He Weeps For Us

"Jesus wept."  John 11:35

     Jesus...weeps.  He sits between Mary and Martha, puts an arm around each, and sobs...

     He weeps with them.

     He weeps for them

     He weeps with you.

     He weeps for you.

     He weeps so we will know:  Mourning is not disbelieving.  Flooded eyes don't represent a faithless heart.  A person can enter a cemetery Jesus-certain of life after death and still have a Twin Tower crater in the heart.  Christ did.  He wept, and he knew he was ten minutes from seeing a living Lazarus!

     And his tears give you permission to shed your own.  Grief does not mean you don't trust;  it simply means you can't stand the thought of another day without the Lazarus of your life.  If Jesus gave the love, he understands the tears.  So grieve, but don't grieve like those who don't know the rest of this story.

I am so thankful for the small verse that we have heard so often:  "Jesus wept."  He wept because he knew.....he knew our hopes, our dreams, then our hurts and disappointments.  He wept because He saw the pain you were going through and He felt for you.  He hurt for you.  Not because there was no hope or because He didn't know if things were going to be okay, but because He knew how we felt.  Did you know He knows your pain and your hurt?  Did you know He weeps for you?  He cares for you?  Sit at His side and talk to Him about it....cry....its okay, He understands.  He is a God of relationship and love.  We are His children.  He wants to walk and talk with us everywhere we go!  Take Him up on it!

The Sovereignty Of God

It seems that the sovereignty of God keeps coming up over and over again in my life...through sermons, books, scripture, discussions....and I am thankful of that, but it is one of those thankful times that you go "ugh...I know, Lord.....".  Sometimes I just want to be irritated b/c I feel irritated or I want to be frustrated b/c I feel frustrated but I feel like God keeps bringing to my mind, "Shannon, do you trust in my sovereignty?  Well, if you do, then you'll know that I have you exactly where you are in contact with that person or situation for a divine purpose.  Are you going to allow me to work or are you going to complain your way through it until I am not able to use it for the purpose I intended it to be used for?"  Ugh, I know Lord, but.... "I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you.  Plans to give you hope and a future." (Jer. 29:11) but..... "I came so that you may have life and have it to the full..." (John  10:10)  But, Lord.....  "Do you love me?  No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what I have prepared for those who love me...." (1 Cor. 2:9)  Oh, Lord.....  "I am working everything out according to my purposes for my will so that you may be used for my glory." (Ephesians 1:11-12)  Seriously, it is difficult to argue with that!  So, I am trying to remember that I am God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for me to do.....  UGH!! :)

A visit from Grammy and Welie

Hard Rock Park

We had a great time at the park :)

Myrtle Beach Pics

 

We are having a GREAT time at my parent's beach house.  They have thought of everything  

here and it is wonderful!  My friend Teri was already coming down here, so we met up with her and mooched off her hotel's amenities like their pool, kiddie waterpark, etc.  Ty was not crazy about the sand at all the first day and spent the whole time at the beach on the beach chair brushing off sand!  Lucky for him there was a kiddie water park!  The second day my parents, nephew, sis and brother-in-law came to the beach with us, so with everyone there, he seemed to warm up and finally got in the ocean with my parents :)  Faith and Austin both loved the beach and the waves!  Jason and my nephew Josh spent the day boogie boarding :)  It's been beautiful weather until this evening when it rained.....so we ordered pizza hut pizza, got ice cream and brownies and celebrated my nephew's 19th birthday geeking out on the Wii my mom bought for down here.  It was alot of fun!!!  

THINGS THAT DON'T MAKE SENSE TO ME

I thought this was an interesting post from a blog that I came across...thought you may enjoy as well :)

1. How having four children quadrupled the love I have for my kids instead of dividing it into four.

2. How focusing on meeting my husband's needs results in my needs getting met.

3. Why having a lot of "me" time tends to make me more self-centered, not less.

4. Why serving other people makes me more content, not less.

5. How spending time with God usually results in me accomplishing more that day, not less.

6. Why exercising gives me more energy, and not exercising makes me more tired.

7. How submitting to God's will brings freedom rather than confinement.

8. Why things that taste good often are not good for me.

9. Why having fewer things makes me enjoy them more--and vice versa.

10. How I can know all of these things are true and too often behave as though they are not.

Visit Jeana's blog. 

The kids and pets :)

These are some more pics of the kids...one of Faith's best friends from school, Ty with our new puppy "Skippy", our nephew Micah and Jason on the horses and Austin with our friends daughter, Rilee.  

School pics

Well, thanks to a few blogger friends I am officially going to try to keep up with my blog.  Thanks to Aim for helping me get things set up and teaching me some cool photoshop tricks and to Sarah for the cool ideas.  You have both inspired me to give this a try :)  Help keep me going :)