Not So Girly Maggie

I've been wanting to post something like this for a while now...to show a little passing of time and how much Maggie has grown! I generally wish that puppies would just remain the size they are, so cute and cuddly, and I was convinced that Maggie wouldn't be as cute when she got older. But amazingly enough, I believe she has grown more and more adorable. It may be due in part to the fact that she still thinks she is the size of a puppy. She'll jump into my lap to cuddle and try to squeeze onto one of our love seats when there's already two or three people sitting there with absolutely no room for a dog of her size. Oh boy do we love her!

A little over two years ago



Last night

Dear Anonymous,

1 Peter 3:15 "But in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect."

About a week ago I noticed a new comment on a previous post. The post had to do with Jesus' second coming. I have come to realize that I have been a tad naive in thinking that only my friends read my blog. It turns out that, at least occasionally, people that I don't even know read my blog.
The comment that I recently discovered was from an anonymous person, and they questioned how I know that what I believe is true. Have I studied all religions? How do I know that my faith is the true faith and not something else?
Well, I want to attempt to answer that question. I'm obviously not in seminary...I don't have a Bible degree...I also could in no way be described as eloquent, however, as the verse states above, I always want to be ready to explain why I believe the Bible is true. The following points are in no particular order.

1. To start off, to place our hope and trust in anything requires faith. Although there are plenty of evidences that the Bible is true, it still takes faith. The Bible also says that the Holy Spirit gives us faith as a gift. So no matter what I say, I can't fully convince anyone to believe the same thing. That power belongs to God alone.

2. The Bible begins before the world was even created. If I believe in anything, I want to know that it starts at the beginning of history.

3. My faith is based on authority not of my own, or of any human, but on the authority of God. The Bible itself says that the entire thing is written by God. He inspired men to write HIS words.

4. As far as I know, all other religions, at least the ones I know of, include some kind of human work for salvation. But the Bible says that salvation is in Christ alone. "And there is salvation in on one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved." Acts 4:12 I have definitely lived long enough to know that I am a sinner. I can try as hard as I can on my own to not sin, but it doesn't happen. I know that I don't have any power to save myself or have any part in it except for faith, which as I said earlier, is a gift of God's grace.

5. Creation. There's really not much more to say to say on this one. Romans 1 tells us that just by looking at creation we know that God exists and we are without excuse. And seriously, just looking at the complex way we are made. That didn't just happen.

6. Ezekiel 36:26 says, "And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh." I love the words from a certain song..."The mercy is more that a match for my heart, which wonders to feel it's own hardness depart." Besides experiencing my own heart melt before the Lord, I have witnessed numerous changed lives. What else can explain Paul's immediate change from a man who persecuted Jews...one who stood by watching people stone Stephen for his faith in God, to one who went around spreading the same gospel and being persecuted for it himself?

7. Our natural instinct to worship. If you don't worship God, you worship yourself or something else. We all start off worshipping ourselves. Yet there is never satisfaction in this. If you worship yourself, you can never receive enough praise, enough attention, enough money, enough things, enough of anything to make yourself happy. The times I am most joyful are the times when I am dwelling on God and who He is and praising Him with my heart. And I can't do that perfectly on earth because I still have sin, but there is GREAT JOY in knowing I will eventually worship Him with NO SIN in Heaven! We were created to worship Him.

Well, this is by no means an exhaustive list. In fact the real list would be inexhaustive because God is eternal and infinite. But please, feel free to leave comments, especially anything obvious that I am not mentioning...like for instance, all the prophesies in the Bible that have been fulfilled...that sort of thing.

Psalm 5:11 "But let all who take refuge in you rejoice; let them ever sing for joy, and spread your protection over them, that those who love your name may exult in you."

Mad About...

Interior Decorating

If I could have any job in the world, it would be to be a wife and mom. But considering I'm not in control of that, teaching assisting is wonderful! I really do enjoy teaching this year. I'm growing more and more convinced that I would like to stick with it. The little Kindergarteners have stolen my heart!

That said, if I wasn't a teacher, I think it would be a blast to be an interior decorator. The great thing about interior decorating though, is that anyone can do it for fun...in their own home or room! ;) And I get to redecorate my old room again! When I moved out and lived with some friends for awhile, Dany moved into my old room upstairs. When I moved back, I converted the sewing room/den downstairs into a bedroom. I took most of what I had in my room at the Valley house and stuffed it in there, and painted the back wall...what else? Red!

Here's some pics of my current room downstairs:











Well, this little room has served me well, but it's time to move on. Dany is getting married on December 28th and so she and Thomas are flying to Germany on the 18th. That means my old room upstairs is free. I contemplated staying downstairs, but I absolutely love my window upstairs! It has a beautiful tree right in front of it, giving the feel of living in a tree house...and it has a ledge wide enough to be a window seat. Perfect for reading! In addition, how can I pass up the chance to decorate a room again?!

So right now, I'm trying to decide what to do with it. I love red, but it's time for a new shade. I think I'm going to paint the back wall a bright blue/tealish color...move my black rolltop desk up there...maybe use one of my larger paintings that Amber gave me as a headboard, and besides that...the sky's the limit!

Here are some pics I found as inspiration online:






The pic of the mirror and little dresser are to prove to my mom that teal and black work together.



Tell me what you think about the above wall color. Now mind you, it would just be my back wall...a small wall. My mom LOATHES the idea. :(

And to finish off; some pretty knobs for my dresser:







Yay for decorating!