He is faithful!

Good Reminder

Tune my heart

       I've sung these words for my entire life and never realized what a great picture it gives! I've been learning how to play the guitar. With playing the guitar comes tuning it. If I don't tune the strings the sound that the guitar makes is not a pretty one. When you turn the knob to tune the strings of a guitar it cranks them tighter so they make the right note.
       What an interesting picture for our own lives. When saying the words "tune my heart to sing Thy grace" I'm asking God to pull me how He needs to so that I will see and sing all that He has done for me. Sometimes it is hard to see what God is doing in our lives. We need God to tune our hearts so that we can see how He is working.
       This is such a good reminder to me, not only to ask God to work on my heart to see how gracious He is to me. But also to take the time to read words of the songs I am singing in praise to Him and think more about what they mean.

Reading Challenge Update #4

9. The Goose Girl - This is a book by Shannon Hale. I read The Princess Academy a while back and really liked it so I thought I'd try another of her books. This is the first in her Bayern series. It was really good. Kinda predictable in parts, but I liked it over all. It's not a book I'd read to my class because there were some weird things in it here and there, but for myself it was ok. It reminded me a little of a Gail Carson Levine book (Ella Enchanted style). Looking forward to reading the next one in the series!

Feeling Thankful

Just feeling very blessed and thankful today.
God has done so many great things for me that I couldn't even name them all.

I know it sounds funny, but I'm actually thankful that I'm feeling thankful. I've been complaining a lot lately about things...mostly mice. But things could be far worse. And even an annoying thing like mice in my kitchen is something God is using to teach me something.

Do you ever have those weeks where it feels like you are complaining about everything? I've been frustrated by those kinds of people before and I DO NOT want to become one. I'd much rather have a heart of thankfulness than of complaining and griping.

How do we get out of the pit of complaining? (it sure is an easy pit to fall into!)

1. Keep Scripture close at hand. As a kid I went to Awana and memorized God's Word weekly. And actually I memorized it in school every week as well. But I was totally one of those kids that memorized it the night before it was due and forgot it by the time the test was over. I have to say it wasn't until I was an adult that I realized how important it is to have God's Word memorized. I do love using my verse cards, but it is much more convenient to have the verses memorized. I don't always have the cards with me. And when the verses are memorized God brings them to mind and just the right moment. 
2. Remember what you are thankful for. When you find yourself complaining stop yourself and name 2 things you are thankful for. This take a bit of time to become a habit, but keep at it and it will. There are times when I have to make myself do this. I let myself get into a terrible mood and it is hard to think of the things I am thankful for. But once I get my focus on the positive and what God is doing the bad mood starts to fade away. 
3. Pray about it. Ask God to help you stop complaining. It is easy to forget to bring a little thing like that before the Lord. We have to remember that when we are weak He is strong. 

These are all things I know, but sometimes I have to remind myself. 

Reading Challenge Update #3

8. The Unusual Suspects - This is the second book in the Sister's Grimm series. I really loved this first book in the series. This one wasn't as good, but it was still fun. I love books, movies, and tv shows about fairy tale characters. Its fun to see how the author uses the fairy tale characters in this series. I look forward to reading the third one and seeing which characters he uses next.