3.11.09

Deuteronomy 16:11
"And thou shalt rejoice"

The offerings of the Israelites were to be eaten with festivity, communicated to their friends with liberality, and bestowed on the poor with great generosity, that they might partake with them in these repasts with joy before the Lord.

We see this often in scripture... "thou shalt rejoice"... "bless the Lord, o my soul and all that is within me." Its all over. Why? Because we have to be reminded to praise the Lord no matter what circumstance, no matter the environment.

This stuck out to me so much - especially today. Now, I am going to get super personal here so bare with me. I got a paycheck yesterday and today it is all spent (well, at least its in all of my little electronic envelopes waiting to be spent for the right bill). Yup, it is true. I am not rolling in the dough like people may think. Tim is still on the search for a full time job, so our income is half of what it was in Arizona. PLEASE HEAR ME -- I do not write this for you to feel bad for me. Quite the contrary. Please rejoice with me that all of my bills are paid, there is food in the pantry, and we've taken care of our tithe responsibly. I write this simply as an example, a very real one, from my own life. Yes, there is no money until next week - but God has supplied all of my needs. So, when I am getting down today I will say "SELF bless the Lord!!!"

I hope that as you are going through your days and weeks that you will do the same. Even when it looks grim, even when it looks like you are not going to make it, or even when you know beyond a shadow of a doubt that you are definitely not going to make it -- BLESS THE LORD. He holds my economy, not this crazy world. You can also apply this to any circumstance you are facing today. Are you sick? BLESS THE LORD. Are you lonely? BLESS THE LORD. He has got you covered baby!

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I guess my journal gives you a clear picture of where we are at right now. Broke in the world's eye, but rich in Christ!

Tim is still on the hunt and I know God has him covered. He has never let us down!

Hannah and I went for a walk around the mall yesterday (no, that is not why we are broke - I didn't buy anything) and she kept saying how cute the clothes were. She even reached out for a skirt and was holding it for a while. She didn't want to put it down, but eventually I got her to say "bye bye skirt." She loves fashion, I can tell. It will be fun to teach her mommy's frugal ways of shopping! :)

That's all for now... stay tuned... and BLESS THE LORD!