GOD...He is Faithful & Sovereign!

Have you ever questioned God or ever gotten mad at Him??  I have. Many times.

My life question to Him has been "WHY????"  there was even a time when I ask the Creator of all if He knew what He was doing.  Something I laugh at now. After all He is the ONLY One who established and created everything!!!  I'm pretty sure He knows what He is doing!!   But during times of trials, I have to admit that my faith has been tested.

Does God always answer me when I want him to?? No. Is it mean of Him not to answer me right then? No. Has it always been easy for me to accept that "My thoughts are nothing like your  thoughts" says the Lord " And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine"  NLT Isaiah 55:8  No.  But as I am learning...God has a plan & Satan is going to try to mess it up.  

Reflecting back on my life, I have seen & learned of Gods Faithfulness & Sovereignty.   Not only in my life but since The Beginning-Genesis. If you want to have an understanding of life, you must start at "In the beginning, God.."  I have always been intimidated by how in-depth the bible was. I have always had trouble w/ retaining and comprehension  so starting from the beginning was challenging for me. To start, I did the Genesis study by Kay Arthur.  It was very overwhelming but I learned so much (and still learning).  Which would then thread through every other bible study I did.  It's amazing how much more you can understand about the bible, circumstances, trials....life, once you have a correct understanding of Who established and created it.  

What does this have to do with my questions, trials, hurts, etc...?  It has everything to do with it!  This is where we see Who God is. His Character. His intentions. His Plan.   This is also where we see how things got messed up-sin...But God still had a plan.  I've been asked why would God created all this if He knew man would sin??  Free Will...sometimes the simplicity of this answer bothers people. But isn't that how we live anyways??  Wanting the right to choose?  Not wanting to be controlled by others?  So why is it so hard to understand that God did not create us to be robots? God was honest & laid it all out there for us. God loves us enough to say, this is what I have to offer you, you can take it or leave it.  And He has even given us the pro's and con's, if you will, to our choice.  So why is it so hard to understand why things are the way they are in life?  It all goes back to free will. Our choice to believe and accept God or not to.  To believe and accept that because of sin, Jesus is the only sinless One who could redeem us or not to. To believe, accept & live according to His ways or not to.   

So many things come down to what standards we live by.  Sadly many people are going against Gods standards because it interferes with what they want & how they want to live. And what they think is right & wrong. Sadly, people want to live by what make them happy, feel good, or by what they think is their right so just let people live how they want to to live. UNTIL... someone is murdered.  Until someone robs someone. Until someone is raped. Until someone is killed by drunk drivers. Until someones loved one becomes an addict. Until someone is lied to or betrayed.  Until someones child is kidnapped. Until we hear of sex trafficking. Until terrorist enslave & kill. Until someone is abused. Until our families are torn apart by divorce. Until gang violence fills our streets.  Until,Until, Until.........all of the sudden people living according to how they want to live doesn't sound so good.   

I have heard it said that the bible has good morals/values but but that still leaves it open to ones own opinion of what they think is right & wrong.
 God set the standard. He tells us what is good & evil. Right & wrong. He tells us the consequences. He warns us of Satans schemes & his plans for us to turn away from God.  
Like a parent to a child,toddler, pre-teen, teen.... He tells us, gives examples, warns us, sent Jesus to prove His love for us, He pleads with us to choose Life & not death!!!  But by their own choice, there are those who choose not to follow God yet blame Him......that is a lot of what people do today...quick to point the finger the other way yet failing to realize how many fingers are pointing back at them.

God is love but He hates sin because it separates us from Him and the relationship He wants to have with us!  But at the same time God is Just.  And just like we want justice for the wrong others have done, God will bring justice to those choose to go against Him, His character, His plan....



                                                        ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I posted this on my FB page the other day & thought I would share it here as well: 

"Did you know that what you say & do YOU WILL have an impact on the lives of those you know & even on those lives you may not know? As I study Gods Word there is a recurring theme for me lately & that has been Life/Blessings & Death/Curses & Legacy. And realizing family curses and strongholds and that they can be broken! Amazing Grace My Chains are Gone (Chris Tomlin)!! Thanks Be to Our God( Travis Cottrell)!!! 
What legacy are you leaving behind to pass from generation to generation??"

There are a lot of things that I grew up with that I thought was just part of our "family history".  As trials come & I continue to study Gods Word and have a better understanding of who He is, His ways and His plan.  And a better understanding of sin, Satan- his ways, his plans.  God has revealed to me that these things aren't just family history but family curses and strongholds.  I have realized that what was, didn't have to be anymore!  I've heard it said that the Christian life is a lot like a present. When we accept the gift of salvation, it doesn't just stop there.  We have to unwrap, open up the gift and claim what's in it too~~ It's amazing how your perspective changes once you understand Gods Truth!!  What God intended for us is so much more than what we are living for now.  Which has brought to mind, Legacy.  What am I passing on to my children, that they will pass on to their children and to their children.... but it doesn't stop there.  Legacy is not just within the family.  Legacy is something passed on to those who know you  & those who you don"t know.  So many times we think that the choices we make, since they are our choices, it only affects me/you.  But truth is, it affects everyone around you.  Which leads me to Impression or Impact... like it or not you will impact someone.  In a lifetime...many someones.  Your imprint will carry on. What kind of imprint are you leaving around while with your family, in the office, at church, playing sports, hangin with friends, traveling, talking on the phone/texting, when your on FB or Twitter, on the internet, in a long line at Wal-mart, out to eat & everything is going wrong, at a wedding or funeral,  when you think no one is watching???  Every moment is an opportunity to speak blessings or curses into someones life.  

Deuteronmony 30:19 NLT  says "Today I have given you the choice between life and death, blessings and curses. Now I call on heaven and earth to witness the choice you make. Oh, that you would choose life, so that you and your descendants might live!"

Which will you choose?  What impact, impression, legacy will you leave??  

  I do not claim to be perfect, or have it all together. But since God created me, created everything, I believe that His ways, His plan is much better than mine or anybody else for that matter. 

I know I have made MANY mistakes in my life time. I'm sure I will make many more.  But the great things about being a follower of Christ is knowing that through my mistakes God is showing me His Grace and teaching me more about Him, His plan & His ways.  Now I know that BECOMING LIKE Christ (not becoming perfect as Christ is)  is a daily reflection of my relationship with Him-there is no better mentor than the Creator!!!  And that with Christ I can over come those "old ways" and replace them with His ways!  

I don't want to leave a legacy that carries forth the "bad family history"  but one that carries forth a new family history of Gods grace!  


Satan is on the move. Seeking someone to destroy through his schemes of deception.
My prayer is that you will renew your mind with Gods truth so that you will be prepared to   face what ever Satan is trying to grip you with.  It may get ugly but stand firm because God will never leave you ...victory is the Lords!! 


Blessings,
Melissa 
   

Europe Trip-Final Post

After lunch at the Gasthof Waldfrieden we came to our last stop in Rothenburg Germany. Loved this fun little village!  Besides the concert, our time was to just relax &  do what you want. I had fun walking the Wall that surrounded the village. Sitting & enjoying a cappuccino in the Town Square & shopping! Out of all the performances, this was the best one. Not just for me but the kids too. It was more formal & they were able to play w/ a Germany orchestra also at the Franziskanerkirche...don't ask me to pronounce that :)  We ended that night hanging out w/ the Germans afterwards until midnight-little after. Got to bed at 1am only to wake up at 3am to get ready, eat, load the bus & be on our way by 4:45am for the 2hr ride to the Frankfurt airport. Waking up early wasn't too bad b/c we had many morning where we had to be up early. We did everything by bus or walking. I did not sleep on the 9hr plane ride so I could recover from jet lag easier. 4 1/2 movies
later we landed at the Atlanta International Airport! It was bittersweet! We all had such a great time. Friendship were made. And it was an experience none of us will ever forget!
I know I have left out a lot but I just wanted to share w/ you as much as I could about our trip. I have post pictures on Facebook if your interested. Again, thank you for the prayers!

Melissa

Town Square

Loved sitting outside a small Cafe in the Town Square sipping on a cappichino!

These Schnezballen (Spelling???) were every where in the town. Reminded
me of pie crust covered in chocolate, powdered sugar, etc...not a favorite though

You could take a tour through the town with the Night Watchman

neat looking jeep

Had no idea what this said or what it was for, but there was a monkey statue on top of
the roof.

An interesting car that the Guest Pastor at the church we sang at drove

Time to walk the "Wall"

While walking the Wall we came across different rooms, some empty
some w/ stuff in it like this one w/ the cannon.

While Hanna Beth & I were walking around the wall we came across this room
that was dark & I heard childrens voices so I said to Hanna Beth "Lets scare them" so against
the wall on the left side of the picture is were we stood and waited for the kids to pass.  As soon
as they came through the opening Hanna Beth said "Hey there" or something like that.  I was going to  yell something
much more dramatic but what she did was enough b/c  we scared the little boy & girl pretty good!! LOL

In the Town Square you would see musicians playing.
It was almost like being in a movie.  Those moments where you say
"That only happens in the movies"....well not here.  It was for real
and it was Great!!! 

Christmas is one of my most favorite times of the year!  I love  Christmas Stores and
Rothenburg has many " Christkindlmarkt"stores that are opened year round.

                                                                               

On our adventures, we decided to go down a little alleyway off the  normal path.   This area was marked off
due too construction, but we could resist the sights.  We are actually stand on the ledge of part of the Wall...
we just had to be careful not to fall off!!

I wanted so bad to find "windows" big enough to stick our heads through for a
neat picture.  Finally on our second time, to finish the walk around, we found a couple of
windows to peep our heads through :)

This sign confused us because on the other side it had the same pictures
but without the big red line through it

A nice stroll on the cobble stone streets of Rothenburg!

Entrance/Exit to and from the garden area

Another great view!  You can actually see the part of the wall
behind us where we took the picture of us standing on the ledge of the wall

In Paris we passed by a photo shoot& here in the gardens we came across another one.

Hannah Beth and I decided to go to the top!

There were lots of stairs to climb and the area kept getting smaller & smaller the
closer you got to the top!

tiny window in the room that held 4 adults.  You had to
wait for the other people to come down before we could go up.
You had to climb a little ladder through a small opening to get outside where you could
walk around the top.  It too was a small area

A top view of the church we sang in

                                                                               

But once you got to the top.....

the views were amazing!!

I was sick a lot of the time, but near the end I was able to sing  w/ the
choir!  It was pretty cool!! Im on the left, 2nd row, 2nd to the end

Beautiful Organ!

The final concert

This was probably Zachery's favorite place to play

It was our last night there and we had to be ready to go by 4am but
after the concert the Germans came back to the hotel and we stayed up until
midnight or so(some kids even later) socializing & making new friends!

One Proud Momma!!

After a long night & long ride to Frankfurt we made it to the hotel.  The man in the
yellow shirt is Hans.  He owned the bus and was one of our drivers

This is Will.  Hans was training him to drive a bus.  He was Awesome!!

Can't leave without one last game of Phase 10

Dr.Brasier playing Words with Friend to pass the time

WE finally made it to Atlanta!  Bittersweet for all of us!!

We spent our 17th anniversary apart.  We have a St.Benard and
Kris has wanted one of these barrels for Bear so while we were
in Zermat I got him a hand made barrel.  It was the only one in town!





It was so much fun going back and looking at all the pictures!  Brought back a lot of great
memories & experiences that I, we, will never forget!!

Hope you enjoyed reading & looking at the pictures as much as I did!!