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Stepping

I was talking with a friend the other evening.  We met in the warm Spring air and mutual sharing, as I relaxed patting her kitty.  I observed how it was warm and 70º while just last week at our meeting it was 30º and snowing!  We had chosen to get together and share from the depths of our hearts for that time, in this place.  It was a choice.  LIFE.  It was talk over past sin, repentance and finding wholeness again.  And that other word, healing.  It was two friends, drinking joy from a full cup of support.

She made a comment to me that made me wonder, "that was just a little step for me".   I can't help but ask, isn't every step a big step"?  Are we minimizing God's glory?  Isn't every single step towards God life altering?  Each one has importance because it is taking us in the right direction.  Each step builds on the last one.  Like a set of stairs leading you upward each one stacks on top of the other.  Your steps are taking you somewhere.  Somewhere out of where you are.

Each step proves we are changing.  He is changing us!  Isn't that what we all really want, to be changed?  We want mercies new every morning!  We pray for Him to get into our heads, renew our minds, and fill our hearts.  So, what is a step really?  

A step is motion in movement while passing over space.  It's a choice.  Sometimes, it even has voice.  If you pay attention you can hear it in a surrendered crawl, a sprint, a stride, a gait, even at a leisurely pace.  It's movement, it's growth, and it's glorious change!  Even the season is taking steps of changing.

Do we understand now that every step is God's glory showing up in our lives, and inviting us to take a walk with Him? 

Life is constant choice, change and movement.  Keep stepping...

Today, watch for movement and ask God to show you a step in the right direction!
Feel free to share back in the comments below about a specific step you would like to take.  Thanks for sharing!

Psalm 111

Psalm 111 The Message

  "Hallelujah! I give thanks to God with everything I've got-
   Wherever good people gather, and in the congregation.
   God's works are so great, worth
   A lifetime of study—endless enjoyment!
   Splendor and beauty mark his craft;
   His generosity never gives out.
   His miracles are his memorial—
   This God of Grace, this God of Love.
   He gave food to those who fear him,
   He remembered to keep his ancient promise.
   He proved to his people that he could do what he said:
   Hand them the nations on a platter—a gift!
   He manufactures truth and justice;
   All his products are guaranteed to last—
   Never out-of-date, never obsolete, rust-proof.
   All that he makes and does is honest and true:
   He paid the ransom for his people,
   He ordered his Covenant kept forever.
   He's so personal and holy, worthy of our respect.
   The good life begins in the fear of God—
   Do that and you'll know the blessing of God.
   His Hallelujah lasts forever"!

I'm realizing more and more that life, is all about Him!  Don't hold any part of yourself back today.  Give it to Him, get to know Him.  Give Him everything you've got!  What He wants to give you today has eternal value, He guarantees it!  He is a good God.  Just like the pretty flowers above, go now and pick just as many gratitudes as you can find.  Today, is your garden.  This moment is your life.  Don't miss one flower.  Pick them up and hand them right back up to Him in praise!  To Him be the glory!  Have a great day!  

What is one way you can thank God today? 

Bread Of Life

  "Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty".  John 6:35 NIV

Today, I am going to make my kids their sandwiches and use the heels from my loaf of bread.  No need to waste because there is need.  

There is so much need.  Need to be perfect.  Need to just breathe. 

 I'm discovering things don't have to be perfect to live. 

Life is here for the taking and the giving.  

Why do I usually skip the heels and toss them away as if they're not really food?  

Everything I eat doesn't have to be perfect, because He is.  What I really need is to taste more of Him!

To dip down and soak in His communion, just like the bread and the cup.

It is something that no one else knows how to fill up.

To find communion with the One who created community.

 The true filler of life.  My everlasting God!

If you come looking for Him today, you will find Him, simply because He wants to be found.
He wants to love you forever and fill the cup that only He can fill.

 "Taste and see that the Lord is good.  
Oh, the joys of those who take refuge in him"! 

Psalm 34:8 NLT
  
So, the question is... are you hungry for more of Him?
Share your comments below as you surrender and invite God and community in... be blessed!

Waters Flow

" Anyone who believes in me may come and drink!  For the Scriptures declare, ‘Rivers of living water will flow from his heart'."  John 7:38 NLT

 Have you ever stood and watched water?  It's one of my favorite things about this world.  Whether you are looking at a stream or turning your faucet on, one thing is always the same, water always goes down.  It flows down stream, continually looking for even lower places to go.  It cleanses as it streams through.  It washes over everything it touches.  It becomes a part of everything it flows into.

 It makes me wonder, should I be like water? 

Can I get lower, can I kneel down?  Surrender in waters flow.

Sometimes it washes over aggressively, quickly as it falls down a breathtaking waterfall.  Sometimes it moves slow, like a low flowing stream.  

Water is all over the world and yet everyone is still looking for it.  

Life giving water.  The flow of water that goes on eternally and flows in to change lives. 

What would it be like to let God's living water flow through, into every crevice of my life? 

 ^"Jesus replied, “If you only knew the gift God has for you and who you are speaking to, you would ask me, and I would give you living water." John 4:10 NLT 

  If you believe in Jesus, you have the gift of an invitation.  You have the opportunity to flow into step  with Him.  You get to drink the life that His Holy Spirit pours! 

Are you thirsty?

At the baggage claim

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” 

Matthew 11:28-30 NIV

 Have you ever watched someone at the airport try to wheel, juggle, and carry all of their baggage in to be weighed, tagged, and put away for a trip?  

I have.  It amazes me at how much a person can carry.  How much they can have strapped to their backs like it was always there.  I have to wonder, is it always there?  

They hand it over, into someone else's hands, so they can sit and rest on the plane.  Their rest will end.  They will have to pick everything up again.  

It's such a burden to carry, when we continue to try to carry all of our baggage through life.  It's a hard pressure on our back, it weighs down our shoulders and our countenance.  Some of our baggage has been with us all our lives, it's becoming tattered and torn, and so are we.  

Truthfully, we all are born into baggage.  The question is, how long will we choose to keep carrying it?

God wants us to hand Him our baggage today.  Will you?

"Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you". 

1 Peter 5:7 NIV

  

Attitude Equals Gratitude part 2

" Create in me a clean heart, O God.

   Renew a loyal spirit within me".  Psalm 51:10 NLT

 In my past, I have spent a lot of time and energy de-cluttering my house.  I personally, have been known to get a small adrenaline rush from introducing "stuff" to my best friend, the trash can!  While that was all fun and good, I am starting to see my greater need.  Confession, I Amy Alves need to be de-cluttered!  Not my stuff, but me.

To be a passionate God seeker, I have to continually throw out all my grumblings and mental complaints!

Tip #1 The sin of unthankfulness runs through me every day.  I have to see it for what it is and throw it away!

  Tip #2  Don't let your complaints get stuck in your brain because you want to be a "good girl", because you don't want people to see your sins.  Let it out and throw it out!  "Good girls" aren't fulfilled girls.  Honest girls are.

This week I am continuing my Joy Dare, by confessing my ingratitudes so they can get replaced with gratitudes!

Tip #3  Get ready because when we take something out of our minds, we need to be prepared to ask God to replace it with something good (or the old thing may walk right back in)!  For example, if you struggle with complaining about your job every day, you can begin by asking God to open up your mind by making a list of each reason why you are thankful for your job.  p.s. God also would love to use you there to minister to and encourage others!  So, get ready for exciting things to happen!

I understand that this way of living might get messy at times, but I'm thankful for His endless abundance of trash cans!  I know that as I get ingratitudes out of me, I will be cleaner for it.  I will be different.

I am choosing to have faith in the One who knows how to clean up messes.... clean up me!   So, this week I'm de-cluttering me!  I am asking God, the best cleaner, to replace all of my "trash" with thankfulness and a whole long list of gratitudes!

What do you want to throw into God's trash can today?
Leave your answer in the comments below.  Lets see how many sins we can throw out today!

Attitude Equals Gratitude

During the past few days I have been working on a little project.  I've been practicing it.  Mulling it over in my mind, learning, and even testing it out!
I have been intentionally adding "things" to my gratitude list that I wouldn't normally think of as positive.  I am purposefully searching for thankfulness in all things. 

 1. crumbs all over the floor

2. dog waking me up in the middle of the night

3. Lilly losing it over her schoolwork

I literally have to look for the thankfulness in these things.  I have to lift it up, peek around it, shake it up a bit, then I spot it!  I see it.  And it turns out that these gratitudes, are just as good as all the "easy" gratitudes.  

1. got to talk to the kids about respect and consideration.

2. got to be awake in prayer

3. got to experience God's fruit of patience, and witness a change of heart in my daughter.

Sometimes in life, it's simply a matter of perspective change, attitude change.  "They" say, attitude is everything!

This gives me hope for something greater.  That even in the middle of a hard day, painful circumstance, or doubt and confusion, there's still hope for finding joy and gratitude! 

"In the midst of a very severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity."
2 Corinthians 8:2 NIV

Having a heart of gratitude even in difficult circumstances makes all the difference in the world!  It is possible.  With God all things are possible!   God knows about your life.  If you can uncover your own gratitudes today, those hard to reach ones, you will find that you are uncovering more of God!

What do you see in your life today, that you could change into a moment of gratitude? 

Share in the comments below...

It's Seasonal

I welcomed the morning with a run, as I entered into the fresh air with anticipation for a new day!  The first blessing that I hear is Spring birds chirping, and I smile.  I think to myself, I can hardly wait to get back home and write this one down in my gratitude journal!  They've arrived a bit early this year due to the unpredictable changes in the weather.  Facts that even an educated weather man can't predict or plan for perfectly. 

Things that are truly left up only to God.

I had forgotten what those sweet songs do for me.  The joy they bring to my heart.  I hadn't heard them all Winter, or at least I hadn't noticed them.  Were some of them still there?  

The Winter always feels long when you're in it.  

A new season is on its way.  I didn't ask for it.  I could never make it come.  It's planning on arriving when it's good and ready.  In its time.  

At times in life, you may feel as though Spring will never come.  You're waiting.  Waiting for a new season, a better season.  

The truth is, Spring really isn't here yet.  But I got to experience a hopeful glimpse of it this morning.  There is still snow on the ground and we still have to stoke the fire at night.

Don't miss the early Spring birds chirping.  Don't miss the new season spottings, don't miss the glimpses of His grace.  Your new season is on its way.  Your healing is happening.  

Wait for it, and keep living.

 "There is a time for everything,
   and a season for every activity under the heavens".....
Ecclesiastes 3:1 NIV

choosing wisely

It's approaching that time.  That time of night when my children are dreaming and I'm still awake.  It comes after the prayers are said and the three kids are tucked into their beds.  It's after I speak a blessing over them quietly in my mind, and exit the room they all share.

Honestly, my heart is happy for a break.  I need this recharge of my own self.  It's right about now in the night that I jump into something that I've been wanting to do all day.  It's just about this time that I don't think to ask God, what do you want me to do tonight?

I must say that I've become in the habit of being a little selfish, lets not even sugar coat it, just plain selfish, with my night time.  And "sugar coat" it I do, as I consume my bowl of ice cream instead of consuming the one who made me.

For a long time I've been pretty satisfied with my night time choices.  TV, icecream, repeat.  Every night is the same.   But tonight, I want to be different.  Tonight, I want to ask God what He wants me to do instead of mindlessly falling into my habitual ways.

It all comes down to choices, right?  Every minute of our day, we make one.

Seek His will in all you do,
      and He will show you which path to take.
Proverbs 3:6 NLT

My day doesn't end at night time... so, tonight I'm daring myself to skip the tv and replace it with extra reading, and writing time.

You may be wondering, what about the ice cream habit... lets just take this one step at a time!

What will you choose today?
I would love to hear about how God is changing your choices!

NEWS~My Makeover

Happy Monday to you ladies! I was doing some brainstorming over the weekend and had the idea to change things up a bit. I've been feeling as though God is doing a "makeover" in me. My desire is to let that shine out, onto my blog!

So here it is, the new name Full Her Life, and the new look. God is offering a Fuller life to those who seek Him! One of my favorite verses is John 10:10b "I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full".

I'm overjoyed over God!

Have fun reading, exploring, and growing today!

p.s. A special thanks to my hubby for his "tech" smarts and his love!

My Joy Dare

"They" say that if you want to be a life long learner read, read, read!

I have been doing just that (in between taking care of the children of course). My new top 3 favorite reads are, the Bible (my renewed love), working through the book Flourish (with my small women's group), and discovering the book One Thousand Gifts (and Ann's great blog!).

My reading has been stirring some "thing" deep within me.

Like a simmering pot of stew on the stove, that I keep going back to check on, as it continues growing in flavor and readiness.

In my stirrings, I'm being inspired to see my life through different eyes. It's as if God is holding out more towards me.

How do I grab hold of more of Him? Where do I find His full, abundant life?

It's in me somewhere, deep inside, resting with the Holy Spirit. It has been there all along.

I believe it's time to wake it up. This life giving fruit of His Spirit!

It has many names. Gratitude, thankfulness, joy... and it births the two things that I want most. contentment, rest.

I'm plunging in deep and expecting a great God to show up and show off, as I continue to learn how to seek His face!

I'm taking the dare to reach 1,000 gifts this year! Here is the beginning of my 2012 list of God. My joy!

Do you dare to believe in God's joy again?

#1. quiet morning runs

#2. feeling God's presence

#3. white snow falling

#4. daughters giggling

#5. imperfect people meeting a perfect God (church)

#6. a friend

#7. the touch of a husband's hand

#8. a coaching class

#9. smiles

#10. the confession of sin

#11. writing

#12. children's laughter playing with their daddy

#13. chocolate chip cookies and milk

#14. hugging Lilly

#15. Bible Study with friends

#16. chatting with my Momma'

#17. coloring princesses, with my princesses

#18. fresh Winter air

#19. clean sheets

#20. forgiveness

#21. joy in my healing

#22. flourishing women

#23. pizza

#24. a new friend

#25. reading

#26. a warm fire

#27. homemade pancakes

#28. 3 kids happy noise

#29. communion

#30. blog brainstorming

#31. the tightest hugs from my little ones

#32. hands up in praise with a heart full of freedom

#33. mom's chocolate cream pie

#34. a full fridge

#35. comfy sweatpants

#36. Julio's letter traveling all the way from Peru

#37. kids all sleeping at the same time

#38. clean water to drink

#39. church worship

#40. joy in the morning

Welcome Home...

Let me introduce you to my dog, Maya. She has been in our family for 4 years and although she may occasionally jump up onto you she would never hurt a fly (on purpose anyway).

Today, my story is about her.

I was sitting reading Ann Voskamp's book "One Thousand Gifts" when my oldest daughter, looking out the window, yelled to me "Maya's loose"!

First, you must understand that she is a Siberian Husky in breed and was created to run! Run long, run hard, run fast. Secondly, at times running is good, healthy, safe... other times it's not. Out of all the times she's gotten away from me, (about 40 in my mental calculator) today was different.

Today was memorable.

Looking through the window my eyes caught her white body in that white snow. I ran out the door! I clapped, called, watched, waited, using as many of my five senses that I could. I saw as she kept running, but (glory be!) now she was running to me!

I watched her.

My heart filled with joy, as she came racing over that snow home! Home, right into my arms. I turned my head to find my whole little family rejoicing right behind me (especially my husband, who is normally the one running after her).

They say, "there's a first time for everything."

Today, she is my prodigal dog.

Today, I was blessed by God, through a dog.

And for a moment, I sit and imagine that this must be what it's like when we come home to God. He is full with love for us, as He opens His arms. And all the angels in Heaven rejoice!

Welcome home.

Have you experienced God's love coming home?