Growing in Spirit and Truth

Last week of 2010.... Christmas is over as far as the cooking, presents, and all the hustle and bustle. It was exciting, exhausting and full of laughter and love!! I find myself not wanting to let go of the feeling I have at Christmas. I don't mind letting go all the hustle and bustle but I want to hang on to the laughter and love. The closeness in hearts families seem to have at this time of year is amazing. Sitting here, realizing it is the last week of this year! I know, I don't have to end the year or begin a new year without laughter, love and closeness of heart. All of this can be just a fleeting feeling or it can be a knowing. When I say a knowing, I'm talking about true laughter, love and closeness in heart. The Joy we have at Christmas is with us always, even when the feelings seem to fade. It's the "Joy of the Lord". "His name is Emmanuel" "God with us" His presence is always here...not just at Christmas. I want to end m...

Neh. 8:10 We have all heard this scripture in times of weakness. We tell ourselves or someone else will tell us, "the joy of the Lord is your strength." Well, we don't have any joy at that moment and we definitely don't feel strong. So, thinking we aren't supposed to be like this, we try to have joy and be strong. Sometimes one word can change the meaning of a verse. For the first time, I noticed the word "of". It's the joy of the Lord, not the joy of Connie. I think, I have always thought of it as my joy in the Lord. Joy in the Lord is something I feel. Everything of God is Truth..it is substance..not a feeling. Just as Hebrews 11:1 says, "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." God has given us His substance to replace our feelings. Feelings are always conditional..God's Truth is unconditional. It's His Joy that gives me strength. My joy only brings feelings. His joy never fails......

Just wanted to say something..kinda feels like we have all gone dormant. I love this picture so I decided to post it on my blog. My daughter said it had a majestically peaceful look. When snow is falling there is a quietness that seems to overtake everything. We only got 4.5 inches but for us that is alot. The kids had a ball..for some it was the first real snow they had ever seen. Our malls shut down..businesses closed..schools were out(of course)..even our church shut down for the first time ever. But I heard people talking about how there were families out everywhere with their children playing in the snow. Snow can sometimes be inconvenient but this time it was like it slowed everything down so families could come together and just enjoy each other. Facebook was loaded with pictures and videos of moms and dads and their children sledding, making snow angels, writing their name in the snow, eating snow cream, building snowmen, turning flips off their sleds, just picture after p...