Wednesday, July 29, 2009

30 Thoughts for Positive Living

Brian and I watch Joel Osteen on TV every week because we enjoy his teaching and is delivery. I attended his fathers church when I was a pre-teen. Our youth group went to Guatamala via Texas and we stayed there for a few days and had the pleasure of attending Lakeview Church. His father has since passed and now Joel has taken over and we wish he was closer so we could attend each week. These are things that I took out of his sermon last week that helped Brian and I both tremendously. I hope they do you as well. There were many more scriptures with each one but I put the main one.

1. Think the Way God Thinks!-1 Cor.2:9-God wants to bless you and give you
wisdom to make better decisions.

2. Develop a Vision of Victory-Isaiah 43:19-Live each day filled with expectancy
for victory and good things, even in the face of adversity.

3. Make a Plan- Proverbs 16:3-Wake up each day knowing where you are headed
and stick with it!

4. Speak What You Seek!-Isaiah 45:21-What you say in the midst of your difficulties
will have a direct impact on the outcome.

5. Stand Strong During Adversity-Eph 6:13-Make up your mind to serve God and be
strong no matter what or who comes against you.

6. Be Joyful Always-Nehemiah 8:10-Not very easy, but the joy of the Lord is your
strength! Positive attitudes pave the way for God to do good things in your life.

7. You are approved!-Jeremiah 1:5- You are created in his image and you are the
apple of his eye, his most precious creation.

8. Pursue your victory-Phil.3:13,14-Be aggresive and energetic when letting go of
the past and pressing forward to the abundant life God has in store for you.

9. Have an attitude of gratitude-Eph 4:29-Your words can pollute or purify, if you
constantly complain, you release poison into your life. Complaining is not based
on circumstance it is based on the attitude of your heart!

10. Overcome Opposition-I Cor. 16:9- Any time you step forward the enemy will
try to bring opposition against you. Keep your heart right and speak words of
hope and victory into your life. Stay focused and full of joy.

11. Declare Blessing-Num. 6:23-26- Speak a blessing over yourself and others. Declare
that everything you put in your hand will prosper and succeed. Declare any
curse or negative word is broken over you.

12. Develop a Restoration Mentality-Joel 2:25,26- Expect things to change in your
favor. Be strong will and determined to take back what has been taken from you
and your family.

13. Focus on the Future-Heb.10:35- See yourself successful! Before your dreams come
to pass, you must look through your eyes of faith and see them coming to pass!

14. Feed your Faith-I John 5:4- The Bible says faith comes by hearing, as you hear the
word of God your faith grows stronger!

15. Live to Give-Luke 6:38-God promises to multiply back to you what you give. Share
his love with others by giving your time, talents, and resources.

16. Live by the Spirit-Gal.5:16- When you choose to obey God's leading , that "inner
prompting" you will always make the right choice.

17. Release the Past- Phil 3:13-14, Let go of the past! Don't let regrets of yesterday
destroy the hope of tomorrow.

18. Filter your Thoughts-Ps.101:3- Think on things that are pure, wholesome, and of
good report. Filter what you watch, read, and listen to. Fill your thoughts with
promises of peace, joy and freedom, safety, deliverance, and prosperity.

19. Stand Firm-Ex 14:13, Take a stand, stay on the course that God has set for you
and God will raise a shield up to protect and defend you.

20. Live a Balanced Life-Song of Sol 1:6- If your always on the go, constantly working
and never take time for yourself, you will end up stressed out and overwhelmed.
You won't be able to enjoy life the way God wants you to.

21. Expect Favor- Ps.84:11- You walk in favor each day, not because of who you are,
but because of WHOSE you are. Knowing God's favor will bring you peace, and hope.
He wants us to thrive and excel in life.

22. Forgive Past Hurts-Eph. 4:31- Unforgiveness, bitterness, and resentment block
the flow of God's blessing in your life. Holding onto hurts of the past can
poison your present and limit your future. You are not defined by your past!

23. Raise your self image-Pro. 23:7- If you see yourself as poor and defeated then
you will live your life that way. Change your focus. You must believe God has good
things for you.

24. Avoid Strife-James 3:16- When we hold onto strife, it brings confusion. Strife
creeps in like a cancer and steals your peace. Make a decision to walk in peace and
love no matter how hard it is. Focus on loving people and not proving your point!

25. Rest and Wait-Habakkus 2:3- Don't be worried and frustrated about things in your
life. When you have the promises of God deep in your heart, the Bible says you
will "enter into the rest of God",a place of total trust that God will see you through.

26. Expect God's Best!-Isaiah 40:31-Faith is the substance of things hoped for, or another
definition is "confidant expectancy". Your expectations set limits for your life. If
you never expect anything good you will never get anything good.

27. Be Who You Are-Eph.2:10- You are God's handiwork! God knew who you were
before you were formed. You have unique talents and abilities.

28. Let God Defend You-Heb.10:30- Are you dealing with an "unresolved case" from
your past? God says in his word that he is your vindicator and defender. He will
settle your case and repay what has been stolen. But you must forgive the person
first.

29. Guard Your Heart-Pro. 4:23- If you harbor bitterness, jealousy, pride in your
heart, those seeds God wants to plant of victory won't be able to take root and grow.

30. Thank God for Your Victory-Ps. 44:7,8-Start praising and thanking God for things
to change in your favor and speak words of encouragement. Psalms if full of praises
that you can say in your prayer time to God.

We found this very uplifting and eye opening and we hope you do too! I told you some of it was difficult to do but not everything in life you need to do is easy. I hope this blesses you as much and it has us.

Chillin in my Wiggles shoes, Pa's hat and a pull up

Zane found his Wiggles shoes, which are one and a half sizes too small, and he decided to put them on. He has a shoe fetish, like mommy, in fact all of my boys do! They have more shoes than I do. He wore them all day with his Pa's hat and no pants. He is a mess. Later in the day he put his plastic guitar around his neck and pretended to play it. It has buttons on it that make music so he thinks its real.
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Monday, July 20, 2009

Sleeping babies!!


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Zane's new shoes!

Zane got a new pair of shoes and he likes them so much he tries to sleep with them on. I had to take them off after he drifted off to sleep!
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Friday, July 10, 2009

Happy July 4th! (a few days late)

We have had company staying with us for the last week so I am sorry for the delay in posting. I am surprised I still have my wits about me after cleaning up after 8 people for over a week! We had a good 4th anyway! We took the boys up to Aunt Mollys to swim and celebrate Hannahs b-day and then shot off fireworks at home with Zanes Uncle Shane and my brother and his family. The boys were worn out the next day but they had a good time. Brian took Elijah to see Transformers 2 at the IMAX Theater at Turkey Creek. They loved it!!
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Zane wanted an ice cream cone while in the bath tub!

He is not a sweet eater but he likes ice cream cones from McDonalds!

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Trying on Dads shoes


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Riding his bike


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Even Mommy got sparklers!


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Yes, I made Biskit wear a festive shirt too!!

He didn't like it at all!
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Brian and Elijah swimming


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Uncle Shane trying to coerse Zane in the pool


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Elijah said the water was cold at first but he loved it


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Sunday, June 21, 2009

Elijah's Birthday Party!

We had reserved the pool for his party but the terrible storms we have all had of late ruined our plans so we just had cake and stuff at Brian's moms house. She lives just a couple of miles from the pool anyway so we thought what the heck! I had a friend make my cake for him. She has a business at home and she is amazing! It is called J Cakes and Designs. She made a 3-D New Orleans Saints stadium with half butter choclate and half butter vanilla. It was really, really good! Elijah loved it. He had his best friend Austin and Brians family there to celebrate with him. I can't believe next year he will be a teenager. His Daddy got him a cell phone so I can call him when he is there and he can call when he is here. He isn't allowed to text though. He doesn't need to. He has been very responsible with it so far. He keeps it charged and hasn't lost it thank goodness. He got a hard drive and a bunch of accessories for his XBOX LIVE. Of course what is a birthday for Elijah without more shoes. Brian and I got him his XBOX LIVE hookup and some NIKE Cortez shoes. He is a shoe fiend! He likes to feel like he is a big guy but he still enjoys all the things kids do. I'm not ready for him to grow up yet and I don't think he is either.

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