Updating pictures...

"There's no such thing as a perfect people."

Have you ever noticed the people God chose in the Bible? Tax collectors, fishermen, shepherds....people who we, mankind, wouldn't have given a second thought. The thing is, god isn't like us. He doesn't choose the rich, the popular, or the most intelligent. If you'll look, most of the time he chooses the weak, or unnoticed people to fulfill His promises. The most important thing, is that God uses men just how they are. He doesn't first change their clothing to one of royalty style, he doesn't make them wealthy with earthly riches, He uses who they are, to tell others about who HE is. The best part, He doesn't care what you've done, how much you know, or how pathetic you are. He forgives all. We simply have to become humble before Him and obey His calling.
However, saying all of that. He wants us to grow and become better. God is not one to expect little from His followers. Men who dropped everything and followed God had to do many difficult, dangerous things; many even died for Christ's sake. He expects us to be strong, not on our own, but through Him. I think a lot of people get so caught up in their every day lives, that they start sitting around being lazy, just waiting on God to send them something to do, a job to accomplish. God won't always bring something to us...lots of times He wants us to seek out things we can do. Just like we seek Him (or at least we should,) daily. God won't send answers freely....you must first ask your questions if you want to receive an answer for them. The funny thing is, many times people get upset at God for not "answering their prayer" when in reality, He ALWAYS does. We have certain things we want done, in a certain way, and if they aren't what we wanted, we say God has forsaken us. Yeah, I think we forget WAY too often what an actual "answer" is. If if you pray for someone to be healed, and they die, most likely you will say God didn't answer your prayer and He is now untrustworthy in your eyes. But when you really think about it, "yes" and "no" are BOTH answers. You simply didn't get the one you wanted. The thing is, believe it or not, God DOES know more than we do. *gasp* I know, it's hard to believe, but He really does. Someone once said, -If we could only see and know what God sees and knows, we'd be going "DUH! That's why He did that!"-Instead, we rely on our own knowledge of how things "should be." However, since we DON'T know everything, that means we should all the more put every drop of faith we have in the one who DOES...and that's Jesus Christ.

I truly believe people nowadays think they have to be perfect to be a Christian. They don't believe it's their works that get them to heaven, but they still think they have to make all the right decisions. It's actually impossible to be perfect. Did you know that? God knew this when He died for us, He knew the ones who came to Him wouldn't be anywhere near good enough. The good news is, with Christ dying for us, we don't HAVE TO BE perfect. He gave himself, so we wouldn't have to all die and go to hell. Also, once we've accepted Jesus as our Lord, we have this overpowering "want" to do right. For 'tis like a child and their father, they want to do right so as not to disappoint their father. So are we like that child, who doesn't want to let down or disappoint our heavenly father. We won't always be perfect, but like a father, God will always forgive, if we only ask.

Life....and all the things it brings!

Well, with moving, getting older, and just plain everyday life, it seems I don't have much time to get on here anymore. :) I look back now at the amount of posts I used to have, and goodness gracious, I had lots of time!

So let me see...new things.

• We are living near Tyler now.

• Sara is pregnant, and it's a girl! Very excited about that!!!

• Emily is now taller than I am. :p

• We are looking for land....seems like it's taking forever, though I know God has the perfect thing out there for us.
• We joined a church. It is one of the most amazing churches I've ever been in. The people have got to be the most awesome group Christian friends ever! They all feel like family, and I've learned SO very much from them! It's so cool how God brings you to a place where you cannot only worship Him, but grow spiritually, and mentally, with each day you spend with people. I just seriously can't believe how much alike some of the people there and I are. It's so fantastic!

God has pulled me through some of the most inspiring moments this past year. My new friends make me think about things I never thought about before. They believe in my capability to do things, they push me outside of my comfort zones, they push me to grow with every day. I've honestly never had many friends (at ALL) like that. God puts people in our lives we didn't think we need..and I am just so excited to see where else He's going to take me. I'm almost at the point where I'm not afraid of what's going to happen to me in the future, and that's been one of my biggest fears all my life. I'm accepted for who I am, I'm LOVED for who I am, and I'm happy for being ME for the first time ever. I mean, what more could you ask for? Our God truly is an AWESOME God. There's a quote that has become one of my favorite things to repeat in my head... "You don't always get what you want. Sometimes you get something better" and in my case, that's 100% true. I never would have guessed my life at the point where it is now, but it is, and I'm SO happy. :)

Just thought I'd post something, since it really has been forever.

God bless! Remember, God's plan for our life is always better than our plan. :)

~ Jessie ~