Saturday thoughts

We're getting tons of snow today, so instead of joining the masses at the mall (isn't the Saturday before Christmas supposed to be the biggest shopping day of the year?), we're staying in and doing nothing. In our jammies. All day long.

It has been wonderful. We don't have these kind of Saturdays very often.

I sent out our family Christmas picture yesterday. I could not get my act together to get a family portrait done this month, so I used a pic from this fall that my dad took when we were back home for the weekend. I guess we probably haven't changed that much since then. :)


I read through this year's blog posts tonight, since I had some free time and felt a little nostalgic anyway, it being Christmas time and all. And you know, this has been a really great year for our little family! It was neat to look back and see where the Lord has been working in my heart, changing me, helping me adapt to His will for me.

I have this verse on my fridge right now,

"A man's heart plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps." Proverbs 16:9

And I have found this to be so true this year. I can try to be as organized as possible, read all the books, make my daily schedules, cover all my bases, but the Lord is the One who is directing this family. He provides for us. He determines what our days will hold. And He gives us grace to do what we never imagined we could do. He pushes us gently (or sometimes not so gently) into His will, and I am so glad He does! Where would I be without His direction? If my life were all about the way I planned for things to go, I would never experience the exhilaration of knowing that Someone else is working things out for good. And never know the peace that comes with that knowledge.

As I was reading through old entries, I came across this quote that I have always loved,

"I praise You for Your sovereignty over the broad events of my life and over the details. With You, nothing is accidental, nothing is incidental, and no experience is wasted. You hold in Your own power my breath of life and all my destiny. And every trial that You allow to happen is a platform on which You reveal Yourself, showing Your love and power, both to me and to others looking on. Thank You that I can move into the future non-defensively, with hands outstretched to whatever lies ahead, for You hold the future and You will always be with me, even to my old age...and through all eternity." -Ruth Myers

Makes me think of this phrase from Daniel 5:23, "...the God who holds your breath in His hand and owns all your ways..."

We hope that your weekend is relaxing and family-filled too. And that you're looking back over 2007 with encouraging thoughts as well. The Lord owns all my ways, and He owns yours too.

The question is, are we resisting His ownership?