Hoop Art by sewfaithful

Necklace by SissyPretties

 The 2012 Olympics are in full swing as I write this. All over the world TV's, IPads and IPods are tuned in to see who will win and who hopes will be dashed.  Part of what makes them so fascinating are the stories of their journey to make it there.  I personally am not very athletic (which is an understatement) and find the athletes amazing.
 Their dedication to their sport and perseverance could be an example to us as Christians.

Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize. — 1 Corinthians 9:25-27

 I watched tonight a young athlete who was devastated because she did not make it past the trials.  She had been a world champion in her sport with the hopes of culminating her hard work by winning a medal in the Olympics.  My heart broke for her as I thought of the years of sacrifice and persistent training it took to get her there.  This was her goal... her focus...her life.  It was gone in a matter of minutes as one of her teammate's scores exceeded hers.

Acrylic Coyote by thearrowmaker1

My goal, my life is to run it for God.  The Olympics sometimes convict me because I know  my goal is so much greater and is not as fickle as a missed step in a sport yet I do not put in the hours of dedication that an Olympian puts into their training.  I am so thankful we have a God who is so gracious to us!  He is not giving me points off for when I make a mistake or stumble and fall.  Instead He calls me to come near to Him and He comes nearer to me.  When I make a mistake He tells me, once confessed my sins are gone to Him.

as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us. Psalm 103:11-13

We, as Christians are blessed with the greatest prize of all... God's love through Christ.  At the end of our race, we will have an eternal award... it will never be misplaced, tarnished or fade.

Amazing Grace by bethstonestudio

And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith —and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—  not by works, so that no one can boast. Eph 2:6-9

As I continue to watch the Olympics, I think I will take a little time to take stock of the race I am running.  Reassess my priorities, renew my focus and strengthen my determination for my God is greater than anything of value in this world!

I went in response to a revelation and, meeting privately with those esteemed as leaders, I presented to them the gospel that I preach among the Gentiles. I wanted to be sure I was not running and had not been running my race in vain. Galatians 2:1-3

God bless!

A new creation in Christ… so what is that really? I have to admit that I know a family who has several girls and the one who has a generic belief in God (God could be male or female, may be the essence of the earth, etc.) is the one who has more maturity, kindness, compassion and acceptance than the others who are Christians. I know the other sisters are truly Christian with strong faith but they do not appear to be able to accept others for who they are and get beyond themselves. And now these three remain: faith, hope and love.


As Sue (MYSAVIOR) stated in her Sunday Scripture post - Focus on Jesus, we need to focus on the Lord. When our focus is on our pain, sufferings, and hurt feelings we sink into a spiral of self pity, bitterness, blaming, fear and unforgiving hardened hearts. Then darkness seeps in, stealing the light and the big D (depression) hovers over us. Christ is our light.

the people living in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned." Mathew 4:16

If we focus on Him, the darkness is held at bay. Having said that I also realize depression can be a chemical imbalance in some people not unlike diabetes and that medicine is a necessity to their health (just like with diabetes). But what I am referring to is the spiral of selfishness. A person may look wonderfully generous on the outside but can still have a heart problem… an inner part of you not wanting to give up that defense mechanism of blaming or not forgiving or having an excuse of a miserable life to not move forward. There is some sort of misdirected security in holding on to it.

It is kind of like me and a budget. All my life I have hated the idea of a budget. I have fought it while avoiding even conversations about it at all costs. So much so my husband and I have separate checking accounts because I refused to even balance my check book to the penny. I have stubbornly held to paying the bills as I had them calculated in my head. I often suggested my sweet hubby take over but he could not wrap his practical mind around my free spirited methods.

Yes, I am more the free spirited one who prefers not to make plans ahead and would like to do things at the last minute (of course, it means I sometimes procrastinate too). But deep hidden inside me there is a little bit of a computer geek that with the onset of online banking and bill paying began to enjoy the process of handling the bills.

It is funny how God can use things in our lives when we are willing to be faithful…

Our church has been offering these Financial Peace classes that help you budget your funds in such a way that you should eventually be able to pay most everything that is not a regular monthly bill (such as utilities, mortgage, etc) in cash. We normally pay off our charges every month but for 3 months were having trouble getting one paid off. It was frustrating to both of us. God knows His plans for us. When the class was offered I hoped my hubby would not mention it to me because in my heart I knew we should go but I did not want to budget!

He did and now we have a budget… it is a thing of beauty! That inner-geek in me loves making spread sheets and I made an incredible spread sheet to track our budgeted funds and our actual expenditures. I love it (actually my whole class was so impressed I am sending them each a copy to work on). And I feel incredibly free of money stress (truly for the first time in years)! So does my husband. Today we sat in front of the computer together over an hour pleasantly discussing the budget and staring at my wonderful spread sheet!

The budget issue to me is not much different from someone who does not forgive, holds onto their anger, and lives a life of bitterness. Could I have been freed from the worry of money and free from the knots it caused in my stomach sooner….you bet I could have! I just chose to be stubborn. In a way I refused to give that part of my life totally over to God. I often thought I did by making sure I tithed well but truly I did not. I am not sure why but maybe I did not want to give up the right to selfishly spend money as I pleased... maybe I thought I knew better than God?

Do any of us really know why we hold on to things and not trust God to take control? Probably not, but I do know that if we would give up hoarding those feelings, trust God and give them to Him… how free we would feel!

The LORD confides in those who fear him; he makes his covenant known to them. My eyes are ever on the LORD, for only he will release my feet from the snare.” Psalm 25:14-15

Being a new creation in Christ happens when you accept Christ as your personal savior. But as Paul says in Hebrews we have a race to run and must always stay in training. Each day I am in training for the eternal race of my life, I must stay focused because it won’t end until my life does and I cross the finish line to join my God for eternity!

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Hebrews 12:1

Below are some awesome CAST Team shops... please check them out and keep in mind Christmas is only a little over 2 months away!!






Ivory rose pendent by BlueSunEmporium















Bead pen by BlackBrookShop















Felted hat by MeadowLakeTreasures














Baby blanket by ELIsBlankies