Sharing Her Heart

Test everything. These 2 words have played over and over in my mind lately. I knew that there is a verse that says this, but I didn’t remember where to find it, so last night I asked my husband. He, for some reason can find everything for me. He found it in 1Thessalonians 5:21 “Test everything. Hold on to the good.” What exactly does that mean? What I have found lately, is that this applies to ALL things in All areas. Especially those concerning Christianity and the Truth. These days, you can’t just walk into a church and assume that what you hear the pastor say is true. To do that can be very dangerous.  What I understand from this verse is that we are supposed to test everything against the Word of God and hold on to the Truth only. Take your Bible to church with you, check what the pastor is speaking against the Word. We need to make sure that what we are being taught is God’s truth. Everything that your church practices and teaches should be in your Bible. I’m so very thankf...

I am currently studying the book “Lord, I want to know you” By Kay Arthur with 2 of my friends. This morning as I was studying it, a passage really struck me and I want to share it with you. “…you have been created for His glory, for His pleasure. Your life is to be lived in such a way as to reflect Him , to show the world the character of God- His love, His peace, His mercy, His gentleness. You are to live for Him , to accomplish His will. To miss this purpose is to miss fulfillment. It is to have existed rather than to have lived.” Did you notice that the words “me” and “you” are not in that passage? It’s not about us, it never was. It always has and always will be, about Him. Something that our world today has forgotten. We are only here because of Him. We were created for His glory (Isaiah 43:1,3-4,7). I hope that passage affects you as strongly as it does me. Have you studied this book before? How did it affect you?   *Andrea*

Wow, what a great weekend it was for me. It was also a weekend where God showed me (yet again) that he is always faithful. I have lost some weight and I was in desperate need of dress pants that fit. Or at least ones that don’t fall off (I didn’t lose that much, they were big to begin with!).  I had some things to do at the mall, so I thought I’d just get my pants there. I did make a quick stop at the local thrift store before going to the mall, but didn’t want to take the time to look for pants there.  My budget was $30. That should be enough for dress pants right? At least the ones on sale. Well, Our mall is not very big, but I went to every store that sells women’s clothes and looked for dress pants. I only found 1 pair that was under $30 and they weren’t really what I was looking for so I didn’t buy them. So now at this point, I’m very disappointed and tired, but I decide to check one more store close by before going home. I had no luck there either. They only had 1 styl...

Wow, what a weekend. It was very busy, but I sure learnt alot. On Saturday, as most of you know, I attended the Beth Moore simulcast. It was an awesome experience. One that I will probably never forget, especially the part when the fire alarm went off and we had to evacuate the building! We had just come back for lunch and were doing the praise and worship, when suddenly the alarm went off and we were all sent outside. There was no fire that I know of, so we were able to go back in shortly. We thought that we might miss something, seeing how it was a live broadcast, but they were able to pause it and continue where we left off, so we didn’t miss a thing. We were all very thankful. I plan to share what I learnt with you all, but I do need a bit of time to process it all. So please bear with me, it will take me a few days to get it all out. I can, however, share with you the main Bible passages that she used. They were: Luke 1:1-4 Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrati...

   This morning, on my way to grocery shopping, I heard Hebrews 11:1 on my radio. “Faith is being sure of what you hope for and certain of what you do not see.” I really like that verse. It gives me hope and reassurance.  It helps me to remember what Faith is and why I choose to believe.  Last night, at Bible study, one lady shared Hebrews 11:6 with us. “And without Faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” I just love that! You can’t do good works to try and please God. Believe in Him and good works will happen as a result. These are both great verses to meditate on. I just wanted to share them with you! Have a great weekend!! *Andrea*

    You know which lies I’m talking about. The ones that say “your not good enough” or “you can’t do it” or even worse “you’ll never amount to anything.” These are some of the lies that we deal with every day. Lately, mine have been “your a terrible mom” and “you just don’t look good.”  These lies hurt and that’s exactly what their meant to do. Their meant to ruin the way we look at ourselves, so that we won’t believe that we can be loved so much by a very big God. So, why do we believe them? Because we think so little of ourselves? I don’t think so. Because it’s easy to believe them, instead of fight them? Maybe. Or is it because we need to get back into the word and/or talk to our Saviour more? Yes, I’m sure that’s part of it. I believe that we need to daily spend time with our saviour, sharing with him, what’s on our heart. He tells us in his word to “Watch out that you are not deceived”… (Luke 21:8) In order to do that, we need to keep in touch with him dai...

For us, these regular summer pests mean nothing but irritation and itch.  However, for others, it’s not so simple. You see, mosquitos carry a virus called Malaria which kills almost one-million people every year.  Most of them are children and pregnant women. 90% of people who get Malaria live in Africa. In Africa, 20% of infected children under the age of 5 , die. If they don’t die, many will have brain damage.   But, there is hope. YOU are that hope.   All you need to do, is click here to donate a mosquito net for only $13 (Canadian funds). This will provide mosquito nets and Malaria prevention for children and their families. It’s a very inexpensive way to save lives.     Join with me, and together we can BITE BACK and fight Malaria.   Andrea

Encouragement.  Isn’t that a great word? I love it. I love what it stands for and how it makes you feel. I love how it can change a person’s outlook with just a couple of words. I love how when you hear the word, your mood instantly goes more positive. Well, encouragement is what I have been receiving lately and man do I feel good. I have been encouraged in small, subtle ways, with simple words. With words that are meant to encourage and lift up. It has been really nice to hear and be reminded, because I have let myself believe otherwise. I have been so tired and dis couraged that I found it hard to believe that I am good and useful and that I am a blessing to my family and to those around me. But through kind words from my family, friends and my church family, I have been encouraged again. The best encouragement came this morning as I was reading my devotions. I read Proverbs chapter 31, and God showed me through that passage how much like her I really am. I Love Proverbs 3...

    If you would have asked me a year ago “who is Shaun Groves?” I wouldn’t have been able to tell you. Now however, I can give you at least a partial answer. Shaun Groves is a gifted musician, and a powerful advocate for Compassion International. That is actually how I heard about him first. Not as a musician, but through all the work that he’s done with Compassion. He is a very inspiring and encouraging individual, and he’s given me ‘food for thought’ many times. I have never had the opportunity to meet him or even see him speak or sing, but I really believe in what he’s trying to accomplish through his music, blog, and Compassion. On August 30th, Shaun will be releasing his newest album titled “Third World Symphony”. From my understanding, it will not be available in stores, online only. So to pre-order your very own copy for only $10 U.S. click here . If you want to listen first, click here . I really think you’ll enjoy it. I know I do. Let me know what you think. ...

   I guess some of you might be wondering where I’ve been lately. I have not been posting as much and when I do write, it’s not about my life or the work that Christ is doing in it. You see, I have been learning a lot lately and I’m just not sure how to put it all into words. I’m in the middle of a study with some other women and we’re studying the book “Lord, teach me to pray in 28 days.” This has been a challenging book for me. “How have I been challenged?” you ask, I don’t know. “What have I learnt?” I don’t know that either. I honestly can’t say. Not because I don’t want to, but because I don’t have the words. I am a person who needs time to absorb knowledge and with this busy summer so far, I have not yet given myself the time to let it all sink in. There is one thing that I know for sure though, I feel different. Maybe it’s the holy spirit moving in me and changing me? I hope so. I’m sooo ready for change. But, like everything else, I will only know for sure after i...

    I am beginning a quest. Care to join me? In this quest, I hope to find many things but most of all I hope to find contentment. You see, I currently am not content. Not even a little bit. I’m also needing peace. Peace and Quiet. The kind that you don’t get when your kids are small and your house is trashed. Yes, my house is a disaster. I just get it cleaned up, and then 5 minutes later you would never know that it took me an hour to clean it. Take last night for instance, I put my kids to bed and then I spent a good hour and vacuumed and washed my floors. I thought it was a brilliant idea, doing it after the kids were in bed. However, I forgot about the dog. My dog is as messy as my kids. She leaves her toys everywhere, and she also sheds so I have to keep on top of that too. So, this morning when I woke up, I vacuumed again. Anyway, back to my quest for contentment. I have been feeling lately that I would like to do something (anything!) different. I’m not sure wha...

It just occurred to me. I can be a strict person when it comes to please and thank you and I don’t think I ever said thank you to those of you who read my blog. So… THANK YOU, VERY, VERY MUCH!! I’m so excited each day when I check the stats on my blog and I see that people have checked it out that day. I don’t have a Huge fan base, (not even really big, if you want to get technical) but I really appreciate each and every one of you that takes the time out of your busy day, to read what I have written that day.  It makes my day just knowing that some people find my blog interesting. Thank you again. I received a very complimentary phone call today. A lady from Compassion Canada called me and she mentioned that she had received an email from head office regarding a question I had. In that email, the person had said very positive things about my blog. That was very exciting for me. I never in my dreams imagined someone from Compassion head office taking an interest in my blog. I’m no...

  I have had this prayer/verse in my mind a lot lately, so I thought I’d share it with you. Romans 7:15 “I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. (vs.17-20)As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me.  I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do;no, the evil I do not want to do-this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.” I am not who I want to be lord… so please…   Change me.

Today as I was absently staring out my patio door (as I often do!), I watched the umbrella on my patio table blow wildly in the wind. And I couldn’t help but notice that my mosquito coil holder (the orange circle at the base of the pole) did not move ( it’s quite light so I expected it to slide all over the table). Seeing that reminded me of the song “ I will not be shaken” and I was gently reminded (yet again) that we should not allow the conditions in our lives or of the world, to move us or shift us from our focus on Christ. Let the wind blow all around us cause “WE WILL NOT BE SHAKEN, WE WILL NOT BE MOVED!" Just a thought that I wanted to share. Have a great day! Andrea

     Do you ever get tired of feeling like you never say or do the right thing at the right time? I sure do! I always think about what I should have said or done long after the moment is passed. The more I think about it the dumber I feel. “Why can’t I just ‘be’ like the other godly women I know?” “Why do I constantly mess up?” These are questions that battle my mind quite often. I just don’t ever feel like I have it together. Take Sunday morning for instance: my husband was ushering so I was in charge of both of our kids for the first little bit of church. No big deal right? It should be easy. I have 2 kids not 8, so there should be no worries. WRONG! My kids sure know how to pick the days that they are not gonna behave and Sunday was one of them. Here’s just a bit of my Sunday morning: as soon as I sat down my son started to whine (he has a whine like no one else, as my sister so lovingly put it) and he would not stop whining. His nose was running also, so I took h...

  OK, so with the beautiful sunny weather that we’ve been having, I’ve been outside a lot enjoying it. So as you may have noticed, I haven’t been posting as much.    I have been thinking lately though about what kind of person I am. I’m trying to ‘label’(?) myself and I think I found the one that fits. I would label myself as a ‘servant’. The reason I give myself this label is because I’m happiest when I can serve someone. I just think about the jobs that I had in my past and I have the fondest memories of jobs where I could help others. I really enjoyed being a cashier, but I had even more fun when I got to help a customer find something. When the item was found, it was so exciting for me. Also as a hairstylist, I really enjoy cutting and coloring hair to help people feel better about their appearance. My current (and most important) job right now is mom & wife. I get to serve people all the time! Sometimes however, when it comes to every day household chores, I nee...

   Psalm 46:1-3 " God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though it's waters roar and foam  and the mountains quake with their surging." This was my devotion passage this morning. I just love the way It's written. "Even if the earth gives way and the mountains fall into the sea, we will NOT fear!" That is so comforting if you really think about it. God wants us to be assured that he is always there for us, that he is our 'safe' place. The place of no fear. The place we can go when there is no where else, and no one else. He is always there patiently waiting for us to open the door and invite him in. There is no 'handle' on his side of the door, it's up to us to open it. Have you opened the door to him lately? Just a thought... * Andrea *

     What a great weekend we had! I was lucky to have my husband home on Friday for the day. So we were able to get some things done around the house and yard. On Saturday, we had 'work day' at church. That was a lot of fun. It's nice to get together with other members of the church in a more casual setting and get to know them better. It's also nice to see what kinds of things the church needs to have done in order to keep it in good physical shape. I really enjoyed the morning that we spent helping. On Sunday, it was Mother's day (of course, you all know). But more importantly, it was baptism day at our church. We had 5 young men profess their faith and get baptised, as well as 3 young ladies become members. It was so awesome to me to see 8 young adults on stage proclaiming their love for God. Their testimonies were very inspirational, how they shared what God has taken them from and how he is shaping and changing them. It is awesome that these young pe...

  Lately, I've been feeling changes in my heart. I've been feeling as if God is preparing me for something. I don't know what he has in mind, but I'm trying to be open to any and all ideas. That's difficult for me to do because I'm a person who doesn't do all that well with big changes (I guess that's probably most of us!), but I have to remember that as a child of God, he asks some pretty big stuff from us sometimes. Remember when God asked Abraham to offer his son Issac (Genesis 22)? That is a serious request. Can you imagine laying your son down on the altar and getting ready to kill him? How did Issac respond? What did Abraham say to him? I can't imagine it. But look at what the Lord says to him when he rewards him: "I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies,    and through your offspring all natio...

    I hope you all had a great weekend celebrating the resurrection of Christ. I sure did! I love the fresh feelings that come with holidays. I love the feeling like it's happening all over again for the first time and allowing my mind to imagine it all and letting my heart really feel. On Good Friday, I thought a lot about how that was the day that Jesus was crucified so many years ago. I tried to picture it all in my head and imagine what he must have felt the best I could. The grief and despair but also the hope and the faith that he had in God his father. The feeling that if he didn't do this, none of us would ever be able to join him in paradise.   Then on Easter Sunday, I tried to put myself in Mary Magdalene's shoes and imagine the sorrow when she found the empty tomb. Oh the grief that must have been in her heart! I also tried to imagine her incredible joy when she saw that Jesus was very much alive, and he called her by name! Can you picture it? You l...