Bible Inspiration of the Day

   I finished reading the book of Joshua yesterday. It was very enjoyable but today I decided to skip around. Using the Bible app on my phone, I looked at the verse of the day. Ephesians 2:8-9 says:

   

   "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:

   Not of works, lest any man should boast."

   

   This was a reminder to me that I do not, I CAN NOT save myself, it is only through God's grace and mercy do I even have the opportunity. 

   As usual, I read the Proverb of the day, Proverb 15. My mother got me started reading a Proverb for each day of the month earlier this year. So far, I have read through Proverbs probably 6 times and each time there is something else that stands out. Today is was Proverbs 15:5 which says: 

   "A fool despiseth his father's instruction: but he that regardeth reroof is prudent." 

   

   Ouch! I have to remember that my parents are older than me, have been through many of the same things I face, and they know so much! My parents are full of wisdom if I will just listen. 

   Then I started reading I Peter 1. The whole chapter was amazing, but 5 verses especially stood out to me. Verses 3-5 which state:

   

   "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ which according to His abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

   To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you,

   Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time."

   

    We are kept by God THROUGH faith! And then verses 15-16: 

   

   "But as He which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation;

   Because it is written, 'Be ye holy; for I am holy.' "

   

   For me, these verses, 15 and 16, tie into Philippians 4:8

   

   "Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things."

   

   This then led me to Psalm 19:14

   

   "Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer."

   

   And the reason we should keep our heart? Easy! Matthew 12:34b says:

   

   "for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh."

    We also went to church with my grandparents today, my granddad being a Baptist preacher and he taught on the power of prayer. All I can say is WOW!! He had some awesome points and I came to the conclusion that my prayers should be more earnest. I sometimes just say them to say them, but I need to stop letting my mind wander. I need to be completely focused on God when I pray and remember to Whom I am praying. 

   Thanks for reading. I know it's a long post. As a side note, I use King James Version of the Bible.

   

It is well...

I've been thinking lately about the story of Horatio G. Spafford. You may not recognize the name, but he wrote the song "It Is Well".  I was playing the piano and flipped to this song and it just struck me how beautiful this song is. Here are the words, all 4 verses:

"It Is Well

By Horatio G. Spafford 

When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,

When sorrows like sea-billows roll;

Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say,

It is well, it is well with my soul. 

Chorus:

It is well (It is well)

With my soul (with my soul)

It is well, it is well with my soul.

Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come, 

Let this blessed assurance control,

That Christ has regarded my helpless estate, 

And hath shed His own blood for my soul. 

It is well (It is well)

With my soul (with my soul) 

It is well, it is well with my soul. 

My sin--oh the bliss of this glorious thought--

My sin--not in part, but in whole--

Is nailed to the cross and I bear it no more, 

Praise The Lord, praise The Lord, O my soul!

It is well (it is well)

With my soul (with my soul)

It is well, it is well with my soul. 

And, Lord, haste the day when the faith shall be sight,

The clouds be rolled back as a scroll,

The trump shall resound and The Lord shall descend,

"Even so" it is well with my soul. 

It is well (it is well) 

With my soul (with my soul)

It is well, it is well with my soul. "

I encourage you to look up his story is you don't know it already. 

That's it for now!! Til next time, 

Emily

Let us never forget...

12 years ago today, a terrible tragedy occurred. Lives were lost, people were hurt. We, as a country, had to step back and look at what was happening.

I was 6 years old. I was at home on that day, my mother was teaching me and my sister. My dad called from where he was working in town and told us that it had happened. He then asked that we bring my sister's radio/cd player to his job so we could hear the latest news. We did so and I remember sitting there, not completely understanding what was happening, but being afraid and very saddened by what happened. 

To the unsung heroes, those who have their lives, sacrificed themselves to help others, to those who just lent a hand, thank you! We are forever in your debt. God bless you! To the families of those hurt or killed in this tragedy, I am so sorry for your loss. God bless you! 

Let us not forget what happened that day. It was a day of sorrow, of pain, of courage, of love. I thank God for each and every person who worked to help the people hurt, the rescue teams, the firemen! Thank you for your service. God bless you! And God bless the USA!!! 

Doctor Who, Nancy Drew and a Destin trip

I went to Destin for my senior trip. You know, they classify a senior trip as your first big trip without your family. So, my senior trip was in August. It was AWESOME!!! I went with six other girls whom I love dearly and wish I could see more often. We spent seven nights in a villa and it was fantastic. The beach was wonderful and the weather was good except for a couple of rainy days but those days we watched movies. 

   

    This is our luggage. One dodge Durango, seven girls, all their stuff and about a seven hour trip. It was quite crowded to say the least. We even took beach hats! Here's a picture of Cara's brother wearing all of them. :D

It was loads of fun. We stayed at the beach or the pool almost all the time. 

Epic sand castle they built. We all built one but nobody took a picture and we ended up knocking it down ourselves. 

I was so encouraged by this trip. The girls were all so sweet and great room mates. I had only briefly met a couple of them but they were terrific! Like I said, this was in August. Hopefully, I'll be able to post more pictures soon. I usually write blog posts on my phone but I took a ton more pictures with my camera so I'll have to get those on here from my computer. 

While I was in Destin, one of the girls with us, Beth, got me started watching Dr. Who. I haven't watched them since then, not because I'm not interested, but because they make me miss her and I want to watch them with her anyway. (She lives in Colorado so we can't just have slumber parties, sadly *sniff* ) She showed me some pretty awesome ones! I liked the one about Van Gogh. I had watched one episode before I met her. It was called "Water on Mars" or something and the doctor was David Tennant, but she showed me a couple of other episodes that were pretty cool! 

So my little sister and I have started playing Nancy Drew interactive computer games. They are loads of fun, but some of them are kinda creepy. We have finished I think about 9 of them and we love them! I grew up reading Nancy Drew (listen to me, I grew up! I'm still growing up!) so naturally when we found these I wanted them. We have I think around 13 of the games but we haven't finished all of them. If you haven't played them before, they really make you think about what to do. They have puzzles and such. I do not recommend cheating. They are much more fun if you just play them. 

Also coming up, my trip to Michigan with my grandparents to meet a relative. Here's a sneak peak: