Thankful Thursday

Quiet moments.

Do you ever get them?

I am sure for most of you they are few and far between.

This morning my alarm went off. I got up. Turned it off. Laid back in bed.

Quiet.

I laid there. Thought for a moment. It is quiet. Everyone is still asleep and there is no noise.

I laid there. In the quiet. Soaked it up. Enjoyed it.

It was a great start to my day.

I have found a few more moments throughout this day to turn off the sounds and enjoy the quiet.

Today I am thankful for quiet moments.

My GREATEST love story

I shared yesterday a little about my love story with a fabulous man. While the love story with him is great and I wouldn't change it...there is another man that loves me even more than Rob.

1 John 4:9 says, In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him.

This man that loves me more than Rob...his name is Jesus. He left heaven, came to this dirty Earth, lived among sinners, and died a criminals death on a cross for me. That is love.

I thought with Easter approaching it would be a great time to share with you all how I came to realize this true love.

I was raised Catholic. I went to Catholic school until I was in fourth grade and then switched to public school. I always loved going to church. Whenever my mom would get us up and ask if we wanted to go I always wanted to. I remember as I got older feeling like there was more than what I was experiencing though.
The summer I turned 12 I spent a lot of time in Georgia with my aunt and cousin. (My cousin and I were the same age and loved being together.) I was in Georgia for most of the summer. My aunt and her family went to a Catholic church there so I obviously went with them. This church was amazing. They had a live band, a youth group, and I really sensed something different there. I remember being in the car driving on the highway with my Aunt Karen and listening to a tape, yes a tape, of the band from her church. She was singing and I could tell she had a connection with God I had not seen before. I could feel God tugging at my heart and my desire to "know" more was growing.

That fall my parents decided to separate and eventually got divorced. It was a really hard time for me. I wanted nothing more than for my family to stay together and be one. Even though it was extremely hard, I knew it was a good choice for them to no longer be married. Around this same time a new girl started going to my school. Her and her family attended a church very close to our house. She asked me if I wanted to go to youth group with her. I said yes. It was great. There were college kids there leading the youth group and we had so much fun. I went several times. One night one of the college girls asked me if she could take me out to dinner. We went and I remember her bringing her Bible and I was thinking, why does she have her Bible at a restaurant. We ate and then she opened the Bible and began to share with me about having a relationship with the Lord. That Jesus came and died for my sin. And that he loved me, even in my time of hurt. That he wanted me to have hope in him. After we talked for a while she took me home. When she dropped me off she said, "I want you to think about what I shared with you." Of course I did. I thought, "this is the more that I have been looking for." Later that night she called me and over the phone I prayed a simple prayer, "God, I am a sinner. Forgive me. I believe Jesus died for me and rose again on the third day. I want to live more like Him."

My life has been forever changed since that moment. You may be asking yourself..."Do you still sin? What does it mean to be more like Jesus?" To answer, yes I sin everyday. But I know that if I seek true forgiveness and repentance God will forgive. He will continue to love me. And the being more like Jesus...I figure more of this out everyday. A great starting point is Galatians 4:22-23 which says, But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

God continues to work in me and through me. It is a daily process of denying myself, and putting on the new self. But I do it, because like when I was 12 my true desire is to know God and the man who laid down his life for me, more and more.

There is no time like Easter time that reminds me of His sacrifice more. So over the next several weeks, on Wednesday, I will be having guest posts form people whose lives have been forever changed my Jesus. Please come back each week and see what God has done and can do for you.

My love story

February 12, 2000 was the day that Rob proposed to me.

It was a Saturday night.

Rob used to lead worship at our old church so he picked me up at home and told me he was going to play his guitar on Sunday so he wanted to go get it set up, then we would go out for Valentine's Day. When we got to church he had asked me to go find something for him. I went off looking and when I came back to the Sanctuary it was locked. I knocked on the door and he came and got it, replying he didn't know it was locked. Then he went up onto the stage and asked me to come with him. I did. He then asked me to sit down. I did. Then he started playing this beautiful song I had never heard before. The last line of the song was "Amy, will you marry me?"

I looked at him with a look of utter confusion and said, "Are you serious!?" Romantic, I know. I had no clue if this was for real. He of course laughed and said, "YES!" Then I said, "YES!"

To this day, Rob and I don't remember any of the words from the song that he wrote for me except the last line. (I am sure he has it written down somewhere.)

Rob decided to propose at church because it was the place we met. That night we got engaged there and 10 months after that we got married there.

He decided to propose the weekend before Valentine's Day because he knew I would never expect it. I think he was right!

That was 12 years ago...and just the beginning of our love story. The rest is being written into something beautiful!

I love you, Babe! Happy Valentine's Day!