We’re reading through Acts at church now, and one point made last week from Acts 17:16 stood out to me.

“Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was stirred in him, when he saw the city wholly given to idolatry.” ?????? ????? ??????????

One of the men made the point of how Paul’s spirit was stirred, or deeply troubled, at the sin he saw in the city. Then he pointed the question at himself - “Am I troubled by sin, does it deeply trouble me - whether in general, or in my own life?”.

The question was then directed to Christians as a whole - “Are we stirred, deeply troubled, by sin - whether in the world, or even in our own lives?”.

The fact is - the Church is NOT troubled by sin, but rather it dismisses it all too often. Like people dismiss a ‘little white lie’, so we have made some sins ‘little white sins’ - meaning they are too small to matter.

Is this what God thinks about sin? I won’t go into a deep post today - but simply want you to ask yourself, “Am I troubled by sin, in my life, my children or spouses life, in our world?”.

For those following me on my blogs, you’ve read about a difficult week we’ve had. The Lord must have a real treasure waiting to be revealed, which will bring great honor to Him, because it seems we keep facing a situation over and over.

There will always be those that will find something to be angry with you about, that won’t really hear what you’re saying - only what they think you are saying. It’s only compounded when it’s people that should be the closest to you.

While it’s hard to understand, we just have to know that all that matters to the Lord is that we speak in love, in truth (though this might not always be what’s wanted to be heard), treating others as we would the Lord Himself.

To be honest, the situation had me stressed - prompting a lot of contractions this week. The Lord knew my concerns and heard my prayers, as my 36 week visit showed no further changes from past pre-term issues.

And besides stressed, I was becoming depressed. It’s hard to be happy and feel good about life in general when you’re being misunderstood and treated wrongly - at least for me! I knew my focus shouldn’t be on others, but when it bothers DH and my children too, well, I was aching for them.

Tears were wiped by my 4 year old son, not understanding why Mommy was crying - as well as prompting him to cry. No tears, but you could see DH’s heart was broken once again.

Then Friday, we had to go for my check-up and chiropractor visit. You know, I wasn’t expecting a blessing, but boy did I ever get one! Actually, not just one, but TWO!!

I had been concerned about the ‘distraction’ my 3 little ones might be while waiting at the OB office. I brought a magazine of my son’s, and we read through that while waiting. They were excited, and a little loud - but after saying something to them, they would talk softly again.

Little did I know I was being watched! As we were checking out, someone came up behind me and asked my children’s ages. She was a mom of 3, with a 4th on the way as well. Much to my surprise, she began thanking me for resetting her priorities with her children.

Now, let me say now, I am NOT a perfect mother and will never claim to be!!! I did have a rather open spirit with my children that day, as I’m trying to focus more on them and their needs rather than myself. I know my time with them will be limited somewhat when this little one arrives in a few more weeks.

But she thanked me for being so patient, and an encouragement as a mom. Little did she know, she was encouraging ME! I could see she really was sincere and touched, but no where as much as I was by her kind words!

Then later that afternoon, an old friend again, out of the blue, said some encouraging, unexpected things to me. From that moment on, my stress has been lifted. What a difference a kind word makes!

I have several passages to share related to this topic, and I know there are more. So if you have other references handy, please comment with them! It’s just late and DH is waiting for me to get some sleep. (Emphasis is mine….)

Hebrews 10:23-25 - “Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;) And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.

Ephesians 4:29 -”Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.”

1 Thessalonians 5:11 - “Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also ye do.”

Reading these verses, I am reminded that as Christians, we aren’t here to throw insults or be angry with one another. These only provoke more anger and bitterness - far from good works.

 NO - we are to provoke to love and good works, minister grace to others by our GOOD words, and comfort one another.

Yes, there are times when we must be firm in what is right, not accepting what is not acceptable, but this can be done without anger and harsh words. This can be done without raising voices, without talking over another.

These two ladies on Friday ministered to me in a GREAT way, and I am so grateful the Lord brought them into my life at a time when I was down! They didn’t know what they were doing, but they were glorifying the Lord.

So now, my thoughts go to who I might be able to ’surprise’ with a kind word of encouragement. We never really know what is going on in the lives of others, but God does! Ask Him to place someone on your heart today, this week, that you can minister to. I stand 100% behind it - everyone will be blessed by a kind word spoken with the love of the Lord!

- Some good news! This Friday, March 20th, begins our week long giveaway here at Heaven In Our Homes, as well as www.Sonbeams.com and www.NineMonthsorLess.com/blog. Don’t miss out on some great treats! -

Candace  (I’m on Facebook - Mrs. Candace)

Psalms 118:24 - “This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.”

Our weekend began a little harried. While we are SO grateful that DH ended his 12 day work week, it did take a little adjusting this morning. We get in our own little routine as moms and children, and well - dad’s aren’t used to that.

For the most part, as long as I have enough sleep, I can keep our mornings very upbeat and positive. Little problems are carefully and quickly steered in the right direction - pleasing Mommy and keeping little ones happy in correction.

Due to a night FULL of contractions, I didn’t sleep much, and was allowed to sleep into 9:30. Somehow, all three children did the same! (Why can’t they do that during the week??) DH was starving by this point - since he had been awake for ages…

It seemed like everything that could go wrong did go wrong, and we were getting a little on each others nerves to say the least. He would get frustrated right off the bat with the children, which would get me upset, an endless cycle. I guess I didn’t realize how into my own little morning routine I was until it was disrupted a little (after 12 LONG days).

Mid-morning, DH ran to the Post Office to mail some packages for me, and while he was gone I took the opportunity to ‘re-route’ our morning.

I made a game out of hurrying to get dressed and getting the children’s rooms clean. My oldest, 4, said something about it ‘just not being a good day’ - as seriously and grumpy as a 4 year old can say. (It was actually quite humorous!!)

STOP right there - Bible lesson in the making!!

“Oh, but it IS a good day, do you know why? Because TODAY is the day that the Lord has made! He has given us the gift of life, sunshine, rain, family, clothes, food, shelter - He has given us Jesus!”

My mind has been stuck on this thought all day. How many times do I dread a new day, or do I complain about this and that…. How many times have I forgotten that I am to be happy and rejoice in the day which the Lord has given me to love and serve Him?

Rejoice in the day today - God has created this day, He has created you - thank Him and live it for Him!

Tonight (Saturday), while driving home listening to the song collection Sonbeams just released, my mind wandered to something beyond my control. The devil was trying to distract me, making me ‘worry’ about people that might buy the songs, and use them for other than their own personal use. (Free copying)

Sure, this is a legitimate concern when you have a product - copyright matters. But it’s not something I can control, I can only point out that it’s not to be done. From there, the Lord is the Judge and will take care of it. But I’ll admit, I was really struggling tonight.

Then the CD changed to the next disk, and the Lord used that to convict ME about where MY focus was. Funny how sometimes when you are trying to judge others, that God is able to turn the tables on you and judge you for something! The song that came up was - Be Thou My Vision - and the words that rung true in my heart were “naught be all else to me SAVE THAT THOU ART”.

What is my vision? Is my vision the Lord, and living/ serving in a way which will further HIS kingdom? Is everything else naught (nothing) to me next to Him?

There will always be something I can worry about, something I can get upset about - but what does that accomplish? For the most part, nothing! It gets me upset, but that’s about it, because I can’t control other people and their words/ attitudes/ or actions.

But if GOD is my vision, if HE is the ONE my focus is on, I can leave my worries and concerns with Him and HE will take care of things and others. While this isn’t soaking in Scripture verses exactly, the Lord used this beautiful old hymn to speak to me tonight.

Read the words, sing them if you are familiar with the song, and make the Lord your vision today. 

Be Thou my vision, O Lord of my heart;
Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art.
Thou my best thought, by day or by night,
Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light.

Be Thou my Wisdom, Thou my true Word;
I ever with Thee, Thou with me, Lord;
Thou my great Father, I thy true son;
Thou in me dwelling, and I with Thee one.

Be Thou my battle-shield, sword for my fight,
Be Thou my dignity, Thou my delight.
Thou my soul’s shelter, Thou my high tower.
Raise Thou me heavenward, O Power of my power.

Riches I heed not, nor man’s empty praise,
Thou mine inheritance, now and always:
Thou and Thou only, first in my heart,
High King of heaven, my Treasure Thou art.

High King of heaven, my victory won,
May I reach heaven’s joys, O bright heav’ns Son!
Heart of my own heart, whatever befall,
Still be my vision, O ruler of all.

Whatever might ‘befall’ you today, pray that HE will still be your vision, He’s the ruler of all!

As much as I would like to change today’s topic, it’s something the Lord just hasn’t let out of my mind ALL week! While I would normally prefer to keep Sunday’s as encouraging and uplifting - THIS is where the Lord has had me - and I feel led to share.

It’s long - sorry!! I try to be brief, really I do. But as I wrote in my post the other day, this is also a journal for me, and my daughter(s) one day. This is an important lesson that God is teaching me right now, and I want my little girl to know how the Lord has worked in my life!

In our church service last week, one of the men got up and read a verse. At the time, I was struggling with little ones, trying to keep them quiet and still, so I only heard (in a deep sense) part of what he said. His point was that we weren’t supposed to speak evil of anyone! It stayed in my mind, but then as I was reading through some of the great blogs on the Ultimate Blog Party list (picking out “Sister” sites), I came across the verse again!

What struck me Sunday, at that time, was when he mentioned that we aren’t even supposed to speak evil of our leaders - even if they are not in line with our beliefs! Sure, there’s always something I can find to say negative about the decisions being made in our state and country - but is that what God says I should do? He then continued on to share how we’re aren’t supposed to speak evil of ANYONE, in gossip or using prayer requests to ’share’ our thoughts.

Well, while there’s more than one verse… We were on Acts 23 - I’m sharing several.

Psalms 34:13 - “Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile.”

 Hmmm… this verse doesn’t give room for sometimes speaking evil. How many times this week have I spoken ‘evil’ of DH’s boss - hubby isn’t allowed any time off before the baby to help give me a break….

Thankfully, the Lord DOES keep bringing to mind that I shouldn’t be complaining about all the time DH is gone working, but should be GRATEFUL that he has a job and is willing to work to support our family!

Acts 23:5 - “Then said Paul, I wist not, brethren, that he was the high priest: for it is written, Thou shalt not speak evil of the ruler of thy people.

For it is written! This means that GOD said it in the Bible! It’s not something that we can pick and choose depending on if we agree with who our rulers are, or if we agree with them.

So what do we do with all the frustrations we have towards ‘bad’ rulers? We are to bring them before the Lord - interceding in prayer. Remember the verse about the Lord being able to change hearts?

God has ALLOWED the rulers we have - yes, you read right - GOD Himself has all authority, and no one has authority except God gives it to them. While we might not understand, it’s all a part of God’s plan. Looking at it this way, when we speak evil of rulers, we are not only criticizing them, but God and His plan! Ouch!

Ephesians 4:31 - “Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice.”

Put it away! Remember the verse (paraphrased) - “Whatsoever things are lovely… pure… of good report - if there be any virtue, any praise - think on these things. If we are speaking in bitterness and anger, evil of another - are we following these verses?

What does it profit when our hearts are full of anger and bitterness - except degrade others and make us angrier and more bitter? Really, I struggle with this at times still. There are times when I get upset by others, and thankfully the Lord takes those times from me quickly - though sometimes lasting several days to a week.

Honestly, I’m miserable during that time. My heart isn’t focused on the Lord, my eyes aren’t on Him. I’m full of resentment, my mind racing to ‘how I can get them’. It’s taken YEARS for me to finally grow enough that the Lord allows me to use self-control to avoid things that I would later regret. Not to say I don’t still falter at times though - I’m not perfect!

But even this week, it came to my attention that something I had spoken to DH about YEARS and YEARS ago in anger and hurt, STILL is in his mind today! I cannot tell you how this broke my heart when he shared this with me, I was crying inside, until I made it to the bathroom to really cry.

While the statement from the past WAS true, it was full of anger and bitterness, and had deeply hurt my husband. The Lord was gracious to begin to restore this - as we stayed up late into the night sharing with one another our feelings.

It wasn’t an easy conversation - for either of us - but it was such a blessing. For a long time, I felt like I didn’t matter to him at times, only to now find out it was because of a few words that I had spoken. I was able to share with him how I’ve felt, but also that I completely understood where he was coming from. I now have a lot of effort to put into restoring that hurt in his heart.

BUT - the good news - my husband is SO much like the Lord now. Where at one time he would’ve gotten angry, closed his ears and heart - he now is caring and sensitive to my needs as well. He was able to share his feelings of hurt, but still be there just to hold me and let me cry. This has been the biggest blessing in our marriage - seeing the Lord change who he was into a man of Godly character. He truly treats me as himself - esteeming others higher than himself.

Okay - long, but I had to share!!

James 4:11- “Speak not evil one of another, brethren. He that speaketh evil of his brother, and judgeth his brother, speaketh evil of the law, and judgeth the law: but if thou judge the law, thou art not a doer of the law, but a judge.”

This is the verse to be careful of! I can see 100% where the man Sunday was coming from - regarding gossip and using a ‘prayer request’ as a way of getting around this verse. Are we placing ourselves in a PERFECT light while degrading others? There are NO times that it is acceptable to speak evil of and judge another’s works, words, or actions.

BUT, this is where the Christian faith seems tricky to me - and feel free to share if you disagree!! I’m open to learning!!

We are NOT to judge - we are not to say something as fact about someone when we don’t know their true motives/ hearts/ actions. Basically, we aren’t supposed to give our opinions and personal feelings of others in a condemning way.

Now, there are times in our faith when we aren’t to close our eyes to sin either! We must be wise as serpents, and not allow evil in our homes or near us. Not that ‘people’ are evil, but there is evil work. We are in a SPIRITUAL battle - against the ruler of evil and darkness - and can NOT disregard or take lightly the methods of deceit he uses.

I don’t believe we are to go out and publicly put down every bad thing we see in people - no! That’s what all of the above is about. But when something poses a danger to someone - either physically or emotionally - I don’t believe we are to keep our mouths completely shut either.

If someone is going to be in the path of a rapist - would you not alert them? If you knew someone to have problems in certain areas that would affect the safety or spiritual life of another - would you not need to advise others ‘briefly’ of your concerns? I personally believe so - but only in these type circumstances.

One point I would encourage is to still not ‘label or judge’ actions - because there’s no way to prove what another’s heart is - only God can do that. But instead, we are to give Godly counsel, and in a manner that doesn’t involve anger/ bitterness/ resentment. God knows our motives and hearts - He sees all and knows all. He can see past our little sneaky ways (yes, we are ALL sneaky!!), and knows whether the words we speak are in love, or anger and evil. He knows if we are judgmental and condemning. He also holds us accountable for what we Do or Do Not say!

Today, I’d like to share something with you that REALLY has been a blessing to us - and really helped us “soak in the Word”!

Over the past year and a half, I’ve been writing and recording songs for children. This project started out as something to help my own children learn the ABC Bible verses. It eventually became clear that the Lord was opening up the door for me to have these recorded.

And now, today, Feb. 1st, 2009, I am SO excited to announce that this collection is available to the public!! And because the Lord has blessed me so much during my life with Godly people and influences, I would like to offer something to benefit you and your children.

Today only, this MP3 collection is available at Sonbeams for only $7.95!! Other products include a Parent/ Teacher Guide (teaching mini lessons on each verse/ song), accompaniment tracks, and package deals.

No kidding, we walk around singing these Bible verses ALL the time! They’ve been handy more than once today as we’ve faced sibling rivalry, and having to explain something the children saw on “Little House”.

God’s Word isn’t just for here and there parts of our lives, it can be applied to everything - ALL the time!

Samples available on the site as well - you won’t be disappointed! And for the first customers, I’m throwing in a FREE bonus!

For more information, visit: http://sonbeams.com/products/abc-bible-memory-verse-songs-cd/.

“I am the way, the truth, and the life; no man cometh unto the Father but by me.”  John 14:6

It’s late Saturday night as I’m typing this up, almost forgetting to post due to the hectic season we’re in - trying to wrap up the new Sonbeams CD.

I began going through the ABC verses on the collection, and when I reached “I”, I knew this was the verse I needed to share on - for myself!

Jesus is the Way! He’s the Way to what? To the Father!

So often we go this way and that way, but those paths always lead us in ways that don’t necessarily end up at the Father, do they? They aren’t always true, they don’t always give life.

But when we go to Jesus, HE takes us the way we ARE to go in - to the Father. All these ‘things’ that have stressed me out over the past few weeks and only paths that I’ve put myself on - trying to direct my own way.

Well, let me rephrase that. While yes, I believe God gave me the desire and necessary things to compose and publish these songs - the ‘roadblocks’ along the way weren’t His paths.

I’m looking off to the side, wondering about this, worried about that- when all I simply have to do is give it to God! HE WILL DIRECT MY PATHS, when I acknowledge Him in ALL my ways!

We must always make Him our end destination, for the path to our Father is the only real way we need to go.

“It is the glory of God to conceal a thing.” - Proverbs 25:2

Today’s reference comes from an entry in Elisabeth Elliot’s “Keep a Quiet Heart” calendar. She shares how God conceals a great deal from us - things we don’t necessarily need to know at this present time. But what we do know is that God calls His sheep by name, they hear Him, and He will lead them.

“Does the Shepherd overlook anything that the sheep need?”, she asks.

God knows where He is leading us, He knows the dangers we’ll face, He knows where the still waters and the green pastures are.

If we, as His sheep, follow our own paths, we will be walking blindly into the dangers waiting and we’ll be without protection from them.

But if we stay close to Him, listen to His Words - His callings - to us, even though we may go dangerous places, He is right there with us. He will protect us. He loves us - He loves me, and He loves you!

Listen to His voice, and pray for faith and trust as we walk in faith. He might conceal His plans, but sometimes that’s best, otherwise we might fear and not follow Him at all.