Things I Must Overcome

There will always be things to overcome in our lives. I need to overcome bitterness and forgive those who have caused grievances in my life. I need to forgive them in my own heart so that I may learn to love as Jesus loved.

I pray that those who God has placed and will place in my life will remember to be patient with me, I am a Christian who still makes mistakes and may not always say or do the right things. I will keep striving after Christ and his righteousness until I draw my last breath, and the Lord only knows when that will be.

A righteous man may have many troubles, but the Lord delivers him from them all. Psalms 34:19

And those who know Your name will put their trust in You; for you, Lord, have not forsaken those who seek You. Psalms 9:10

Cast all your anxiety upon Him because He cares for you. 1 Peter 5:7

So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. Matthew 6:34

The joy of the Lord is your strength. Nehemiah 8:10

And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive. Matthew 21:22

Praise

Praise the Lord, praise His holy name forever!!! Our God is so good and marvelous and awesome! I just have to give praise to God, for everything He has done in my life. He's always been there and He will always see me through my frustrations and my pains. He has everything in His strong hands and He will never let me go. The things in my life that I think are my problems are not really my problems, because I can give them all up to my Savior! God, thank you that I can lay everything that is bothering me at your alter and that you will take them and work your wonders. You always have, why do I ever doubt that you won't? Forgive me for ever doubting your mighty hand in the midst of my life and in the midst of my trials and tribulations. You are mighty and there is none like you, my Lord and Savior and friend! Take this heart and make it new, may it ever reflect you, take my life and purge within, give me peace and joy again! Thank you for my mother and father, for their love and their wisdom and sound advice. Thank you for Hanna, that I can call and recieve encouragement in my walk with you and have a bond together that nothing can break! Thank you for Aaron, he is my big brother and truly cares about me. Thank you for Abby, she is a motivator and a woman of Christ! Thank you for my job and the people I work for. Thank you for my mentors, my close friends at home and at college (they know who they are...and I love you all), and my teachers who are there to offer a prayer. Thank you for the time to read your word on a daily basis, thank you for time to pray, thank you for time with you...every second of every day. May I ever strive to be like you and honor you with my life. Give me the words to speak and the patience to speak them, and give me the heart of understanding.

Conversations

So, I had this really stimulating conversation with a friend of mine last night on the phone about a lot of different things. I am definitely a conversationalist and I like to be goofy and discuss serious issues (in my life, I take the approach that any serious issue, as a Christian, should be important for me to bring under the subjection of Jesus Christ!). Now, my friend is very goofy! And, when certain issues arise or he is prodded, he can carry a conversation very well. Yet, he is only this way around certain people. He's not a huge conversationalist (aka: shy), he prefers to let others dominate the conversations and he'll just listen. I laughed when he said this because I certainly have the capability to dominate a conversation but I don't want to. A conversation with yourself, just hearing yourself talk, is the most boring thing to do. I don't learn from myself, I learn from others! I can't know anyone unless they tell me about themselves. As a girl...hahaha...I think we are always striving for some response to what we are asking or saying. When you ask a guy, "how was your day?" you will normally get, "good". If you ask a girl, chances are she will go through every little detail of the day! Now, that may be exaggerating some, but bare with me. My friend Emily said once, "if you're a laid back person, at what point do you begin to care?" Not saying that you don't, but what things are extremely important to you that you would choose to speak up? I actually started playing 40 questions, as my guy friend would like to call it, and most of his responses were, "I don't know." LOL....I don't mind, really. I thought it was funny. I kept saying, "yes you do, just think!" I suppose because I am a woman and I have the gift of "conversation" that I enjoy asking questions and discussing important issues. This does not include gossip. I believe it to be a vile thing and I have no desire to partake in conversations that are solely begun to air out someone's dirty laundry or put them down in order that we may look better. News flash: gossip only makes us look worse. The Lord tells us in His word that if we do such things, our religion is in vain. Anyway, I like to know my friends. I like to know what makes them tick, what makes them happy, what saddens them (some think that crying, especially for a guy, is wrong), what gets their blood boiling, what issues do they feel most passionately about? Tell me why I should share my thoughts with you. I am not going to share my deepest, most innermost thoughts because those are for the Lord and for my husband someday. What I am asking is, do you want to know? It's not one-sided. A friendship is the exchange of feelings and thoughts with someone that you care about, and as a Christian, it is our duty to serve the Lord by serving people. Part of serving people is understanding their needs, their pains, their joys, and how better to be a friend to them. For me that includes understanding that, with my guy friend, silence can be good...and if you want to talk, bug him until he answers...lol...hahahaha. Naw, I'm just kiddin'. As I said last night, there is a time to talk and a time to be quiet, a time to laugh and a time to be serious....ya follow?

What are you thinking about as you read this? If you don't have blog, write me an email @: ewe571@msn.com.

Paintings

Here are some pictures taken of my oil paintings. There are a few others but they are not my favorites and not worth showing. My two mountain paintings are not shown. One belongs to and is displayed at the house of my brother and sister-in-law, Aaron and Abby. The other has just been finished, this evening actually, and as soon as it is dry (it will be about a week because oils take a long time to dry) it will be framed and sold to a friend of my brother's who enjoyed the painting displayed at the apartment so much that he placed an order for his own. :) I also have a HUGE flower painting hanging in the dining room of my sister's apartment. Maybe she'll take a photo and send it to me (hint-hint). I am almost finished with my second fairy painting, but it will have to be post-poned until after this semester. :( If you have one that you like, let me know! I enjoy feedback. If you want to make a purchase or to place an order for a particular scene to be painted...let me know! I hope you enjoy looking at them.

"Young Maiden"

"Orange Passion"

"Rose in Teacup"

"A Lovely Face"

"Bride"

"The Winter House"

"Night Ride With Fairies"

"A Place to Be Alone"

Christmas Photos

Here are the long awaited Christmas Photos! :)

Me, Jonathan Julian, and Hanna! As tradition, we always go to the Julians' house on Christmas evening. We had such a blast!

The siblings! As tradition, we always take a picture at Grandma Snow's on her "comfortable" couch...hahaha.

Almost the whole family, just missing Hanna!

Back from left to right: Abby, Aaron, Dad(Mark), Michael, and Amy.

Front from left to right: Me, Santa Clause (real beard too), and Mom(Harriet).

Emily and me at the Weber's Christmas Party!!!