 Today, the great and precious promise is RIGHTEOUSNESS which to me is a word that I struggle with ever relating to myself. It is a word where if I even associate that word with me, I start hearing the voices in my head say “who do YOU think you are to call yourself righteous?” Do any of you struggle with that? 😊 Biblically, speaking, we are supposed to be growing to be like our Lord; growing to be more and more like Jesus who is righteous. The bible defines righteousness as observing divine laws, keeping the commands of God; a way of thinking, feeling and acting that is comformed to the will of God which encompasses integrity, virtue, purity of life, rightness, correctness of thinking, feeling, and acting; living a holy life.
There are days I know I fall short of being more like Jesus. On those days, instead of listening to the negative voices in my head, to the lies of the enemy, I silence them, get up and go after being acceptable to God; being righteous. If you reread the scripture above, it states “blessed are they which hunger and thirst after righteousness.” Hunger and thirst is another way of saying “strongly desire” for righteousness. I can say I strongly desire for righteousness; I strongly desire to be acceptable to God; I strongly desire to keep God’s commands and in so desiring this the last part of this scripture states “for they shall be filled.” The promise is more than God just bestowing righteousness on us. God says that they which hunger and thirst after righteousness shall be filled. Do you hunger and thirst for righteousness? Father, thank You for Your great and precious promises. Today, I thank You for the promise of RIGHTEOUSNESS. Lord, as I look into this word I can narrow it down to You wanting each of us to strongly desire a right way of living and a right way of acting; to be a person that is acceptable to You. Father, I hold up my family to you, I hold up my loved ones to You and ask that if each of us is not hungering and thirsting for righteousness that You place that strong desire deep in our hearts. Stir each of us up, Lord! Stir up my spouse, stir up my children and stir me up, Lord. Remove any veils from our eyes where the enemy has blinded us and lied to us about being able to live a holy life. Help us be aware what our hands do, what our tongue speaks, what our ears hear, where our feet walk and what our mind thinks. Place people in my spouse’s path, in my children’s path, in my path to encourage us to live a holy life, a life acceptable to You. Let us remember any voice against this way of living is not a voice I want my spouse, my children or myself to listen to. Remind us during the times the enemy wants to laugh and tease us for desiring to live a holy life that the devil is a liar, he is a thief, he is a murderer, and a distorter. The devil will not be the voice my family and loved ones listen to. Thank You, Lord, that Your voice is louder than the enemy’s voice. Thank You that greater is You in us than he of this world. So today, I declare I hunger and thirst after righteousness; I strongly desire it and I am wholeheartedly pursuing a life acceptable to You. I receive Your promise to fill me with righteousness. Thank You that my spouse, my children, and my loved ones have this same hunger and thirst in them for righteousness and You are giving them this promise as well. In Jesus’ name Amen
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 Praying God's great and precious promises for our spouse, children, and loved ones. Today's prayer is focused on God's promise that we will INHERIT THE EARTH; however, did you know not everyone will inherit the earth? This promise is found in Matthew 5:5. It is the Beatitudes. The Beatitudes are the promises, the teachings, Jesus spoke at the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount. Matthew 5:5 "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. The meek inherit the earth. When we are looking for God's will for our lives, it is not hard to read scripture and know His will. Here is one example: being meek; which comes with a promise. Meek in scripture means humble, gentleness of spirit. Do not mistake it for a form of weakness. In one section it says that we are to rely on God instead of our own strength to defend against injustice, trusting in God's goodness and control over the situation.
Father, we thank You for the promise to INHERIT THE EARTH. Lord, I ask that You show us areas of our life, show our spouse, our children and our loved ones where we are not being meek, where we are not fully relying on You in a situation that is unjust; whether we think something is not fair what our spouse is going through at work, or we think our children are being treated unfairly, or we see others walking through a season of prejudice and discrimination then we ask during these times Your strength and power be upon me and the ones walking through this. We ask You to help us trust that You see all and are working behind the scenes for the good of those who love You, working behind the scenes for those being treated unfairly. We trust in Your goodness and control over these situations. We thank You as we choose to be biblically meek that You promise us the inheritance of the earth. We praise You and trust You and pray this in Jesus' name the name above all names Amen.  Have you ever come to the realization the way you are living is not leading to life but actually feels like darkness has entered? It’s not the abundant life the bible talks about or life-giving to the people around you. It’s not the life you hear about at church or the one you imagined you would live.
Do you ever think, “I want more of God but I don’t know where to begin.” Or even laid in your bed in the dark of the night and pondered about your day and said out loud, “Why did I say that or Why did I do that?” There is no perfect person in this world. Even the person we perceive as a strong Godly person makes mistakes. The beauty of the Lord and Savior is today your life can be rebuilt. So many people get stuck and truly don’t know where to begin to change their life because they feel there are just too many areas that need changing. Maybe for the first time, you are hearing negative, ugly words coming out of your mouth. Maybe you have become aware that you are judging people in your mind daily. Maybe for the first time ever, you are aware of things your hands have been doing that embarrass you now. Maybe your feet have walked in places that you know God would not approve or your eyes have looked at images, movies, and tv shows you know down deep in your heart you should not be watching. These are the areas that are broken in our lives as it relates to our spiritual walk with God. Until these areas are repaired, do not expect to experience the real joy of the Lord or to ride on the heights of the land or feast on the inheritance of Jacob (Gen 28:13-14, Gen 35:10-12). Let me pause and reiterate the inheritance of Jacob that is ours to inherit: land, innumerable descendants, and blessings from the Lord. We deprive ourselves of this inheritance if we chose to remain as we are. We deprive our children. We must choose to create a new us; to build a better you. In doing so, our lives will be enriched. So, where do you begin if you don’t know where to begin. First, above all, we must receive Jesus as our Lord and Savior. I know this can be a scary phrase for those that have lived most of their lives in sin but we, the people, the sinners, are the very people Jesus died for on the cross. We are the very people Jesus loved so much that He sacrificed His life so that we may receive the gift of salvation. Maybe Jesus already lives in your heart and you are saved but you know there are areas in your life that you need to rebuild. Start with one of those areas to rebuild. As Christians, we have to remind ourselves, we do not need to reach perfection to call upon the Lord. It’s quite the opposite. We call upon the Lord in our sin, in our imperfect life, and in our need for broken pieces of our life to be repaired. For me, I find one area of my life that I feel is broken and I look up the antonym of that word and then I take that word and look up all the scriptures about that word and start reading those scriptures. I study those scriptures and learn how to specifically change in that area. Then I pray and ask God to help me as I rebuild this area in my life. And, oh yes, remember Field of Dreams and Ray kept hearing “build it and he will come?” People thought he was crazy when he actually plowed his cornfield to build the baseball field. His wife was skeptical at first and his brother in law couldn’t see what Ray saw. Yes, this. This will probably happen to you. Family and friends may not understand your desire to rebuild some areas of your life but do it anyway. Can I tell you a secret? The reason you even see an area in your life that needs rebuilding is God has opened your eyes. He wants us to live a life in abundance but we have to change some areas of our life to experience this life in abundance. As we invite the Lord to rebuild areas that are broken, we will see our joy return; we will become aware that the arm of the Lord is not too short to save. No longer will the Lord’s ears be too dull to hear us. No longer will the Lord’s face be hidden from us because of our sins. All this happens because we invite the Lord into our brokenness; to rebuild us. And don’t forget it opens the gate wide open for us to receive the inheritance of Jacob: the land, the innumerable descendants, and the blessings of the Lord! Build it and He will come and not only come once but when we build a new us, He will come and come and come.  In late August of 2017, God laid on my heart to begin to pray His great and precious promises for our family. As I started studying the bible and looking at all His promises in His word, I could not believe how many were in the bible. I am committing to pray all His great and precious promises from Matthew to Revelation in 2018. There are about 250 promises in the New Testament. I believe, as a wife and Mom, one of the greatest gifts I can give my husband and my children is prayer. I have tasted and seen the goodness of the Lord over the years as I prayed for specific requests. I believe in the power of prayer. Prayer can literally change the path your husband or children are on. Prayer is that space carved out to hear the voice of the Lord; to approach our Savior and be in His presence. It is a time where we can come empty and depleted and leave full and refreshed. It is a time to believe that victory for your family is coming.
Today’s great and precious promise is the Kingdom of Heaven. Jesus stated in the sermon on the mount in Matthew 5:3, “Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” The poor in the spirit refers to a person who is humble and meek; a person who knows they need God and gives themselves over to Him. Jesus says this person is blessed and will receive the kingdom of heaven. Lord, I praise Your mighty name and thank You the kingdom of heaven is one of your great and precious promises for us. Father, I hold up my children to you today. There are so many people with so many voices trying to get the attention of my children. I thank You that Your voice is the voice they hear over all the other voices. I come against arrogant behavior and pride in my children. I release a spirit of meekness and humility in my children. I thank You they will not be so full of themselves and self-absorbed that they do not see Your will and Your way for their life. I thank You they recognize they need you, Lord, in every area of their life. I thank You that today You are filling them up with the fullness of Christ. I stand in the gap for my children. I pray Your love is poured out on and in them today. I pray that You are alive in them today. I thank You no weapon formed against them shall prosper. I thank You that the kingdom of heaven is theirs! In Jesus’ name, Amen.  It's a brand new year! I love the "new" in the beginning of a new year. It's almost like a big fat reset button to do things we wish we had done better last year. It's that fresh start, a time to begin again, For some, it's about wiping the slate clean. For me, it's about going forward and building on all that happened in 2017 and doing it better than last year. It's about being intentional as a child of God, a daughter of my King! It's a time to believe, have faith, and hope for all that God has for me and my family in 2018. I want my children to get excited about a new year. I want them to be intentional about stepping back and praying and thinking about how they can do better this year, I want them to grow deeper in their faith. I created this New Year's Resolution template for our family last year and updated it for 2018. It's great to do as a family. Feel free to download and use for your family. Happy New Year! 
 Many thanks to Joy Holden and BR Parents Magazine for interviewing me for the Mom Next Door. It is always an honor to bring Glory to God when I talk about our family's adoption and birth story. Joy was so sweet, sincere and gracious as she asked questions about Motherhood, adoption, and birth. My prayer is that, as always, our story encourages someone who is struggling with infertility, praying about adoption, and learning to trust God on a deeper level. Also, many thanks to their photographer Cindy Abney Photographer for your patience with my crew! :) You can read the Mom Next Door article here.  6 of our 8 blessings (Heidi and Henry not shown)   In Matthew 4:19, Jesus called out a promise to some men and said, “Come, follow Me, and I will show you how to fish for people!” This promise was not just for fishermen like Peter, Andrew, James and John. This promise is for us. This promise is for our children. These fishermen knew how to cast a net into the lake and catch perch and bass. These fishermen possessed skills to get the job done to catch fish, but Jesus wanted to show them a new way to fish; He wanted to teach them how to catch men and women instead of fish. When Jesus told them what He wanted them to do, to stop and follow Him to become fishers of men, the bible says they simply dropped their nets and followed Jesus. What a beautiful picture of God’s will for us and how we are to respond. As Mom to our children, I want this promise for my children but I know to receive the promise my children must respond as the disciples responded.
One of the greatest impacts you can have on your children, both young and old, is to pray for them. There is power in prayer. Many times, as parents we see such impossibilities before us especially with our children. These are the times we can exercise our faith and choose to believe God is aware of what is going on and what an honor it is to know, as my children’s Mom, that I can pray His word over my children and not only does He hear the cries of my heart but He moves on behalf of my children. Some of you have small children and you are in a season of diapers, formula, and little sleep. This is a great time to start praying for the future of your son or daughter. Maybe you are a Mom and your son or daughter is older maybe a teen or even maybe an adult and you don’t see anything that resembles Jesus in them 😊 I am a firm believer that your prayers will drastically shift your child towards God; your prayers for your son or daughter WILL make a difference in their life whether you see if right away or years to come. Do not take this lightly. Put on your war paint and press in prayer for you child 😊 Moms, this is mission minded! We are on a mission to make sure the ways of this world, the enemy and his plans do not embrace our children. Father, thank You that my family, my child/ren will follow You as you say to them “Come, follow Me, and I will show you how to fish for people!” I thank You, Lord, this is a promise in the bible from You. Fisherman are very hard workers using their strength to cast nets and bring in the fish. Thank You that my child/ren will not sit around doing nothing in life; my child/ren will not be afraid to do the hard work. Thank You, Lord, that just like the earthly fishermen, my child/ren will be courageous and patient people. Just as fishermen have skill in where to find and how to catch fish, You, Lord, are giving my child/ren the skills for soul-winning, skills to work together, skills to be cooperative. Thank You, Lord, for giving my child/ren the faith and alertness to win souls for Christ. Thank You for giving them energy and patience; the staying power, stamina and tenacity to endure. They will have the ability to grip something firmly, have determination and persistence. I speak forth that my child/ren will not be quitters or complainers! So today and this day forward, I trust that You, Lord, are working in my child/ren. I rejoice at this promise that there is power in prayer and that my child/ren this day forward are soul winners for You. I pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen.  Father, I come to You today to pray for Your promise of protection by angels. In Your word, You say that angels are Your messengers that are sent forth throughout the earth; servants of Christ to minister to Your people; to assist, care for, counsel, guide, tend to, and direct us. I once heard a pastor say God spoke to him and said, “My people do not use angels enough”. Lord, I come to You today and stand in the gap for my child/ren and their protection in this world on this earth. I believe there is an unseen world of angels created by You ready for their assignment. I believe Your word in Psalm 91 that says You command Your angels charge over us to guard us in all our ways. I do believe Your angels have a divine role in each of our lives today; in my child/rens life today. Lord, I call forth Your angels. Release Your angels today over my child/ren; release Your angels over my family; release Your angels over each one of us. In Hebrew 1:14 You reiterate that Your angels are ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation. I thank You my child/ren will inherit salvation; Your angels are available for my child/ren so today, Lord, send forth Your angels to my child/ren. You know their thoughts, their struggles, their temptations. You know what necessities they need. You know their interests, Lord. You know where they hurt. Protect them today and every day, Lord. I thank You and trust You, Lord, when they are not in my sight that You are taking care of them. That You are sending out angels to encamp about them, to guard them, to protect them in all their ways. Lord, You sent angels to shut the lions’ mouth so that they could not harm Daniel. Lord, You sent angels to comfort Jesus after He was tempted by Satan. Lord, Your word says in Psalm 103:20, “Bless the LORD, you His angels, Mighty in strength, who perform His word, Obeying the voice of His word!” I bless You Lord that You send Your angels forth; who are mighty in strength, who perform Your word, who obey the voice of Your word. I thank You this is what is happening over my child/ren. You are sending Your angels forth to my child/ren today and every day to perform Your word and obey the voice of Your word for my child/ren. I kneel before You in praise! I raise my hands to You to worship my Almighty Father! I thank You that my child/ren are protected by angels; they are protected. I pray all this in Jesus’ name Amen.
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Hello and Welcome!
Wife, Mother, Adoption Advocate, Writer
Who am I? Galatians 2:20 does a great job of summing up who I am. My life is His, the One who loves me and gave Himself for me . In return, I want to be all He wants me to be and do all He wants me to do on this side of Heaven. 
Recipient of the Angels in Adoption Award 2016. A program of the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute in Washington D.C.
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