Psalms 91

Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High

    will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.[a]

2 I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress,

    my God, in whom I trust.”

Surely he will save you

    from the fowler’s snare

    and from the deadly pestilence.

4 He will cover you with his feathers,

    and under his wings you will find refuge;

    his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.

You will not fear the terror of night,

    nor the arrow that flies by day,

6 nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness,

    nor the plague that destroys at midday.

7 A thousand may fall at your side,

    ten thousand at your right hand,

    but it will not come near you.

You will only observe with your eyes

    and see the punishment of the wicked.

If you say, “The Lord is my refuge,”

    and you make the Most High your dwelling,

10 no harm will overtake you,

    no disaster will come near your tent.

11 For he will command his angels concerning you

    to guard you in all your ways

they will lift you up in their hands,

    so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.

13 You will tread on the lion and the cobra;

    you will trample the great lion and the serpent

Because he[b] loves me,” says the Lord, “I will rescue him;

    I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.

15 He will call on me, and I will answer him;

I will be with him in trouble,

    I will deliver him and honor him.

16 With long life I will satisfy him

    and show him my salvation

Friday Encouragement

Every once in awhile something gets thrown at me that catches me off guard. These things often cause me to search and research. Sometimes it's medical, sometimes it's behavioral, sometimes it's spiritual, sometimes it's relational... Often it will lead me to a deeper level of knowledge.

Recently I had something that threw me for a loop in a spiritual sense. It's an on going journey/roller coaster that really has caused me to search and contemplate what I believe and why. Not really a really questioning my faith, but a questioning of what I believe about certain things.


Living a life of faith takes courage, prayer and discernment.

I am currently reading two books, both books I have read before, but needed to read again. Together.

The Best Yes and Crazy Love are two very different books with very different messages, yet they have the same foundation.

I have been reading through Crazy Love, it is a reminder why I do what I do. Why I parent 6 kids. Why I homeschool.

The book reminds me why I chose to live for Jesus.

*People who are obsessed with Jesus live lives that connect them with the poor in some way or another. Obsessed people believe that Jesus talked about money and the poor so often because it was really important to him. (1 John 2:4-6: Matt 16:24-26)

*Sometimes I feel like when I make decisions that are remotely biblical, people who call themselves Christians are the first to criticize and say I'm crazy, that I am taking the bible to literally.

*My existence was not random,nor was it an accident. God knew who he was creating and He designed me for a specific work.

I love this one. I need to be reminded that I was born for this. I was made for this. This means that if I live filled with Christ I will have peace and strength. It doesn't mean it will always be easy.

*Our culture says anything goes; Gear of God is almost unheard of.

* stress and worry, These two behaviors commnicate that it's ok to sin and not trust God, because the stuff in my life is somehow exceptional.

Francis Chan challenges us to live in such a way that others think we are crazy. He challenges us to live in such a way that there is no doubt in anyone's mind who we serve.
He challenges us to give, beyond ourselves, to give and serve in the strength of Jesus.


The Best Yes..

I am doing a bible study on that one right now. I absolutely love it.

The study is on slowing down in life. Stopping the rush of live, finding ways to "just be" so that we can serve Jesus. The importance of making  wise decisions in serving and where we give our time.

** “Today’s choices become tomorrow’s circumstances.”

**“Your decisions will determine direction. Your direction will determine destination.”

**Cure the disease to please with a biblical understanding of the command to love.
Escape the guilt of disappointing others by learning the secret of the small no.
Overcome the agony of hard choices by embracing a wisdom-based decision making process.
Rise above the rush of endless demands and discover your Best Yes today -


Trying to find answers to the questions in my life. Directions for these big decisions in my life... I found these two books to be so helpful. I love learning new things and digging deeper in the Word to find answers.


*www.crazylovebook.com

**See more at: http://proverbs31.org/online-bible-studies/#sthash.zLs1E9mC.dpuf

"Guest Post" by my kids. :)

Lee says:
On Saturday, Sept. 21 we went to Dutch Wonderland with Mr. and Mrs. S.  We got there early, so we had to wait awhile. When we finally we got in. The first ride we rode was the carousel. The second ride was the kite flight.

We went on a couple more rides. Then we for lunch we had pizza. We went on the train ride and the sky ride. Once we were tired and finished, we got ice cream. Then we wanted to go on one more ride, but Mr. S said it was time to go home.

When we got home, mom had a hot dinner waiting for us. Mr. and Mrs. S ate dinner with us.

My favorite part was going on the sky ride.


David says:

First we went on airplane ride, then we went on a merry go round. We went on a slide. Then we had pizza. We did bumper cars. Mom said that we Mr. and Mrs. S could come for dinner.

My favorite part was flying on the airplane.

Elizabeth says:
We ate pizza for lunch. We went on some rides. We went on this ride, where I drove. Fayth was in the passenger seat. Then we got some ice cream. We went on other rides and the roller coaster twice. Then we went on the bumper cars.
We went on a couple more rides than it was almost closed. The last ride was the train. After we went on the train ride we came home.

My favorite part was the bumper cars. The second favorite was when I drove the car.

Oh, I wanted to tell you about the dinosaurs.  There was this sand place, where you can wipe sand and there was going to be dinosaur bones. Then after we played there for awhile we walked through the pretend dinosaurs. Then we got to see the dinosaurs move, not all of them but lots of them. Then when we came out there was a big humongous egg with baby a dinosaur. Then there was two other eggs. Kids could come in and peek through the holes, parents could take pictures of them.

Fayth says:
First we went on the merry go round. We went on the airplane ride and the sky ride and the bumper cars. That's all  I want to say. Oh, I forgot about the slide. We went on the slide too. That's all.

My favorite ride was the sky ride.