Zizzie Happenings

Paul spoiled Kathy with 3 new Coach purses and a wallet Paul with all his sweets... do you see the Ferrero Rocher and the KitKat?     A sweet family from church had us over for Christmas lunch...  smoked ribs.  these ribs were so delicious! so delicious that Paul used his fingers to eat them.  If you know Paul, that is a HUGE deal!  This precious little boy is Evan.   Kathy crocheted this hat and sweater for Evan.  We tried it on to see how it fit and it looks like he will have to grow into the sweater but I'm sure that won't take too long. Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and are ready for the new year to start!

A Passion for Thee Set my heart, O dear Father, On Thee, and Thee only, Give me a thirst for Thy presence divine. Lord, keep my focus on loving Thee wholly, Purge me from earth; Turn my heart after Thine. A passion for Thee; O Lord, set a fire in my soul, and a thirst for my God. Hear Thou my prayer, Lord, Thy power impart.  Not just to serve, but to love Thee with all of my heart. Father fill with Thy Spirit, and fit me for service, Let love for Christ every motive inspire, Teach me to follow in selfless submission, Be Thou my joy and my soul's one desire. A passion for Thee; O Lord, set a fire in my soul, and a thirst for my God. Hear Thou my prayer, Lord, Thy power impart. Not just to serve, but to love Thee with all of my heart.

A Heart That Serves Genesis 2:18 ~ And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him. "To begin our discussion we must realize that a woman after God's own heart is a woman who carefully cultivates a servant spirit, whether she is married or not.  She desires to follow in the steps of Jesus, who 'did not come to be served, but to serve' (Matthew 20:28). Such following calls for lifelong attention to the heart attitude of serving." "And if you are a married woman, that attitude and service starts at home with your family.  And more specifically, with your husband.  God has designed the wife to be her husband's helper." "a helper is one who shares man's responsibilities, responds to his nature with understanding and love, and wholeheartedly cooperates with him in working out the plan of God." "Realizing I am on assignment from God to help my husband opened my eyes....

A Heart That Obeys Acts 13:22 ~ After removing Saul, he made David their king. He testified concerning him: 'I have found David son of Jesse a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do.' "The heart God delights in is a heart that is compliant, cooperative, and responsive to Him and His commands--a heart that obeys." "Two very different kinds of hearts - David and Saul In his heart, David was willing to obey, but Saul was satisfied with merely external acts of sacrifice. David served God.  Saul served himself and did things his way. David was concerned with following God's will, but Saul cared solely for his own will. David's heart was centered on God, and Saul's was centered on Saul. Even though David didn't always obey God, he had what mattered over the long haul--a heart after God.  In sharp contrast, Saul's devotion to God was impulsive and sporadic. Although David was well-known for his physical prowess a...

A Heart Committed to Prayer Psalm 121:1-2 ~ I lift up my eyes to the mountains— where does my help come from? My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth. Count your blessings name them one by one Blessing #1: A Deeper Relationship with God Prayer increases faith Prayer provides a place to unload burdens John 16:33 ~ These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world. 1 Peter 5:7 ~ Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you. "Corrie ten Boom offers a vivid image of this privilege:  As a camel kneels before his master to have him remove his burden, so kneel and let the Master take your burden." Prayer teaches us that God is always near "Oswald Chambers' words...'The purpose of prayer is to reveal the presence of God equally present all the time in every condition.'" "Cultivating a ...

A Heart Abiding in God's Word "Roots make all the difference in the health of a plant, and their presence or absence ultimately becomes known to all.  The plant either flourishes or fails, thrives or dies, blossoms or withers.  The health of anything--whether a garden plant or a heart devoted to God--reflects what is going on (or not going on!) underground." Roots are unseen -- "If God is going to be first in our hearts and the "Ultimate Priority" of our lives, we must develop a root system anchored deep in Him." "only one-seventh of an iceberg is visible above the surface, and any wise fisherman knows not to get too close because underneath spreads the other six-sevenths.  What was visible to the eye--only a fraction of the huge, icy mass--was enough to evoke fear, awe, and respect in any sailor. And that's what you and I want for our lives.  We want what other people see of our lives--public portion--to stir up this kind of awe and w...

We gathered at the Snyder's home for our Christmas Eve service.  After lots of singing and a short message we enjoyed some food and fellowship.  Although I have to say I think the highlight for everyone was the precious little baby boys in our church family.

A Heart Devoted to God "I want my life-indeed each and every day of it, each and every minute of it-to count." "I had been thinking earthly thoughts--human thoughts, physical thoughts, worldly thoughts--rather than thoughts of faith.  My perspective was off!  We as Christians are to walk by faith, not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7)" "She has chosen with her whole heart to seek to live her life for God.  She loved God, worshiped God, walked with God, served God, and looked forward to being with Him in eternity." "knew true inner peace and joy as she nurtured a heart of devotion to God." "God knows the desires of my heart--indeed, He has put them there (Psalm 37:4)!  He knows the amount of daydreaming-and praying--I do about becoming the kind of woman He wants me to be." "But God's peace became mine as I was reminded one more time that when, day by day, I choose the one thing necessary--which shall never b...

Thanks to Amy @ Signs, Miracles, Wonders for hosting Then Sings My Soul Saturdays. Now go check out her blog and all the other participants.

I really enjoy reading books written by Elizabeth George.  I find that they are easy to read and comprehend, yet they are very convicting to me. I am going to keep notes on my blog so they are easily accessible for me to refer back to them. I borrowed the book A Woman After God's Own Heart by Elizabeth George from a friend so while I'm dog sitting I'm going to read through it and take good notes. Each chapter's notes will be a separate post on my blog.  I warn you now it may just be quotes of things that touched me while reading.  I encourage you to read the book for yourself.  It will be a HUGE blessing! I would love to hear from you if you've read this book and want to share some of your thoughts on how it has changed you and your personal walk with the Lord. God Bless!

Today I came across this website called One Verse . As I read about it I was reminded how blessed I am to have a Bible in my own language that I can read. Truth be told I probably have 3 or 4 Bible's that are different translations but still they are all in my language. I know that probably everyone has gotten their Christmas gifts already but I thought that their Gift-a-Verse program was a wonderful idea. We in America have so much stuff.  Most of the time, we don't even appreciate the things we do have.  This would be a wonderful tradition to start as a family.  Buy a verse in the Bible to be translated in another language. I encourage you to check out their website and even if you don't give this year, keep it in mind as a new tradition for next year.  Also, be praying for this organization.  That they may be blessed to complete the translation of the Bible in many languages in 2012. To God Be The Glory!

This is Mr. Beasley.  I am taking care of him through the holidays and I'm having so much fun with him.  He is an older dog so he doesn't do much but eat and sleep.  Every so often he gets a burst of energy and he runs around the coffee table.  He makes me laugh because it's so unexpected when it happens.  He is just so cute!  Well now you know how I am spending my holiday, how are you spending yours?

I have been thinking a lot about my personal relationship with God.  I've been meditating on Revelation 3:15-16 that says I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. My desire is to have a heart on fire for the Lord and not to become lukewarm. I am thinking of using my blog to track and to share what I am reading and what I am learning.  I don't communicate that well with my words and I am not a superior writer like most who have blogs but I feel like my blog needs to take this new turn. To be honest, I have a hard time being "real" on my blog because I worry I may say something wrong.  But my focus is wrong because I should not be worried of what other's think, I should be focused on God and God alone.  When I am weak He shows me His strength. Through my weakness He is glorified! II Corinthians 12:9-10  And he said unto...

December 3rd we had our 2nd Annual Christmas Banquet.  It was such a wonderful evening.   Cute picture of a sweet couple.  Mr George is an amazing man full of wisdom.  It's always a blessing when he is at Sunday School.    Miss Betty is always dressed so beautifully!  We had our traditional white elephant gift exchange.  It's always so much fun to play and see what everyone brings!  Our guest speaker and his wife.  I was trying to get a good picture of Crystal and her baby belly but I wasn't able to get a good one.  Early morning after this picture was taken she had her precious little baby bow.  There was a team of young adults from Camp Ironwood who came to bless us by serving, signing and watching the children.  I love this picture.  Judd was such a character.  They did a fabulous job playing and singing! I am normally the one taking pictures but someone snapped th...

Thanks to Amy @ Signs, Miracles, Wonders for hosting Then Sings My Soul Saturdays. Now go check out her blog and all the other participants.

Before my week in London I spent 4 days watching these precious girls.  Their Dad was out of town on business and their Mom was heading to a Bible course on counseling women.  They loved playing outside.  This park was right across from their house so it was nice to be able to walk across and let them play every day....but...  not until school work was done. My last day with them we had a picnic at the park.  The girls thought it was such a great idea to eat outside.  They ate quickly and even got some play time in before going back home to finish school time. At the end of each day, when the girls got in bed they were out... FAST!

Thanks to Amy @ Signs, Miracles, Wonders for hosting Then Sings My Soul Saturdays. Now go check out her blog and all the other participants.

I went over to a friends house and had a fun day of stamping.  My dear friend has an awesome craft room and we have great fun when we can stamp together.  This is the card I made while at her house.

A Candymaker in Indiana wanted to make a candy that would be a witness, so he made the Christmas Candy Cane. He incorporated several symbols for the birth, ministry, and death of Jesus Christ. He began with a stick of pure white, hard candy. White to symbolize the Virgin Birth and the sinless nature of Jesus, and hard to symbolize the Solid Rock, the foundation of the Church, and firmness of the promises of God. The candymaker made the candy in the form of a "J" to represent the precious name of Jesus, who came to earth as our Savior. It could also represent the staff of the "Good Shepherd" with which he reaches down into the ditches of the world to lift out the fallen lambs who, like all sheep, have gone astray. Thinking that the candy was somewhat plain, the candymaker stained it with red stripes. He used three small stripes to show the stripes of the scourging Jesus received by which we are healed. The large red stripe was for the blood shed by Christ on...

 Kathy planned a day in Paris for me.  She had been before with Paul but since I had never been there she booked an all day tour for us.  The day started early as we had to be at the train station at 6:30.   It took two and a half hours to get to Paris from London using this EuroStar train.  Very interesting ride since part of it we were traveling under water.  The first thing we did was get off the train and onto a bus that was going to show us around.  It was market day and they had tons of produce out to sell.  It all looked so good!  I was so impressed by the detail work on their buildings  The tour included lunch at the Eiffel tower restaurant. It was a two course meal.  You were to pick a started and entree or an entree and dessert. Then one person per family went downstairs to put the order in.   Kathy came ...