It's MONDAY! :D

Hello, dear friend! HOW ARE YOU??????????? Have you had a good LONG weekend??? What did you get to do?

Our Sunday was absolutely WONDERFUL again. :)

I had a hard time getting up, so it's a good thing that we go to the late service normally. :D But I'm looking forward to going to church every week! Believe it or not, I'm actually enjoying the long drives; it gives us a chance to catch up, and to be together. To hash things out, to laugh or to set things straight.

Church was WONDERFUL. We're on week 4 of the holiness series - I think servanthood is next, and that's a subject I really enjoy, so I can't wait! :D

ANYWAY. Pastor Ronnie spoke again this week. His text was Isaiah 6:1-8. "I saw the LORD...high and exalted." His reaction wasn't YIPPEE, aren't I special! :D It was "WOE UNTO ME!!!!!!!!! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips!!" In His presence, you don't look around and boast about how much better than someone else you are. You look at yourself - His perfectness and His light expose how DIRTY you are. I don't know about you - but I've felt that way during worship. I am SO unworthy to be in His presence - but HE MAKES ME CLEAN!!!!!!

All it took for Isaiah? An angel to touch his lips with a hot coal from the altar. It doesn't say it hurt, have you noticed? You know what I think (at this moment, anyway:D)? I think it DID, but NOTHING can overcome the overwhelming presence of the KING. There was so much more in the sermon, too - I can't even begin to fit it all in!!!!!! My heart overflows when I think of how much He loves me - so much that He sacrificed His Son so I could be in His presence!!!!

And you know what? The angel told him, "See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for." HALLELUJAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That's what JESUS did!!!!!!!!

The next thing that happened?? God looks for someone who will go for "Us" to His people. Isaiah doesn't say, "I'm unworthy." Oh, NO. He's been ATONED! He says, "Here I am!!!! SEND ME!!!"

When God's love and redemption illuminates your heart, you don't spend precious time feeling unworthy. Oh, NO, dear one. You are equipped, THROUGH HIM, to go. GO!!!

And that is an INCREDIBLE segue to something I wanted to tell you about - thanks, God! :D

My dear friend, Kellsi, is in South Africa. She's a nursing student at Bellmont, and is an INCREDIBLE young person. They have a blog going for their trip; I'd really appreciate it if you'd visit, read, and encourage them with a comment! Most importantly, PRAY FOR THEM. They're in the middle of a dangerous area. So, GO HERE to read and thank God for these willing young people!!!

OK, so I'm still not caught up with everything I wanted to talk about, but I'm praying HARD about a subject I really feel the need to talk about. So, I'll be working on that the next couple of days.

Thank you for not giving up on me! :D I AM here, but this summer's been MUCH busier than I thought it was going to be - this week is SLAMMED, and my sweet baby sister is going to be here for a few days, too! :) HI, KELLI!!!!!!!!!!!!

So, I'm going to run now - I have to go update my other blog, teach a class tonight, and have dinner with my wonderful husband. OH! So, anyway, after church, we went to a Japanese restaurant and had California rolls and some yakitori for me, veggie tempura for him. :) Then, we stopped at Providence Marketplace on our way home, and used a coupon at Marble Slab Creamery (buy one, get one 1/2 off!) and had ice cream together. It was a WONDERFUL day! :D

Anyway. LOL!!!! YOU ARE BLESSED, dear one!! Oh, gosh, I just thought of another topic to blog about. I type about 75 wpm, but I just don't have the time in my days to tell you everything I wanna!:D

COUNT YOUR BLESSINGS!!!! They re all around you! Did your little one give you a kiss this morning? Did your husband say thank-you? Did you see a beautiful flower, or get a laugh from something you read? God is a God of the little things, too, dear one. Little things are the moments you'll remember tomorrow. LOOK.