Joy in the Morning...

We have WATER!!!!! Wahoooooo! Man do I find myself enjoying the small simple things in life more and more! Our water is running and it is warm outside! I never thought I would be happy to look at my weather app and find that our high is 37 today! It's snowing and I just am happy! I get to do my dishes and take a shower today. It's like Christmas! We also got good news.... We are on the road to buying our first home! I know God is in control and I can't wait to see where God takes us. He's got a plan for us and I can't wait to see it unfolded! Oh man, I'm overwhelmed!!! Thank you Lord! All things work together for those who believe.

Thankful for All blessings

I've really been thinking about life and the many blessings God has bestowed upon my family. I am so thankful for my hardworking husband who goes every morning and works very hard in negative degree weather so we can have a life and get our bills paid. It makes me so proud when I hear my husbands boss's brag about his work ethic!!! He's pretty awesome. I am thankful for a warm home even tho right now it is an RV and here is no running water. I am thankful for the new friends I have met in the past year. They are blessings and make life fun!! I'm thankful for the men that believe in my husbands abilities and challenge him to grow and expand his capabilities. I am thankful for a church that shares the love of God to this area and makes you feel welcome. I am just thankful for life everyday. I can't wait to see what God has planned for us in the next couple of months. He is at work and I love when he is in control!!!

Oil Patch Winters

This past week has been a week of character building! We found out that our RV parks sewer system froze completely causing our system to freeze. It them backed up into our bathroom. Luckily we caught before it had a chance to ruin anything! We then proceeded to I thaw out our lines and ended up wearing anything liquid that came out! Not an experience I would like to live again! My husband got our water unfrozen just to have it freeze again. We bought a $100 heated hose for his winter and t has yet to work like it is suppose to. Life in an RV is rough, bt we are so thankful for a place to live. The good Lord has kept our electricity on and kept us warm. Friday we had a blizzard all night long and it got down to -19 degrees. Talk about cold. The wind was bowing at about 35-40 mph and the snowing was coming down sideways. We had crazy snow drifts the next day. Today it is 3 degrees but feels like -10. Our lo tonight is -13. Winter time in a RV is crazy. I will never take running water or the ability to flush my toilet for granted again. I pray God provides a house for us soon so my husband does not have to worry about me at home while he is working. I would love to have his stress cut in half! God has a lot of things planned for us this year and I am so excited to see his plan unfold! He is the ultimate provider and He Is Good ALL the Time!!!!!

Live the Un-Attitude

Mark 7:15

“It’s not what goes into your body that defiles you; you are defiled by what comes from your heart.”

This is a challenging verse for me. My devotion this morning delt with this verse and having a clean heart.  Jesus goes on in verses 20-23 and says,

“…It is what comes from inside that defiles ou. For from within, out of a person’s heart, come evil thought, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, wickedness, deceit, lustful desires, eny, slander, pride, and foolishness. All these vile things come from within; they are what defile you.”

So, all of these things stem from your heart. If your heart isn’t clean and pure then this is what comes out of you. You can look good and like you have it all together on the outside but what does the aroma of your heart smell like? When Jesus mentioned murder, adultery, or theft I wasn’t surprised because we obviously know those things are vile, but I didn’t really consider the “hidden sins” that don’t show on the outside. The sins we fight with on the inside such as: envy, greed, lustful desires, and pride to name a few. I think about my daily struggles with always wanting more and never being content with what I already have. Seeing what someone else has and needing it too. Looking at another man and letting your mind wander. And too be so caught up in myself and so worried of what someone might think of me that I don’t put myself out there and do what I know I need to be doing. I know that I keep myself hidden or put on a show so that other people around me don’t really know what is going on in my heart. Another one that I didn’t really think of is Arrogance. How many times a day do I measure myself up to those around me and say “Well at least I’m not that bad or Well at least I don’t look like that.” When really is someone was to look at what was going on in my heart I think they would probably pass out because of the disgusting aroma radiating off of it. In my devotional they asked the question: What would it look like to take those definitions and clean them up?

·         Un-Arrogance: a gracious display of selflessness

·         Un-envy: being completely content with all of our blessings

·         Un-greed: a desire to share what God has given to us

Doesn’t that sounds like a clean heart to you? Doesn’t that sound like what Jesus would want to be in our heart? Don’t you think that would draw people to us because they would wonder how these things are possible? Wouldn’t your light shine bright instead of just flickering about to burn out?

I have challenged myself to have the Un-attitude so what comes out of my heart is clean. It’s not going to be easy, but I know that My Jesus will be smiling down at me. I don’t want what comes out of me to stink….I want it to smell attractive and just like fresh clean laundry!!!

Psalm 51:10

“Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.”

Matthew 12:34

“ For whatever is in your heart determines what you say.”

Everytime I come back to you..

Psalm 40:1-3

"I waited patiently for the Lord to help me, and he turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the pit of despair, out of the mud and the mire. He set my feet on solid ground and steadied me as I walked along. He had given me a new song to sing, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see what he has done and be amazed. They will put their trust in the Lord."

Right now I have a lot of heart issues. I constantly find myself coming back to the Lord for my strength. I am so ready for things to start happening in my life,  but it doesn't seem like they are going to happen anytime soon. It frustrates me. I get so discouraged but I know that God is there and he has me in his arms. His arms are my favorite place to be. I have so many wants and desires, but I want to be in God's will. I know his plans for me are the best and I know that it will happen when it's suppose to and when I least expect it. So much is happening in our lives it's hard to keep up with. My family is changing so much! My littlest brother just left for the Marine Corps...I am so proud of him!!! My other little brother is married and has two beautiful girls....they make my heart so happy! My sister is married now to a wonderful man and is expecting a little one too...the excitement of being an auntie is overwhelming. My littlest sister is already in High School and it makes me feel so old. We live in North Dakota and are on our own. Exciting things are happening and it's just crazy. God is at work and I can't wait to see what he has planned! I know that he is my rock and he is where my trust lies. I have an awesome friend and a little boy that calls me auntie...he makes me so happy. He brought me flowers he picked yesterday in our field of dandelions and it was so precious! God's creation is so awesome!! Who could ever doubt that there is a God? I guess I just have a heavy heart lately and miss everyone. My heart is very hopeful!

Trusting in the one who is in control!!!

Proverbs 16:9  "We can make our plans, but God determines our steps."

Proverbs 16:33 " We may throw the dice, but the Lord determines how they fall."

During my reading yesterday I read these two verses and they hit me deep! My husband and I are going through some life changes and we really don't know what the future holds for us. It's exciting but at the same time scary and frustrating. Right now as we speak...we live in a RV in a small town in the middle of the Baaken Oilfield Boom. My husband is a Roustabout and has bigger dreams beyond that. We are 25 and 26 and are ready to start our family. We had a miscarriage last summer and ever since then we have felt the need/desire to bring a child into this world into our family. We have been really busy with life and all the changes that are taking place and trying to settle ourselves down here in the the Great North Dakota. We have just decided that we want to try or make some effort in the process. Well, since all of this has been happening it seems like everyone except us are getting pregnant. Everyday it seems like it is someone new. I am excited for them because it's a new life and babies are just exciting in and of themselves, but I find myself getting jealous. I find myself getting mad at God. I am always asking God "Why not us?" "What are we doing wrong?" and so many other questions. My husband is struggling and it makes me sad. I get excited about pregnancies especially in my family, but my husband gets angry. I try to tell him that God has a plan and that it will happen when God knows that we are ready, but it seems to make him more mad. He always asks me..."Why can't it be us? Why do all these things happen to all these other people and not us? I've been praying and God just doesn't answer my prayers. Is he ignoring me?" It's hard. I don't like feeling negatively, but when I hear my husband's heart hurt like this it starts making the jealousy and the anger stire inside me. I don't like it. Yesterday when I was reading my bible and these two verses came up it was like God was trying to tell me..."Jessica it is all in my timing...just trust me!" So that is what I am doing. I know that eventually when we least expect it, it will happen and our prayers will be answered! God has our best in mind at all times and that is one of the most comforting things to know! I absolutely love it!! God is good and he is at work in our lives!!! For now I will just enjoy being an Auntie!!! It's a blast anyways!!!!

Jonah and the Vine

So a new challenge for this week. Are you marching right on by or are you stopping to enjoy the party? We talked about the last part of Jonah in church on Sunday and it was really challenging. Since moving to Williston the local people don't really like what is going on here. They think it is unfair that they didn't have a vote in all of it. I totally undersatnd that too because back home I hated the summer time because of all the tourists and traffic was horrible.  Here you can't go to walmart and be in and out. Matter of fact you can't go anywhere and be in and out. You are always waiting in line and you are always getting cut off or they are out of stuff....customer service isn't thebest here either. And so much more! But anyways i was really challenged this weekend. Mostly about my attitude and how I treat those around me. At the end of Jonah when God gives Jonah the plant he gets mad when God sends the worm to get rid of the plant. We were asked 3 questions
 - Where have you missed God's work because it wasn't what you expected, or maybe what you wanted?
 - Where have you built a shelter to justify staying out of God's party?
 - What "plant" have become more important than people?
Jonah chose to leave the party and sit in the desert instead of staying and enjoying God's party. It's really sad actually. The things we let get to us and that cause us to keep marching. Time for me seems like the biggest one. We are always in a hurry these days. We never take the time to stop and listen to what God is saying or to the stories that are all around us. We have such a HUGE mission field here in Wiliston. All it takes is stopping in line and chatting with someone or letting someone over while we are driving. Change is all over the place and whether we want it to or not it is going to come at some point in our lives. I head this quote from Max Lucado
        "Change is not only a part of life, change is a necessary part of God's strategy. To use us to change the world, he alters our assignments."
Man, isn't that true. Never would I have ever thought that I would be livng in North Dakota, but God is at work here and we get to be a part of it. God has a way of doing the unexpected!!! And you never know who God is going to put in your path. You just have to be open and let God work! Nothing is Impossible with God! Be Intentional!