He is Stronger

I am so humbled by the example of 14yr old Victor Watters who went to be with the Lord on September 7, 2011, after a 5 year long battle with cancer.

The Lord's beauty is deep in this whole story... Victor's life, his months in the hospital- a 9 year old boy battling cancer with no family supporting him, adoption into the Watters family, his coming to faith in Christ, and now his  unhindered, eternal joy with Christ.  

We praise the Lord for you dear Victor!  We rejoice to read of your life so well-poured out for the praise of our King! 

This video is a tribute to his life and a testimony of his love and joy in our Savior. (warning:  there is no way you will not cry after watching it)

Thank you Father for giving us a glimpse of Heaven here on earth!

Capturing Gratitude [1-10]

1. Sunrises... (makes early mornings so much better)

 2. Best Friends... even if they are thousands of miles away

3. This challenging but really good book.

4. Hope for the future

5.Wedding of two very good friends!
 

6. The opportunity to become a nurse.

7. Spending time with my sisters.
 

8. Diet Coke... (the only way I survive long nights of studying)

9. People who follow God's Call without hesitation and without questioning. (www.kissesfromkatie.blogspot.com)

10. Hugs from God's Beloved children

blessed

"Count your blessings, name them one by one. Count your blessings see what God has done. Count your many blessings, name them one by one. Count your many blessings see what God has done!"

I could not even begin to count the many ways God has blessed me. Instead i am so humbled and grateful! I serve an awesome God and to Him be the Glory forever and ever!


-Mary

Praise the Lord

Oh that I would listen to the truths that I have read and heard and apply them to my life.

Psalm 138:1
I will praise thee with my whole heart: before the gods will I sing praise unto thee

Psalm 150
Praise the LORD! Praise God in His sanctuary; Praise Him in His mighty expanse. Praise Him for His mighty deeds; Praise Him according to His excellent greatness. Praise Him with trumpet sound; Praise Him with harp and lyre. Praise Him with timbrel and dancing; Praise Him with stringed instruments andpipe. Praise Him with loud cymbals; Praise Him with resounding cymbals. Let everything that has breath praise the LORD. Praise the LORD!.

Isaiah 44:23
Sing for joy, O heavens, for the LORD has done this; shout aloud, O earth beneath. Burst into song, you mountains, you forests and all your trees, for the LORD has redeemed Jacob, he displays his glory in Israel.

If I would only praise the Lord with everything that is in me! How different would my life be? I would not care for the things of this world. Attention, material goods, worldly desires would mean nothing. I would be able to simply rejoice in the Lord and in His presence find my peace and my joy.

"Change my heart O God, make it ever new. Change my heart O God, may I be like you!"

Your servant, Mary

Die is Gain

When James Calvert went out as a missionary to the cannibals of the Fiji Islands, the ship captain tried to turn him back, saying, "You will lose your life and the lives of those with you if you go among such savages." To that, Calvert replied, "We died before we came here."


How true this is...the minute I surrendered my life to the Lord, I ceased to exist. I live only to glorify my Savior. However, I rarely live this way. I let school, friends, really anything come in the way of this. I am human, I am a sinner..but thankfully I have been forgiven! May I live everyday for the Lord, sharing His Name and loving His children!

Home.

I cannot wait for the day that I can truly call this country home. Until then, it has my heart and my prayers.

Eternity

I have been reading a biography on the great man of God..C.T. Studd. It has been such a challenge to my simple, proud and selfish pea brain. I thought I would share a paragraph from the book:

"About this time I met with a tract written by an atheist. It read as follows: 'Did I firmly believe, as millions say they do, that the knowledge and practice of religion in this life influences destiny in another, religion would mean to me everything. I would cast away earthly thoughts and feelings as vanity. Religion would be my first waking though, and my last image before sleep sank me into unconsciousness. I should labour in its cause alone. I would take thought for the morrow of Eternity alone. I would esteem one soul gained for heaven worth a lifetime of suffering. Earthly consequences should never stay my hand, nor seal my lips. Earth, its joy and its griefs, would occupy no moment of my thoughts. I would strive to look upon eternity alone, and on the Immortal Souls around me, soon to be everlastingly happy or everlastingly miserable. I would go forth to the world and preach to it in season and out of season, and my text would be, WHAT SHALL IT PROFIT A MAN IF HE GAIN THE WHOLE WORLD AND LOSE HIS SOUL?"

C.T. goes on to say that this was truly consistent with the Christian life.

How sad it is how inconsistent my life is with this. I pray that one day the Lord would give me the grace to make this a reality in my life. Oh that His name would get all the Glory forever and ever. Amen!