What God thinks about you!

CONTRARY TO POPULAR (RELIGIOUS) OPINION

1. You don’t have to keep asking for forgiveness.
· God doesn’t forgive you a little at a time.
· Christ’s death paid for all your sins (past, present, future).
· Sin can never separate you again from God.

2. Your behavior does not affect how God feels about you.
· There is nothing you can do to cause God to love you more or less than He already does.
· God is never disappointed with you.
· God’s blessings cannot be earned.

3. You don’t have two natures (old you vs. new you).
· You’ve been given an extreme makeover on the inside (you have a new heart and spirit that are good).
· You possess God’s DNA (Divine Nature from Above)
· You are an asset to God, not a liability.

4. Becoming a Christ follower is not about your performance for God.
· God isn’t interested in self-improvement.
· God didn’t save you to serve Him.
· What God wants most is you!

5. Fully devoted followers of Christ don’t live by the rules.
· It’s not just hard to live the Christian life, it’s impossible.
· Christ gave His life for you so He could live through you.
· Your part is to live by faith and trust Christ who lives in you, to live through you, as you. (Galatians 2:20)

Mom

As most of you know, I lost my mom to cancer on Feb. 6, 2006. She would have been 60 years old this week - September 26th. Birthdays were a big deal in our family. My mom especially loved her birthday!

When my daughter (who just turned 8 this month) was born, I asked my mom, "did you ever love me this much?" She told me, "I still do!" I couldn't understand why I didn't feel that magnitude of love. The last 2 weeks of her life, I would hold her hand and whisper "I love you" and she responded with "I love you more than you will ever know." Until you have children, it is almost impossible to imagine how much a mother loves!

I miss my mom so much! I miss having family dinners, game night and birthday celebrations, long and short phone chats and buying birthday presents.

I pray today that you will love on your family and others in a big way - without regret! The greatest commandment is LOVE.

Love in Christ, Sheri

Field Trip #1

Homeschool is COOL! I got to take all my kids (during school hours) to Braum's (a dairy here in OK).

After seeing their plant and understanding production, I don't even know how anyone else can sell milk in the state of Oklahoma!

Check it out! http://braums.com/

Faith of a Child (Part 1 or 2)

My 5 year old is trying to read her whole bible. We have finished the OT and are in the NT (pretty early on). She begs to read her bible. This is her 4th children's bible, but this one is the biggest one yet (more words and pictures than ever).

Recently, I was reading to her about when Jesus sat on a hill and taught all the people. It was so crowded that He had to sit in a boat. She stopped me and with a joyful, sincerely loving heart said, "mommy, I just wish I could have lived in the time that Jesus walked on the earth. I want to sit with Him, listen to Him and just be with Him all the time!"

To be continued....

Failure

when you homeschool, you need to wake up and homeschool. Today, I was just so tired and a little grumpy (who me? yes, me). my daughter was doing everything the opposite of what i directed. we both cried and took a nap!

Now that was successful day! :O)

Homeschooling 101

Who would have thought that this manager with a big public accounting firm (lost as I could be) would be found by the Lord, blessed with children after unsuccessful marriage attempts and now find myself HOMESCHOOLING my children!??

Everyone at my firm thought that I would stay and make partner I was so motivated, but what they didn't know was that I got my value from my work! I was so insecure, but I had perseverance and determination! This made me great at work! However, I was just as insecure as ever and empty on the inside!

Once God got my heart, I was forever changed - Inside Out! It wasn't overnight - it is a continuous journey!

This is our first year to homeschool - our 2nd grader! What have I learned so far? I have learned to just take every opportunity to HUG and ENCOURAGE my children BY name! The love in our family is overflowing! Praise God for this time to build them up in HIM and HIS word!

Of course I love my husband? (Part 1)

I use to think that I loved my husband unconditionally because I was determined we wouldn't get a divorce (I had already failed at marriage and was determined to NOT do it again).

About every 6 months, I would start to feel a little less appreciated - not enough phone calls, notes, date nights, etc. I would throw a little temper-tantrum. After a couple of days, we would be back on track....until 6 more months went by.

It seemed like these every 6 months incidents started building on each other. I started feeling a little resentment toward my husband. All of a sudden, I realized that I was allowing a little crack in our marriage - just a small simple crack that seemed like no big deal, BUT I began to realize that it could lead to BIG problems in our marriage if not addressed.

I evaluated my behavior and found it to be impeccable (of course) - I was a great wife and did nothing wrong. I proceeded to go over my husband's behavior and found everything wrong - he didn't help with the kids, the trash, he did phone, leave notes, open the door for me or make me feel special in anyway.

I was driving one day just praying asking God to give me the desires of my heart - a great husband that loved me as much as I loved him (oh, and did I mention - as perfect as I was to him). God whispered in my Spirit "You love him for his WORKS, not because He is my child and He is a gift to YOU from ME Sheri! You count his value in your marriage based on his contribution, not on WHO he is as my Son. You ask him to meet your needs instead of allowing me to meet your needs. You have loved with infatuation and with a hardened heart! I blessed you with this man and when you start loving Him because He is a gift, you will have the desires of your heart"...

Ouch...I guess I am not that perfect...