Matt

I have been so blessed by Matt. He is so the Christian man that God had chosen for me. I love the joy he shares with me. The desire for closeness and intimacy that I see in his eyes and hear in his words is so much more than I ever hoped for. Thank you Lord for this blessing you have bestowed on me. I don't deserve your love or his. I pray that you teach me how to be a better wife daily. Our marriage is such a precious gift.

What is surrounding me, God or the world?

"Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads." Deuteronomy 6:5-8

I struggle with this so much, I want to have His word constantly before me... wouldn't it be cool if every where you turned there was scripture verses on signs or billboards, tickers, everywhere... but it's not like that, what we do see is the world crammed down our throats day in and day out. So short of literally writing His word all over my body how do I do this? How do I make it such a part of my day that I find myself talking about it all the time, when we are sitting, when we are walking down the road, day in and day out instead of the world before us we had God and His mighty powerful word before us, behind us, surrounding us.

They bring me such joy!

I love to watch them in play... to see the joy that His creation brings to them. This is on our spring break trip to visit Grand Tacon in Alabama. We went to the beach for a day and had a wonderful time. Can't you just hear them, ready, set, jump.

Somewhere in the Middle

Somewhere between the hot and the cold
Somewhere between the new and the old
Somewhere between who I am and who I used to be
Somewhere in the middle, You’ll find me...

Somewhere between a whisper and a roar
Somewhere between the altar and the door
Somewhere between contented peace and always wanting more
Somewhere in the middle You’ll find me...

Lord, I feel You in this place and I know You’re by my side
Loving me even on these nights when I’m caught in the middle

I heard these powerful words last night at a Casting Crowns concert... wow... to hear him speak straight to my heart in the middle of thousands of people was a humbling thing. Even that night as I got ready it crossed my mind... what was my focus on? Looking good for people who mean a lot to me but are only part of this physical world or preparing myself to actually worship Him? I have to admit that looking nice won out and I never stopped to pray, to ask Him to show me His word last night. Yet even in my absolute contrariness He found me. He was by my side bringing me back closer to Him and away from the middle.

In my reading time this morning the devotional I get talked about Christ's returning and how we shouldn't count the day's because we can't know when He is coming back: "I don't think friends, that I need to deal with the question of when all this is going to happen. You know as well as I that the day of the Master's coming can't be posted on our calendars. He won't call ahead and make an appointment any more than a burglar would." 1 Thessalonians 5: 1-2 (the Message) yet we do know the burglar is coming and we need to prepare ourselves for that... the kids and I sometimes watch a show called "It Takes a Thief"... the premise is that we don't prepare ourselves for the eventuality of a break in and these former thieves come in and break into your house and show you how easy it it... of course they give everything back and set up peoples houses to be safe, the kicker is that before the guy breaks in they set everything up with producers, add cameras to the houses and people know that at some point this guy is going to try to break in... I don't get why they don't prepare, they just sit there like it will never happen... how like that are we? We as His children have been told He is coming , "like a thief in the night", and yet we live our lives day to day like it's either never going to happen or like it won't be that big a deal when it does and it's a long way off so why get prepared... my heart has been so stirred to get ready; to prepare my kids, to ready my home, to live a quiet life that points others to Christ, to follow 1 Thessalonians 5:16-24 " Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. Do not put out the Spirit's fire; do not treat prophecies with contempt. Test everything. Hold on to the good. Avoid every kind of evil. May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it."

Lord, create in me a clean heart, clothe me in your righteousness, for my own desires and my own choices in life are like filthy rags, show me the path you want me to take, the life you want me to live (and love), Thank you for walking by me daily, for never leaving my side even when I turned away from you and spent my time in communion with my other walking companion, temptation, I ask that you help me keep my focus on you so much that the temptations in life begin to weaken and fall back to walk behind us, I know they will never be gone but I am on my knees asking you to help me diminish their strength. Thank you for being my God and God alone, I praise your holy name. My life is yours.

A quiet walk with Him

Imagine taking a walk with God down either one of these paths... the quiet companionship, the conversations you are sure to have, the joy in the moment... what's to stop us from allowing these moments to happen anyway? Our pride? Our busyness? Our grief? Lord help us to stop and dwell in your presence daily.

The Perfect Path

The LORD says, "I will guide you along the best pathway for your life. I will advise you and watch over you. Psalm 32:8

I am so aware of my failings in life so much so that I find it hard to see those things I do right. I find myself so concerned about doing it the right way and taking the right path I don't wait for His wisdom and advice. I walk so fast I end up on the edge of His protection. I don't think we are ever out of his protection but I think we can be just on the edge where it can take more time to protect us than if we are walking by His side. It's like our kids when they are just out of arms reach... we have to lunge to keep them from falling off the stepdown they don't see because they are too busy looking ahead at the thing that tempts them and keeps them from walking slowly beside us.

Lord, help me to slow down, to listen for your voice and trust you to show me the best path for my life and those whose lives I'm responsible for.

A begining

I'm not sure how great I'll be at this but I'm going to try. This is going to be about the things God is teaching me. I hope to post something most days but know that some days it just gets away from me.

The reason I chose The Plain Path for my blog title is I know this a battle I face daily... keeping up w/ the Jones'... What He wants from me is to learn contentment, peace in the life he chose for me and trust in a daily walk with Him.

I'll share what he shows me with honesty and trust that you my family will keep me in your prayers and hearts.