What do you ask of the Lord today?

A challenging question, that's for sure. In my selfish pride I would ask for material things...things that have no lasting value, but serve a purpose to provide some sort of feel good pleasure at the time only to be quickly replaced by the next feel good thing.

I loved being challenged by this question today...and guess what? Scripture has provided a great answer...

Psalm 27:4
One thing I ask of the LORD, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to seek Him in his temple.

I hope this challenged you as it did me. :)

COUPON CLASS

I'm excited to offer another coupon class on June 18 at my church. I'll cover the basics of couponing including:

How to organize your coupons
Stacking coupons
Different types of coupons
Building a stockpile
I'll cover coupon shopping @ Dillons, Walgreens, CVS and Target
Where to find coupons
And much, much more!

If you'd like to attend please leave a comment (found below) or email me.

This class is absolutely FREE to you, but I really need a head count!

New blog title!

I'm excited about my new blog title and layout! I have been wanting to change my blog title for a long time, to better reflect who I am. It took me awhile, but I finally found a title that fits well.

It wasn't that long ago that I learned that I was going to have to have a medical procedure that I wasn't happy about. I called one of my friends on the way home from my doctor appointment and was telling her about it and I remember saying to her, "I don't like this and I don't have to like this!" Of course, right then, the Holy Spirit whispered in my ear, "Heather, you have to consider it pure joy." I'm so thankful that I have Him living in me whispering encouraging words in my ear, giving me comfort and teaching me to be more like Jesus!

So, whether it be something as difficult as a medical procedure or something as simple as getting great savings on groceries, I'm determined to "consider it pure joy" and a blessing from the Lord to grow me to be more like Him.

National Eosinophil Awareness Week!

As many of you know, I have a rare autoimmune disorder called Hypereosinophilic Syndrome. This week marks the 3rd annual National Eosinophil Awareness Week. To observe the week I purchased an Eosinophil T-Shirt that I'll be wearing. I'm hoping to maybe hold a fundrasier next year.

If you'd like to read more information on Hypereosinophilc Disorders or to read my story, you can click on the Hypereosinphilic Syndrome tab at the top of this page.

Under Construction

There's some changes happening on my blog. I'm excited about my new layout. It's still under construction, but I'm hoping that this will help clear the clutter and bring better organization to my readers. Some of you like to read everything that I write, while others had rather just get to the coupons stuff, recipes, or possibly read about our adoption process. When I complete this project you'll be able to easily navigate to whatever you want.
I'm hoping to have this all finished in another week. Thanks for bearing with me while I get it all up and running.
Edited to add...a HUGE thanks to my brother-in-law, Michael, for giving me some pointers and teaching me a few things on my computer! Thanks, Michael!

Were It Not For Grace

In 1992, when I was 19, I got the incredible experience to travel to Barcelona, Spain with a mission team. I thought that I would be used by God in a mighty way while I was there...afterall, isn't that why He called me to this mission trip? Boy, was I young and arrogant! To my disappointment, after spending five weeks in the streets filled with Olympic athletes and tourists, I only got to share my salvation with a few people that would listen. One woman prayed to receive the Lord as her Savior. I was really disappointed with this outcome. I didn't understand why the Lord would send me across the world to share His Word and only have one person be saved.

Our mission team had some guest evangelists that came and spoke to our team a few times during those five weeks. One man, I don't even remember his name, spoke on the subject of grace. I had been a Christian for several years already at this time, but really lacked knowledge in this area. Honestly, there were some things that he spoke about that confused me. I knew that I couldn't just pick up the phone and call my dad, my pastor or my friends and ask questions. Of course, this was at a time when cell phones weren't carried by just everyone! For the first time in my life I had to depend on just God. It was one of most incredible journey's that the Lord has ever taken me on! I realized many years later that this was the very reason that I went to Barcelona. God had to take me out of my comfort zone in order for me to truly learn how to lean on Him and Him alone.

That 5 weeks in Barcelona has been a time that I have reflected on many times during my life. I can't believe that it was 18 years ago! My understanding of grace as I know it today started during the summer of 1992 and continues to overwhelm me today! I don't understand why my God chose to grace me with His love, His salvation, His mercy...but He did...and I'm so grateful for it.

If you'd like to understand more on this topic I would encourage you to open your Bible to the book of Romans and start reading. Ask the Holy Spirit to help you learn.

I would also suggest that you take a few key words in the Bible and compare them and their meaning with other passages that use the same words. For example, you could look up the words: Grace, Love, God, Jesus, Holy Spirit, Word, Truth, Life... find every verse that those words are in. Find out how that particular word is defined each time it's used. Make sure to know the context that the word is used in too. This is a very eye-opening exercise to do and I'm sure that anyone that does this won't regret it!

The Bible (God's Holy Word) tell us in Ephesians 2:8 "For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;..." Wow! This means that there is nothing we can do to earn God's grace, we can can't work for it, we can never be "good enough"...we only get it because He gifts us with it. For this reason we have grateful hearts...for this reason we want to do good works.

This is and has been one of my very favorite songs for several years. It's a wonderful reminder to me that I would be nothing without Him...Were it Not for Grace...