Five Minute Friday: Rest

REST

Matthew 11:28-29King James Version (KJV)  Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.

Rest is such a simple but yet profound four letter word. Mothers and teachers tell their little children to rest in the afternoon. Adults may come home after a long day of work, and sit on their chair, couch, or lay in their bed and rest. But God tells us in His word to COME to Him and he will give us rest. I was thinking yesterday (on Friday) what that meant. We all carry burdens on our shoulders, financial, health, work, and family. At times those troubles can weigh you down, make you discouraged, made you just want to crawl under your covers and hide. Sometimes you may feel so alone you don't know who to turn to or what to do. But there is ONE that will help ease your burden. It is our Heavenly Father God. He is always there to take your burden and help your soul find the rest it needs. I know as a Christian I struggle to give my burdens to the Lord. I want to keep them for myself and not share with the Lord what is going on (even though He already knows). But, God wants us to give us our burdens. The journey is hard, and it hardly ever easy. I am thankful to have a God that will help guide me through the valleys and the mountains of life.

Story

My story isn't anything fabulous. Its simple. My story is of redemption, forgiveness, and love of a Savior. When I was six years old my life changed for good. I saw my need for a Savior, and realized I needed Him in my life. My mom knelt beside me next to our kitchen chairs. She went through the gospel with me, and I realized I had a need to be freed from the punishment of sin. I asked Jesus into my heart, and he saved me. My life changed. I had more of a desire to obey my parents, to please Jesus, and to help others.

There have been times I tried to write my own story...do what I want. But, letting God write my story is far much better--He is a much better author than me. :) There are a lot of things I want written in my story...I want to fall in love for the first time, get married, serve the Lord with a godly man, have a family, maybe travel the world to help missionaries....but the Lord hasn't written that part yet. 

Share your story of salvation below~ I would love to hear it..Or just share a story about your life. 

Five Minute Friday: News

As I sit under my covers propped up on my pillows my mind is racing. I am not sure why...but it always does. It has been since July since I have participated in "Five Minute Friday." Many reasons why I haven't...mainly because I have had a bad case of writers block....its been there for a long time and I don't know what to do...any suggestions on how to get past it? So here is the NEWs whats going on with me...

1) I quit my job at the daycare I was at at the beginning of July, without a new job lined up. Within a week the Lord provided a new job, in a Christian daycare. I enjoy working in a Christian environment again.

2) My old PC finally went KAPUT...the hinge on the screen finally gave out...so I was without a PC until November. I bought it intending to blog more--well sadly that hasn't happened.

3) My family has been going through some valleys and some mountains, but God has been good.


That is about all that is new with me...not much really. Thanks for reading.

I am also trying to think of a different name for my blog...any suggestions are helpful.

25 Days of Christmas Carol Stories--Day 1 "Silent Night"

I have always loved Christmas, and everything that goes along with it. The decorations, the twinkle lights, family getting together, presents, music, and most of all celebrating the birth of Christ. I am that crazy person that will break on Christmas music and say I was celebrating  "Christmas in July."  I love the sacred carols that tell about Christ's birth. and the fun holiday songs. The next few blog posts will be about the stories behind some of the most beloved Christmas carols. At then end of the posts I will try and have the lyrics, or a video of the song. Merry Christmas!

"Silent Night" Stille Nacht

Josheph Mohr was born to a single mother in 1792. His mother provided as best she could for her boy. She knew that a good education would help him. The local parish priest saw that he was a smart and had musical talent so he was sent  to study at the famous abbey school in Kremsmunster. He did very well in school, and at age 16 entered seminary, and then at 22 was ordained as a priest. Since Mohr had no father, he was assigned as an assistant pastor of St.Nicholas church in Oberndorf (about 10 miles northwest of Salzburg). There he became friends with Franz Gruber, a son of a weaver. Franz was expected to follow his father as a weaver, but instead he loved music and began playing the guitar and organ. Franz attended music school and soon settled with his family in Oberndorf. 

It is told that on December 23, 1818, Mohr went to go visit a mother and her newborn child. On the way back home, he stopped by a river and meditated on what it was like the night Christ was born. He then penned the words to "Silent Night." 

Upon return to the parish he was told that mice had eaten through the bellows of the organ, and that it could not be fixed before the Christmas Eve mass service. The people feared that midnight mass would be silent. Mohr rushed to Gruber's home, and gave him the words to his poem and asked him to write a melody that could be played on a guitar. Gruber composed the music to "Silent Night" and for the first time in 1818 the song Silent Night was sung. 
**Information from http://catholicstraightanswers.com/what-are-the-origins-of-the-beautiful-christmas-carol-silent-night/

                  

Five Minute Friday: Favorite

I am linking up with Five Minute Friday today! :) The topic is FAVORITE! So in five minutes here is my favorite things! Then at the end enjoy an old classic from a favorite musical!

Playing in the rain
Pink
Paris (although I have never been there)
Starbucks
Lightning Bugs
Vintage Dresses
TV Shows: Revenge, Little House, The Astronauts Wife Club
Move: Pride and Prejudice (1995) Colin Firth (swoon)
Summer Nights
Looking at the stars
Music
Dancing when I am by myself
Long drives through the back roads
Getting lost on purpose so I can find my way back
Reading
Snow Globes
Salzburg
Peonies
Vintage Cars
having my hair washed at the salon
makeup (over the past year my collection has grown)
sleeping with my fan on
blankets
Coffee
church
God
Red
Daffodils
Enjoying the simple pleasures in life
Time with friends

Time with family

Five Minute Friday:Blue

Hello! First of all, welcome to my blog. I enjoy writing, but really do not write as much as I would like...I've had an extreme case of writers block for a long time. This week's prompt word is BLUE. And yes, I am writing this with blue letters. :D 

The first thing I thought of when I read "blue" was the amazing sky that God gives us each day. A reminder that although the sky may change from minute to minute God never changes. A reminder that God is great and the great creator. The reminder of a God who is watching over us wherever we are. The heavens truly declare the glory of God (Ps 19). I also thought of a song my mom taught me when I was a kid called "Blue skies and rainbows." Click on the video below to hear it. 

If you want to link up with "Five Minute Friday" click on the link. 5 minute friday

50 Plus Random Facts about Me

Since I haven't blogged for awhile, and for those that actually read my blog here are 50 random facts about me...some are funny..(I think). And PLEASE read all the way to the end ;)

1) I am a down home Arkansas girl through and through..born there and lived there for 13 years. Arkansas will always be home
2) I had open heart surgery when I was four.
3) I received Christ as my Savior when I was 6.
4) I was baptized on January 1, 1990 at 12:01 am....my church put my name on the board outside at "first baptism of the decade"
5) I had pizza for my birthday every year until I was 12
6) Growing up I loved Salad bars...and still do
7) I repeated 5th grade
8) I didn't like school, because of the social aspect of it...but loved the learning part
9)  While kids in my class played and talked I had my nose stuck in a book
10) My favorite TV show growing up was {and is} Little House on the Prairie
11) My Aunt Phyllis bought me the entire series when I was a kid
12) I still have to read them all.
13) I really don't mind the number 13
14) I hated celery growing up
15) I used to dream of being a concert pianist...never got out of level 2 of piano
16)  I also wanted to be in an orchestra....even if it was just dinging the triangle
17) I wanted to be an astronaut, meteorologist, nurse, doctor, teacher, cardiologist, and a missionary at one point in my life...but not all at the same time...but really wanted to be a missionary teacher
18) I love dark chocolate, and think milk chocolate is too sweet
19) I love cupcakes
20) Red Velvet is my favorite
21) I love baking them too
22) I love to cook
23) I want to be on Food  Network someday
24) I love listening to piano music
25) Pet peeves: first one...shopping carts not put back in a shopping cart return and in the middle of a parking spot
26) Second pet peeve...opened toilet seat lids...I have to have my shut all the time..
27) I love Starbucks..or coffee for that matter
28) I like a lot of different genres of music
29) I just recently got into makeup (like more the the basics)
30) I enjoy beauty videos...because of them I subscribed to Ipsy and Birchbox
31) I love writing...but sadly have had writers block for a long time
32) I love riding with my car window down on nice days
33) I have a bad habit of my gas light coming on
34) I love eating at Chipotle
35) I love traveling...I've been to Germany, Austria, Mexico, NYC, and Canada on mission trips
36) I dream of traveling the world
37) I used to live in Florida...for seven years
38) I love  Jane Austen
39) Pride and Prejudice is my favorite book
40) Chronicles of Narnia is my favorite series
41) I love pink
42) I love peonies, roses, daisies, and gardenias and sunflowers
43) I enjoy binge watching shows on Netflix
44) I love Paris....and the Eiffel Tower and dream of going there someday
45) I love vintage 50's clothing
46) I will only eat the blue box Mac and cheese....on occasion the Velveeta kind and homemade but the blue box is my favorite
47) I love photography...esp picture of nature
48) I've never had a boyfriend
49) My favorite Disney movie is Beauty and the Beast..and I don't own a DVD of it
50) I have a pet fish named Gershwin...and in the past have had Winston, Beethoven, Mozart, Tchaikovsky, and  Rachmaninoff

51) I can't sleep unless my ceiling fan is on (the noise is soothing) and every door is shut in my bedroom...including the closet...and they have to be closed all the way--the slightest crack bothers me. It also has to be completely dark- even the red lights on clocks bother me.

BUT the best fact of all is that I have a Savior who loves me and died for my sins on the cross many years ago. He did not stay dead, but rose again the third day...do you know Him? I am going to share some verses through some pictures.

We all have sinned...we all have lied, cheated, stolen, taken the Lord's name in vain. Read the 10 Commandments and I guarantee that you have broken a number of them...I know I have. Sin separates us from God...because God hates sin, but He loves the sinner. But God had a plan, since the beginning of time and it was to give us the most precious gift you can ever receive and it was His Son Jesus Christ.

As you have read in these passages, Christ gave His Son and He is the only way to Heaven...through the shed blood of Jesus. Some people think being really good, giving to charities, going to church, praying, etc. But truth be told no one is good enough for Heaven. The only way is through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. 

All you have to do is call on Him to be yours and He will be....because He loves you. 

Admit that you have sinned

Believe that He died and rose again

Choose to receive Him

It is as easy as A-B-C 

If you have any questions please reply below...