Can You Give It All?
I played this song in class today. I told them how this song is such a great reminder that God doesn’t just want us Sunday morning, He doesn’t only want us during our quiet time, He wants us to focus on Him in all that we do. He doesn’t want all of us so He can feel better but because when we give up and turn everything over to Him our life will be better. Take a moment to really let the lyrics of this song get into your heart.
Take my life and let it be
consecrated, Lord, to Thee.
Take my moments and my days,
let them flow in ceaseless praise.
Take my hands and let them move
at the impulse of Thy love.
Take my feet and let them be
swift and beautiful for Thee.
Take my voice and let me sing
always, only for my King.
Take my lips and let them be
filled with messages from Thee.
Take my silver and my gold
not a mite would I withhold.
Take my intellect and use
every power as You choose.
::Chorus::
Here am I, all of me.
Take my life, it’s all for Thee.
Take my will and make it Thine
it shall be no longer mine.
Take my heart it is Thine own
it shall be Thy royal throne.
Take my love, my Lord I pour
at Your feet its treasure store
Take myself and I will be
ever, only, all for Thee.
Take myself and I will be
ever, only, all for Thee.
Here am I, all of me.
Take my life, it’s all for Thee.
Back to School Advice
For some of us this time of year brings about big changes – Back to School. For me I have mixed feelings. Thankful that I will have more time for me to devote to Faithful Workouts but sad that we will be back into the school routine. School time means I have less time to spend with my kids and more energy I need to put into keeping them on task – “Wake up, eat your breakfast, don’t forget your lunch, did you do your homework, don’t forget your football gear…..”
It’s way too easy to get so into the school routine that we don’t make the time to talk to our kids about what really matters. If you ask your child, “What is your purpose for being alive?” They would most likely answer, “Um I don’t know” but isn’t really our purpose for being on this earth to give God glory? Isn’t it all about bringing His light into the darkness? Isn’t it about loving God and loving others”
If that is our purpose and our kids’ purpose for being here we need to talk about it with them. Imagine if we all sent our kids off to school with the lyrics from the song, “These are the Words I Would Say”
“Be strong in the lord and,
Never give up hope,
You’re going to do great things,
I already know,
Gods got his hand on you so,
Don’t live life in fear,
Forgive and forget,
But don’t forget why your here,
Take your time and pray,
These are the words I would say”
If kids around the world started their day hearing these words and put them into their heart and mind – imagine!
Some of you probably already know this about me but I am really into music. I love music that has an important message. Here is another song that has awesome lyrics for your kids to listen to before they head off to school. This song is called, “Don’t laugh at me”
“I’m a little boy with glasses
The one they call the geek
A little girl who never smiles
‘Cause I’ve got braces on my teeth
And I know how it feels
To cry myself to sleep
I’m that kid on every playground
Who’s always chosen last
A single teenage mother
Tryin’ to overcome my past
You don’t have to be my friend
But is it too much to ask
Don’t laugh at me
Don’t call me names
Don’t get your pleasure from my pain
In God’s eyes we’re all the same
Someday we’ll all have perfect wings
Don’t laugh at me”
Talk to your kids about being kind. Let them know how you feel about teasing. Remind them to look out for the kid who doesn’t have anyone to play with. Reward them for acts of kindness not just for good grades.
My 15 year old daughter, Denika, came home yesterday from school and told me about a teacher that was having a lot of pain from an abscessed tooth. She asked if she could make him some chicken soup.
My heart smiled when I saw her cutting up the veggies and chicken and making the soup. My husband made a point during our family prayer at dinner to thank God for Denika’s kind heart for caring for her teacher. He told her how what she did was showing God’s love not just talking about it.
My family is far from perfect but this was one of those moments when I was so thankful that God had tugged on our hearts and drew us close to Him.
It’s so easy to get caught up in what the world values but keep your focus on God. Pray and ask Him to direct you.
80th Birthday
There are certain moments in life when you know you just experienced something you will never forget. I just finished a few days in Scottsdale with my parents, sisters and their families. We were celebrating my parents’ 80th birthdays. The last night there we presented a photo book that my niece put together. We all sent pictures to her and everyone wrote a note to be printed in the book. My niece also put quotes, comments and lines from songs in it. We all sat together and went through every line in the book. We cried lots of tears of happiness and laughed at all the goofy things we used to do.
It really jumped out at me that what I do today will be the memories we will be going through at my 80th birthday. What do I hope my family writes in my book?
Imagine someone throws you a surprise party for your 80th birthday. All your friends and family members get up talk about the difference you made in their life and the difference you made in the world. What do you hope to hear? Are you living your life right now the way you need to so that you will hear what you hope for? If so – awesome! If not what changes do you need to make?
I don’t think we should live our life only to please others but if we live the way God suggests you will hear things at that party that will make you smile.
Why do you do good deeds?
I was reading an email from the gospel.com/blog and it posed an interesting question – “Why do you do good deeds?” They listed off some typical answers but their answer comes from a devotional from My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers. He says that we should try and act righteously and live a morally pure life so that we can “point people to Jesus Christ”.
I don’t think this means every time we do a kind thing we need to tell the recipient, “I did this for you so I can tell you about Jesus” but in our heart we should hope that our kindness might give us an opportunity to someday tell that person about Jesus’ love and what He did for us. I love Matthew 5:16, “In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.”
This verse really motivates me to get out and love people. When we openly love others we might have a door open that allows us to tell them about the greatest love of all. I want to encourage all of you to show love to others so that you might be able to “point people to Jesus Christ”.