A Challenge for you!

 

Yesterday was a horrible day. I'm not going to lie. It was one of those days where everything and everyone was getting to me in some way. I was feeling very unhappy with my job and education, I got very emotional and just wanted to cry...I worked 11 hours, then when I finally got home we recieved some news that totally bummed us out ...I was ready to just go bed, I so badly wanted the day to end.

When I got in bed I started to think that even with all my personal problems and the tough things I am being faced with, my life is good. It is SO good. I have the most amazing husband in the world, I have the sweetest pup who loves us even at our worst, and my family is nothing but supportive. I have a beautiful house over my head, food in my fridge, and atleast I am working even though it's far from ideal.

This song has been my go to song lately when I am feeling down. The lyrics fill my heart...

"You must, you must think I'm strong to give me what I'm going through.

Well, forgive me forgive me if I'm wrnog but this looks like more than I can do on my own.

I know I'm not strong enough to be everthing that I'm suppose to be I give up, I'm not strong enough....

Hands of mercy won't you cover me, Lord right now I'm asking you to be strong enough, strong enough for he both of us"

Today I am challenging myself, and you, to....

-Take the time to tell someone you love them

-Give someone a hug

-Appreciate the little things in life

-Help someone in need

-Smile at a stranger, you may be the one person to make their day

-Be thankful for all the blessings God has given you

One line of that song, which is also from the bible, that I keep close to my heart is

Philippians 4:13 "I can do all things, through Christ who gives me strength."

Today I am really trying to focus on being postive, and to not dwell on the negatives in my life. I am confident in God's plan for me, and I know everything will work out in the end.

Jamie Leigh

Prayers

Keeping it short and to the point today... Please send prayers to my family today. They are all appreciated :) God Bless Jamie Leigh Matthew 21:22 "And whatever you ask in prayer, you will recieve if you  have faith."  

 



Trust

trust

 

noun

 

1. reliance on the integrity, strength, ability, surety, etc., of a person or thing; confidence.

 

There are very few people in my life that I completely trust. I could probably even count them on one hand. When you read the definition of trust above, what do you feel? I know I feel a little nervous, scared, unsure......I have been working on trusting more...especially trusting in the Lord

 

As most of you know, Sean and I have just recently started our lives together on our own. It has been tough...both financially and taking on all the new responsibilites that come with a house. On top of it all we are newlyweds so it can be difficult at times to focus on eachother and not all the other "things" that are getting thrown at us left and right. I have been struggling to trust, to trust in the Lord that he has a plan and will faithfully lead me. Everything works out right? I keep trying to tell myself this.

 

I came across this the other day and it really tugged at my heart strings.

 

"If God brings you to it, He will bring you through it"

 

Happy moments-Praise God

Difficult moments-Seek God

Quiet moments-Worship God

Painful moments-Trust God

Every moment-THANK God

 

I will continue to remind myself of this each and every day :)

 

Jamie Leigh

God is Faithful!

I have to say, I feel SOOOO incredibly blessed. God has answered so many prayers this past month that I am overwhelmed with His love and faithfulness. Not only was I blessed with an amazing job opportunity, but so was Sean, and both my sisters! How amazing is that??
Sean and I have also  been praying that we would get a sign as to what the right path to take is regarding our house hunt....and we got it! We now have one month until we move into a BEAUTIFUL town home! 
To top it off I want to introduce you to Dixie. She is a puppy that needs a home. We are meeting her within the next week, and hopefully from then on out she will be ours!! 

God Bless! 

Jamie Leigh

The Essence of Faith

It feel like forever since I have blogged! It really has only been a couple days but it feels much longer! Heres a little weekend rewind!

 

Saturday Sean and I went shopping with my family at the Mall of America! It was so much fun spending time with all my loved ones! Sean got some new clothes for when the warm weather finally decides to join us, and my mom tried no some dresses for the wedding :) Saturday night we got to spend time with Sean's family that was in town from South Dakota! There's nothing better than a weekend full of family time!

Sunday we had brunch at Granite City which was delicious! Then we ran a couple errands, and finally retired into some comfy clothes to watch the series The Walking Dead! Very very good!

 

Now for today...

 

At church on Sunday the message really stuck with me. We had a visiting Paster join us and share her ideas about changes in the church. She strongly believed that people would get bored with church if there weren't changes made to the way the message of Jesus is shared. In Indianapolis she started a very unique worshiping community that meets in a dinner theater. It has taken off and is now grown to 3 worships each Sunday. Amazing huh?

 

Since our church is expanding to a new location they are welcoming the new ideas and vision to create a unique new ministry. This is very exicting to me! Things like contemorary music, discussions, and more interaction within the fellowship will be implemented. Everyone seems to think it will attract a younger generation..what do you think?

 

The message that really stuck with me is this: "The essence of faith is risk." Faith=Risk...do you agree with that? I definitely do. Having the faith in Jesus doesn't mean you know the future events or outcomes...but you just rely on the fact that Jesus will take care of you and lead you down the path your meant for.

 

This reading fits perfectley with this post:

 

"But the Lord says, Do not cling to events of the past or dwell on what happened long ago. Watch for the new thing I am going to do. It is happening already-you can see it now!" ~Isaiah 43:18-19b

 

Jamie Leigh

 



Northern Lights

If you remember yesterday I mentioned our church branching out into a multi campus congregation. Later this year they will be opening a campus in Ramsey MN that will be more contemporary. It will be called Northern Lights.  Sunday we were able to get a little taste of what a service will be like when this new church opens. The music was upbeat, contemporary, lots of instruments were being played, and the service was interactive. I really enjoyed it! I am excited because if Sean and I get the house we want, it will be close to the new church! They sang a song that really stuck with me that I wanted to share today!

Weak and wounded sinner
Lost and left to die
O, raise your head, for love is passing by
Come to Jesus
Come to Jesus
Come to Jesus and live!

Now your burden's lifted
And carried far away
And precious blood has washed away the stain, so
Sing to Jesus
Sing to Jesus
Sing to Jesus and live!

And like a newborn baby
Don't be afraid to crawl
And remember when you walk
Sometimes we fall...so
Fall on Jesus
Fall on Jesus 
Fall on Jesus and live!

Sometimes the way is lonely
And steep and filled with pain
So if your sky is dark and pours the rain, then
Cry to Jesus
Cry to Jesus 
Cry to Jesus and live!

O, and when the love spills over
And music fills the night
And when you can't contain your joy inside, then
Dance for Jesus
Dance for Jesus 
Dance for Jesus and live!

And with your final heartbeat
Kiss the world goodbye
Then go in peace, and laugh on Glory's side, and
Fly to Jesus
Fly to Jesus
Fly to Jesus and live! 

Jamie Leigh

What are you Thankful for?

Happy Happy Thursday friends! I am so happy the weekend is almost here! Even though it was only a 3 day work week for me, it has been a long one!! Here is what I am thankful for this week.

66. Family visiting this weekend! My sweet Aunt Cindy is coming down from up north to visit this weekend! Prayers for a safe trip for her!

67. Cake Tasting! This Sunday we are going cake tasting! I am very excited to hopefully get one more thing crossed of my LONG list of wedding tasks!

68. Inspiration! I have been very inspired lately by friends, blogging buddies, family, and especially the ladies conference last weekend {em-pou-er}. I have been inspired to be a better person,  to continue to grow in my faith, and to let God guide my way,  use me, and mold me.

69. 9 more weeks of school EVER! Do I need to say more? :-)

70.  My family! They continue to be be supportive in every possible way through this time of changes and milestones in my life! I love them very much!

Now I want to know what YOU are thankful for today??

Jamie Leigh

Let it Snow!

YAY for Friday, and all I have to say is LET IT SNOW! Here in MN we are suppose to be getting 8-12 more inches of snow this weekend, along with very high winds....which equals BLIZZARD like conditions! I definitely don't want to be going out in this:

Don't get me wrong, I love MN, and I love the snow..It really is beautiful. I would just rather enjoy its beauty from inside my cozy home :-)
Considering the weather, Sean and I haven't planned much. We just need some time to relax, and be together. Since he graduated he has been working A LOT! Our Saturday will consist of movies, cuddling, cooking, and just being together! Sounds perfect to me :-)
Sunday we are very excited about church, and a little nervous! We had been invited by the Pastor to do a reading and light the candles on the Advent Wreath! We will be reading a section from The New Testament, Letter of James. We are honored we were invited to do this, however a bit nervous. I have never liked public speaking....I'm sure it will all go well! 
What are you doing this weekend? 
Jamie Leigh

Will Jesus pick me up in a car?

So the boy I PCA for, Ryan, has autism. I met him through my other job 4 years ago, and always knew this little boy was something special. He is so much fun to be around, and has the best personality! I am very thankful that I was blessed with the opportunity to work with him. Even though he is only 14, he has taught ME so much about life, and shown me what it truly means to be thankful.
Ryan has been really curious lately about heaven and Jesus. He has been reading a bible for children, and has started to ask a lot of questions about life, death, and so on. I have to share one of our conversations, it was so sweet and innocent.
Ryan: When will I meet Jesus?
Me: When it is your turn, Jesus will come and pick you up.
Ryan: Will Jesus pick me up in a car? (after he said this, I honestly did not have a good response....this totally left me speechless, how innocent...)
After I tried explaining the idea of going to heaven more to Ryan, which was a challenge to say the least, he said one more thing that made me laugh so hard I cried.
Ryan: Where is heaven?
Me: Its up in the sky, above the clouds.
So he looked at me with this concerned face, and thought about what I had said for a couple seconds.  Then he replied, "No thanks, I'm scared of heights!"
Is this not the sweetest, most innocent, yet funny thing you have ever heard? He totally made my day with this conversation.  Kids sure do say the darndest things!!
Jamie Leigh

TGIF! & Sweet Treats!

I am SOO unbelievably happy it is Friday! AND even better, next week is only a 3 day work week! I cannot tell you how excited I am to get up north and see my wonderful family! Last Thanksgiving we spent with Sean's, so this year its my families turn! 
I am definitely looking forward to a weekend of relaxing again. Now that we are waiting on this house, we are definitely saving our money, so this leaves us with a lot of time at home doing nothing! This is actually a good thing since we had been SO incredibly busy lately. Saturday my mom asked us to help her get some Christmas shopping done. She likes the company, and I like to help her pick stuff out for my sisters! 
Sunday we finally get to become official members of the church Sean and I will be getting married in!! After church, Sean's brother and his wife are hosting a small Thanksgiving for the immediate family. It will be nice to see them, haven't since they got married October 2nd! 
The last thing I wanted to share today was a holiday tradition! My amazing friend Ashley (check out her cute blog!)  tagged me asking me to share a sweet story from the holidays. Every year my family decorates the tree while listening to Christmas music. Then we make a bunch of delicious treats!! We melt chocolate and almond bark to dunk pretzels in and to make "ice cream cones." We also bake a ton of cookies. We put together little bags for everyone to take with them! 
So these "ice cream cones" I mentioned are the best, I highly recommend making them. They are easy, and delicious! You take bugles, and fill them with melted almond bark, then place a Christmas colored M&M on top. It gives you the sweet and salty taste...one of my favs!! My other favorite treat is also super easy! You place a rolo on a pretzel. Put them in the oven just long enough to get the rolo to get soft. They you push an M&M into the rolo! SOOOO YUMMY! Sweet and salty again!

What are you doing this weekend?! Are you in the Holiday spirit as much as I am?! 
Enjoy your weekend!
Jamie Leigh

God is GREAT!!!

Just wanted to share some amazing news I received tonight! If you have been following my blog, you all know my little sister has been sick, and we have been looking for answers. Tonight she went in for an MRI, which scared me to death! THANKFULLY her results came back normal! God is GREAT! Thank you for all your prayers, and please continue to pray for her as we continue to search for an answer!

Love you Jodell!

Much Love,

Jamie Leigh

Got to have Faith!

What beautiful weather on this Wednesday! Finally the much needed weekend is in sight! This has been a long, difficult week, and month I guess you could say. I have been feeling really run down lately, and I need a break! Well, that's easier said than done right? 
Recently I have noticed I have been slowly loosing my motivation. It is getting harder to do my school work, and harder to wake up in the morning for work.  I have had the same schedule since I graduated from high school in 2007. Wake up at 5:30, be to work by 6:30. School in the afternoon, and back to work by 3:30 for the rest of the evening. I kept asking myself, Why am I having so much trouble NOW, when I need the motivation the most?  Well, I figured out there are multiple answers to this question.  I am 5 months away from graduating with my bachelor's degree. So close, yet I just want to be done. I feel my classes are repetitive, they are getting harder, and I have run out of steam with this whole college thing. I also realized that I am just so anxious to start my life with Sean, that I am getting tired of the long long LONG journey it has taken to get there. Everyone keeps saying your so close, and yes we are, but I don't know if anyone truly understand how we feel.
Sean and I started dating when we were 14, so we have been together for 8 years. I am so thankful we were lucky enough to meet so young, but at the same time it has been very difficult.  We are so anxious to get a home of our own, get married, adopt a dog, and to just have a "normal" schedule. We have such big dreams for ourselves, ones that we have been talking about for years and years. Most people would have had all these things by now....which is what is so difficult about it.  Don't get me wrong, I LOVE my life, and I feel so blessed to have an amazing fiancé, but at this point I just want to get to our spot in life...does this make sense?
I don't mean to be negative, but I am having one of those days. Sean and I had a long talk about this last night. He has been such incredible support to me, and to our dreams. He is definitely my rock that keeps me going.  We talk about how we know God has a plan for us, and we just have to keep faith that we will get there with time. I need to keep reminding myself to be patient, keep praying, and just wait for a sign.  I would love to hear any advice :) 
 "In these troubling times, I am filled with unspeakable fears. I reach my hand out to you now. I ask you to walk beside me. Please help me hold on strong, and help me hold my hopes high."Amen!
Jamie Leigh