be misled, my dear brothers and sisters. 17 Whatever is good and perfect comes down to us from God our Father, who created all the lights in the heavens. He never changes or casts a shifting shadow.

Matthew 6:33&34

33 Seek the Kingdom of God[d] above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need. 34 “So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.

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There has been so many new changes recently in my life, so I figured that It was time for another post about what is going on. Well as I last updated, Jess moved out - now Rachel lives here. After the fact we realize that it was supposed to happen. Rachel is amazing! We have been spending a lot of time together recently, we have both been unemployed, but it has been great. I started looking at the beginning of May and just a week ago found something. I really didn't know what I was looking for so the entire month of May was spent in God's word. Literally every day I spent about 3 to 4 hours just reading and writing about what was in my heart which is when I finally had the answer to the question I had been asked all of my life; "What do you want to be when you grow up?"

I want to do missions. I want to be able to travel the world and be able to spread the light and love of Jesus. To most people I'm sure your response would be something like, "I want to travel too, but that isn't really a job." That is where I would like to say that you are wrong. I'm not talking about going to a different country or city every week. I'm saying I want to go to the unreached areas of the world and stay for weeks or months in one place. Actually be able to meet people and learn about them, who they are and listen to stories about their families. I want these people to really know who we are and why we are there. I realize that I just said a whole bunch of "I want" but It's true. I have been chewing my fingernails off over the past 2 months trying to figure out what exactly my next move was.

So I just prayed and seeked after God and what He wanted me to do. Within about a week of realizing that I wanted to do missions, an amazing opportunity landed in my lap. I knew that I had been led in the right direction. After all it had been around the time where I had the chance to feel rejection and to sulk around in my flesh or continue to seek God and know that his plans for me wouldn't disappoint me. So here I am 2 months later with the chance to go to a different country and help with the beginning stages of a girls home that will be housing and councilling girls that have been rescued out of human trafficking.

I can't really be too specific right now but when I get more info I will update. Please be praying for the team and for us to have incredible favor in everything!

Our 14 year old dog, Abbey, died last month. The day after she died, my 4 year old daughter Meredith was crying and talking about how much she missed Abbey.  She asked if we could write a letter to God so that when Abbey got to heaven, God would recognize her.  I told her that I thought we could so she dictated these words: Dear God, Will you please take care of my dog? She died yesterday and is with you in heaven. I miss her very much. I am happy that you let me have her as my dog even though she got sick. I hope you will play with her. She likes to play with balls and to swim. I am sending a picture of her so when you see her You will know that she is my dog. I really miss her. Love, Meredith We put the letter in an envelope with a picture of Abbey and Meredith and addressed it to God/Heaven. We put our return address on it. Then Meredith pasted several stamps on the front of the envelope because she said it would take lots of stamps to get the letter all the way to heaven. That afternoon she dropped it into the letter box at the post office. A few days later, she asked if God had gotten the letter yet.  I told her that I thought He had. Yesterday, there was a package wrapped in gold paper on our front porch addressed, ‘To Meredith’ in an unfamiliar hand. Meredith opened it. Inside was a book by Mr. Rogers called, ‘When a Pet Dies.’ Taped to the inside front cover was the letter we had written to God in its opened envelope. On the opposite page was the picture of Abbey & Meredith and this note: Dear Meredith, Abbey arrived safely in heaven. Having the picture was a big help. I recognized Abbey right away. Abbey isn’t sick anymore. Her spirit is here with me just like it stays in your heart. Abbey loved being your dog. Since we don’t need our bodies in heaven, I don’t have any pockets to keep your picture in, so I am sending it back to you in this little book for you to keep and have something to remember Abbey by.  Thank you for the beautiful letter and thank your mother for helping you write it and sending it to me. What a wonderful mother you have. I picked her especially for you. I send my blessings every day and remember that I love you very much. By the way, I’m easy to find, I am wherever there is love. Love, God…