We Walk By Faith, Not By Sight

        What is the definition of FAITH?

Wikipedia states that it is: A belief, trust or devotion in something/somebody- especially without logical proof. It also says it is: trust in God, belief and devotion to God.

Having faith is probably one of the most difficult things to have 100% of. But God knows that, He says that with little faith; we can move mountains (Matthew 17:20)
One of my favourite verses in scripture is 2 Corinthians 5:7 "We walk by faith, not by sight."
We walk in  life not by what we see, but what we put our trust into. People can be blind, have faith & walk perfectly clear through life. Being blind doesn't mean you can't see. But you cannot walk in life without a version of faith, no matter if its in yourself, an idol, or the supreme father; God.

Hebrews 11:1 

"Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." 

Being sure of something and believing in it is having faith, how many of us do that daily- how many of us really have faith in ourselves and other people, or in Christ? 

I've come to realize that the world comes with satisfactory, not satisfaction. 

It seems to think it will satisfy you, only to let you down. 

So I stopped relying on the world to hold my every need & relied on God to be my anchor & my life has been much more of walk than a run. 

When your faith is shaken, when you're at a point in your life when you're so ready to give up; the littlest of your faith that comes out will change your life- the littlest of faith can move a mountain. If that's possible with God, what isn't?  

• Titus 1:2

  "a faith and knowledge resting on the hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time," 
  Hope is not wishful thinking, it's confidence that the things God has promised will happen. God never lies. it's against His nature, therefore it's impossible for Him to lie! (Hebrew 6:18) 
  
  
  Your faith in God, devotion to his love and hope in your life will bring you more satisfaction than the sweetest taste of honey this world could ever give you. 
  If you give your faith to God today, it could be the littlest spring of it... if you give him the chance, he will always find ways to please you like no one else can. 
  
  
  Cause when the world says you can't, it'll tell you that you can. 
  
  
  Kutless | What Faith Can Do: http://youtu.be/u1JBSQMkQEo

Understanding Parents

In the Bible it talks plenty on parents, honoring them, obeying them, listening to them, loving them, the list goes on- but does it really get into specifics of how on earth to deal with them!?
Their rules, commandments, expectations, the endless chores and crap we have to do!?

If you Google right now "Bible verses on being a parent" you'd get Proverbs 22:6 "Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it."
And "Bible verses on how to be a child to our parents" it gives us verses like Ephesians 6:1 "Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right."
Pretty simple stuff right? "honor and listen to each other cause it's right".. where's the good stuff? the "How do I deal with it when my mom makes me do the dishes & I don't want to, but I have to because she asked?"
yeah I wish there was a logical answer to that, or even a scriptural one but fact is God wants us to honor our father and mother because it is good to do so. It doesn't mean you're un-holy and degrading when you don't do the dishes one night, it just means you need to find other ways to honor them.

In dealing with their "endless, endless lists" we have to give them honor and we have to give them grace because they were put in the position to be our parents, to raise us to be who we're becoming. But when do we stop "becoming"? I like to think of it as they never really stop raising us, we just stop letting them.  Our parents will always be who we are, and will always be the ones who loved us more than anyone ever could.

I know with my family, dishes are a large war a lot of the time. Because it's an obvious thing everyone sees, we use it against each other a lot & it can cause a lot of tension. It's easier to say "just do it" than it is to actually do, but when you realize you're doing one thing in your day to help the ones who do everything for you, it makes more of a difference and it feels a lot better to do.

The way I was raised, the limitations I have now, the access to things I had when I had them are actually insane to realize a first time parent did & came up with.
I mean when you think about it, your parents have never been parents to you before, and look where you're at.
Success is in your heart and a heart is in a home, my home is my family and my family is who has made me who I am. Being a parent is probably a hard task, but when it's stops being a task and becomes your life & teaching them life it stops being a job, it's just who you are.

As for being a someone's child, we need to honor and respect them, because they have been through this stuff and it is important to know that you can learn from their mistakes and you're aloud to make your own; but they just want the best for you. 
My parents taught me to really go after what I want, love others as God loves me and live the right life for The Lord.
I have expectations to follow, but they don't expect me to be perfect and they love me even when I'm not.

As for if you're a parent (you broke the "no parents" rule, by the way)
Let your kids always be themselves, make mistakes because they can't learn from being perfect- they learn from being taught, not forced and they love by example not always by experience. 
When I become a mom, in many many years from now; I want to know by the time their 18 that I did the absolute best that I could and I'm proud of them, but I'm also proud of myself as a parent, as well as my husband.

Families have their issues, trials and experiences. I hate the quote "at the end of the day" but I have to use it, at the end of the day they're my family and they have been the ones to be my example and best friends my whole life. I'll never take them for granted. 

I want to thank my parents for inspiring this weeks entry/ rant, and putting up with me all my life and understanding me more than ever. Love you guys! 

Pain & Trust

   Through the last 2 days I have been threw some pretty immense pain throughout my whole body. My neck, back, hips, and now even my legs are in pain and it's almost impossible to be in any position comfortably. 

I have been praying the past 2 days for God to deliver me from my pain & distress. it's hard not to expect it right away, especially when you're going through the type of pain that I am.

Psalm 111:7-8 says:

"The works of his hands are faithful and just; his precepts (commandments) are trustworthy; they are established forever and ever, to be performed with faithfulness and uprightness." 

Just goes to show, when I think God isn't there, when I feel like he doesn't care he's the one who ultimately does. His faithfulness is always with me. 

My body is in immense pain, I can fully trust The Lord but he isn't a musician for our pain; physical or not. 

trusting in him is knowing that no matter what in the end he will always provide for you, love you and bring you out of your weary time. 

Honestly I'm scared sometimes that my body is too messed up to fix, that I'm too broken to handle. But then God brings me Psalm reminders (56:3) "When I am afraid I put my trust in you" 

that's all it takes for me to know that God loves me, and I will soon be out of my pain. 

But it's not just because I'm waiting on his works, I have to take humanly steps to get out of my pain. Such as my chiropractor appt. - that's today.

 I pray that in your hard times, when you feel so weak and brittle & your trust in The Lord is severed that you find the strength to know he's the one who has never left and never will. We serve a God who loves unexpected endings... just wait for yours. 

God bless you!