January 2

Welcome to Day 2! ( and hi to my "friends")

The first time I prayed today (1:30 pm) was when I was sitting outside a church on Prov with my daughter. She was about to do something for the first time. Very exciting. I thanked God for His Faithfulness. That is why I praise Him.
The day continued with the usual busy activity of a wife and mother. I try to keep the perspective of being blessed with a beautiful family to take care of.
You know, facebook is a funny thing. I have been going down memory lane this past week. I found so many old friends (friends from the past anyways...LOL). Some friends I had were really good to me. I am sorry that I was a jerk to them sometimes. The church that we were at earlier today was close to an apartment I used to live in. Not good memories there either.
So here I am now, at the end of a long but productive day.

I just put in Lisa McClendon, More Than A...
Dear Lord,
You are so much more to me than anything I care about...
More than a dream. More than a finish line. More than my future. More than my past.
And as hard as it is to comprehend, more than my family. You have to be more than my family. Please help me to understand how much more You need to be in my life than anything else. Help me to understand how to worship You in such a greater way.
I love you Jesus. Please forgive me for all that I have done to make you shake your head in sorrow. Please help me tomorrow.
As I read Your Word now, I ask for wisdom to understand what I am about to read. Holy Spirit, draw me close to you through the Scripture. Amen.

So, I'm reading 1 Samuel 1. I turn to the page bookmarked by my uncle's picture.
Poor Hannah. She had no children but the other wife of her husband did. I can't help but think how empty and quiet her house must have been. What a loud silence.
The strength of a woman is amazing. The Bible says she was pouring out her soul to the Lord. She gave God all her sorrow and pain of not being able to bear a child. God listened to her prayer and granted her a son. But as I read verse 20 I couldn't help but think of Moses' mother, and Mary and Hannah. And how they each were so overjoyed when they realized they were pregnant. But each woman knew she had to give up her son. How bittersweet. How precious those early years were. The strength of these women to follow through with what they knew they were called to do. And the trust they had in God, to give up their children. For Him.
Like I started with prayer, I too need to be able to trust God completely with my most treasured possesions. And make Him, and my worship and love for Him so much bigger. Because then, it's in the Perfect Hands.

Lord, help me to be like Hannah and Mary and Moses' mother. Make me a strong woman to love and trust You with my life and all that is important to me.
Give me Your strength and courage and wisdom. In the precious and powerful Name above all Names, Jesus, I pray. Amen.

(Dear Readers, please understand that I did not read the Bible passage before I started to pray. This is the amazing happenings of personal devotional time.)

Well, off to sleep now. Tomorrow is another day. Time to get back on schedule cuz the daily rush is on again in 36 hours. :) LOL!
XO. I love you guys...

Smiles and hugs,
Nikki.