Prayer, Praise, and Psalms

It's so strange how one minute I can be okay the next minute I am not. Obviously I am physically okay, but emotionally I'm on a roller coaster. The wonderful thing is I can still say with 100% honesty is God is good!
Work makes me miserable these days, and I believe that ties in to each day that Aaron is unemployed. Being there and knowing that he should be working there too has been one thing that's SO hard to get passed. Here's what I've learned in the past month: my key to survival: Praise and Worship music, Psalms, and constant conversation with God.  I've always loved the Psalms, but they've meant so much more to me these past few weeks. When I read verses like Psalms 32:7 You are my hiding place; You shall preserve me from trouble; You shall surround me with songs of deliverance, it's impossible not to be encouraged. That's what I love about God, if you seek Him, you ALWAYS find Him. So many times when I've been anxious, verses like this are revealed to me when I take the time to read His word.
Music, oh MUSIC!! I truly don't know what I would've done this week without Kari Jobe and Gateway Worship. They've just been on repeat, saturating my heart with God's goodness and grace. One lyric that really spoke to me this week was, "I'm not gonna worry. I know that You've got me right inside the palm of Your hands. Each and every moment, what's good and what gets broken happens just the way You planned.  But You're Here. You're real. I know I can trust You." I irritate myself so much when  I don't trust, especially since I KNOW I can. I KNOW HE won't ever let me down.
It might sound silly to some, but  I talk to God constantly. We talk a lot while I'm frustrated at work. ;0) I know without Him, I will go insane, so I constantly seek Him for wisdom and peace. It does say in Philippians 4:6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. And of course in 1 Thessalonians 5:17 Pray without ceasing. It's like I've said in a previous post and I'll always remember Pray Until Something Happens.
Yes, our situation hasn't changed..YET. However, I believe with all my heart that the door was closed at my work so that Aaron could move on to bigger and better things. "Until God opens the next door for you, praise Him in the hallway." That is exactly what I'm going to do praise and pray until something happens.

Restful Sleep..No More Zombie

So most of you know that the past couple of nights have been incredibly rough for me. It's really strange and hard to describe, but I'll try. The first night, I woke up feeling like my tongue was swelling and my throat was closing up, and last night it was even more strange. I felt like I couldn't swallow, (which is awful,) but I also felt my face was numb, and my body just felt weird all over. My head was hurting, so perhaps it was another 'bad' migraine incident. On Tuesday night, I could feel a panic attack coming on, so I drank a whole lot of water and began praying. I then pulled up my Bible app and just started reading the Psalms..nothing in particular, but slowly I felt my body calming down and the episode passed. All I knew is I didn't want to end up calling 9-1-1 like we did back in March.
Last night was equally uncomfortable and scary,  but as I was reading Psalms chapters 1-5. I found myself reading chapters 3 and 4 over and over again. So many verses stuck out to me.

Psalms 3:3-5 But You, Oh Lord, are a shield for me, my glory and the One who lifts up my head. I cried to the Lord with my voice and He heard me from His holy hill. I lay down and slept; I awoke, for the Lord sustained me.

It was so comforting to me to read these words as I was crying out to God as I was struggling to fall asleep. I found it so amazing that the passages I chose to read referred to sleep as I was struggling to find it! :0) And again in the next chapter I read...

Psalms 4:8 I will both lie down in peace, and sleep; For You alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety."

I've always loved this verse, but it meant so much more to me last night. Peaceful sleep is exactly what I had after I read these passages and cried out to God. He heard me in my time of need. 

I can't really say what's causing these sudden flare ups. Perhaps its the stress of Aaron not having a job. Perhaps my mind isn't convinced of what my heart knows, that God will take care of us. He already is actually!! Faith is a choice everyday. Do we trust God or not? I do, but I also get anxious sometimes, and unfortunately, I have a feeling  my migraines react. 

I'm praising God that I now know what to do in these instances. It's actually quite simple. When the chaos strikes in the middle of the night I pray and read His word. If I'm not calm yet, I keep reading it over and over until it sinks in. God is good. God is faithful, and I know this!! 

Praying for a restful and peaceful sleep tonight. Being a zombie at work is not fun. 

P.U.S.H

Many of you who know me well, know that I LOVE to read!! Karen Kingsbury is my FAVORITE author, mostly because I'm a freak and love to cry and EVERY book she writes has me bawling all the way through it. What can I say, I love to invest time in things that move me, and her writing is absolutely amazing! Trust me if you're looking for good reading material pick up anything by her and you won't be disappointed..I haven't read a bad one yet. ;0)
So tonight as I was reading my book there was something that really stuck out to me and it seemed too wonderful not to share,so here I am. They mentioned P.U.S.H in the book. It means Pray Until Something Happens. WOW, I love this!!!! How many of us pray and pray and then give up because we don't get an answer, so we assume that God isn't listening or just isn't concerned with our problem or issue? I wish I could beat you all over the head if that's what it would take to convince you that is COMPLETELY UNTRUE!! He cares SO much!!! He LOVES more than you could ever fathom!! If there's a miracle, big or small make it known to God..and CONTINUE to make it known to HIM until there's breakthrough.
With Aaron being unemployed right now, this was really cool for me to read. It's so hard to describe, because I do fully trust God to take care of us, but I still have those moments of anxiety. I also still have those battles at work where I'm grateful that they are providing me employment, but I'm also crushed that they're the reason Aaron's unemployed. Don't get me wrong, the 'miracle' I referred to at the end of the year was wonderful, but him not finding work as quickly as we'd hoped still makes what they did sting. That's why I'm so grateful for my friends, my family that are praying for us...praying until something happens!! :)

Another thing that helped so much this week was being part of an amazing project this week called Catfish Sandwich with Barry and Michelle Patterson. They have meant so much to me, their music and just recently having the opportunity to get to know them has been amazing. Their music has been an inspiration to me and one of their songs was the first one I learned to play and sing on the guitar. Tuesday, my cousin Sommer and I and about 6 other super cool people got to go to the recording studio at Christ for the Nations and record a song with them called "Recession Song." Can I just say it will go down as one of the best days ever?!?!? While the day was so full of fun, I was fighting back tears a lot. The chorus, the part of the song we all sang on says "We're alright! We're alright! The sun comes up tomorrow....We're alright! We're alright! This can't last forever. Can it babe?"  While we were singing I just kept believing that. I'm alright. We're going to be alright, because who's on our side...only the Creator and Maker of the whole Earth. The sun is going to rise, and God's going to get us through this time and we're going to be better and closer to Him because of it. This one got long really fast, so I'll leave you with 2 of my favorite pics from Tuesday!!

How Great is Our God

Last night I was praying for a miracle. I guess that's not completely true. I have been praying for a miracle for quite some time. Yesterday, the prayer became even more desperate.
As I sat in my chair weeping and praying wondering why this miracle hadn't happened yet, my sweet Dexter was softly singing "How Great is Our God."  You see it's not that I ever question God's sovereignty or timing, I just so badly, no desperately want this miracle to happen. As Dex was singing this song, of course I started crying even more, but it brought me back to what God seemed to show me over and over again in 2012. No matter what the situation, no matter the circumstances, no matter how desperate or hopeless...our God is still great. He is still worthy of our praise. Because of who He is, I still have hope no matter how things look or seem. There is never a situation too hopeless as long as my God is walking beside me. We are never wondering without hope, because He is walking right beside us.

"Be of good courage and He shall strengthen your heart, All who hope in the Lord."

Psalms 31:24

Something a Little Different..A Recipe!!

So I was very impressed with my dinner tonight, so I figured I would share the recipe I started with. It was more of a starting point, because the more I looked at it, I really didn't use half the ingredients she said to.
First though here's the link. It took a lot of searching on Pinterest to find a CROCK POT Cheeseburger Soup recipe. I'm all about crock pot recipes. All you working moms or busy moms in general know what a LIFE saver crock pots are!!
So here's where my recipe started from: http://katieandmattskitchen.blogspot.com/2012/10/crockpot-bacon-cheeseburger-soup.html
Here's how I made it though:
1 lb of ground meat
2 large potatoes
32 oz Chicken Broth
8 oz Cream Cheese
30 oz of Velveeta Cubed
Bacon Bits

Directions:
Cook ground meat. Pour Chicken broth along with cubed Velveeta cheese into crock pot. Peel and cube large potatoes and place them in crock pot. (The size of the potato pieces is really up to you. I wanted them bite size.) Add cooked ground meat and cubed cream cheese. Cook 2-3 hours on high. (Basically until your potatoes are tender and the cream cheese is melted along with the cheese.

Once it's done garnish however you please. We added bacon bits and boy was it tasty!!! =0) Our house is a no onion and tomato zone per the hubby, so that's why I left out half of her ingredients. Either way it was FANTASTIC!!!

2013 is Here...Our Hope Endures

So as I sit here and reflect on 2012, on the 1st day of 2013, there is so much to be thankful for. I find it so strange that often times the bad times out shine the good times. I guess it's because it's the bad times that shake our world the most, but I don't want one season of my year to set the entire tone, you know?
2012 was a rough year for sure. There was my health scare and ER trip back in March that has resulted in me still having to take migraine medication everyday. I still have terrible headaches, so who knows if their diagnosis was right or not. I praise God for this reason though: I have not been back to the ER since March and for that I am SUPER thankful!!
Of course the biggest trial would be my mom's brain tumor diagnosis. God showed us His faithfulness through it though and while my mom is still not feeling 100%, we are so grateful that she is on the road to recovery. God has revealed so much to her during this time, and I can honestly say that she's grateful for this trial and the closeness she's felt with her Comforter. My mom has truly been a testimony of someone who praises Him in the midst of a trial. It's AMAZING!! =0)
The year ended with Aaron becoming unemployed..not exactly how you want to end or begin a new year, but we are hopeful the job opportunities will be rolling in shortly! =0) I'm so proud of my hubby. During his time off he has taught himself editing programs he's wanted to learn forever! He's SUPER smart, and this knowledge he's gained will be something he can use to branch out into work he would actually enjoy doing!
I never do the whole new year's resolution thing, because we all know they're typically made to be broken, but here's what I hope for 2013.
I have many precious friends that are expecting little boys or girls this year and I pray that both mommies and babies remain healthy throughout pregnancy and delivery. I pray for miracles, the miracles that a lot of people have stopped believing in. I pray that those with cancer will be healed, those who's hearts are broken will be made whole, the weak will be strong, the depressed will receive joy, those who are restless will receive peace, and those who's days are filled with tears will be replaced with laughter. God can do these things. Our Hope is in Him and only Him. This year we must continue to seek and pray and ask and most IMPORTANTLY BELIEVE and have FAITH!!!
This week as I was listening to some music in my car the song "Our Hope Endures" came on by Natalie Grant. I love this song, because no matter what's going around us, no matter how crazy this world gets, no matter how long the storm of our life is..Our Hope Endures. The song says, "We never walk alone and this is our hope." I love that! =0) The storm may be long. The rains may seem like they're never going to end, but just like He was in 2012, our God will be right there through everything we may face in 2013.