My Thankful List

Here is just a piece of my Thankful List. This does not even come close to everything I am thankful for. God has been so good in my life.

1. My family(mom, dad, and brother)
2. My pastor
3. My salvation
4. The Bible
5. My Friends
6. My home
7. My car
8. A loving church family
9. Prayer
10. Praying family and friends
11. God's forgiveness
12. God's mercy and grace
13. God's patience
14. God's unending love
15. Warm clothing
16. Books =)
17. Breath
18. My sight
19. My hearing
20. Freedom
21. The military
22. To live in America
23. My phone
24. My grandma
25. Those who have had a great spiritual impact upon my life.

It is never right to do wrong. Sometimes I find in my own life that I do not always heed this truth. Justifying wrong is never right, and under no circumstance will the Lord's will be doing something that is wrong. I have been told this over and over again, and I heed it when it comes to things that I absolutely know are wrong. But sometimes our judgement is not so sharp, and we feel that we must do something in order to please others. Still it is not right though. The Lord will always bless His children when they do what is right and good. Doing right may not always be easy, but in the end happiness will follow. Doing wrong many times is easier, but in the end we feel bad about ourselves. We know that we have let the Lord down when we participate in sin. I just want to say that the Lord is good. He has been so good to me. I do not deserve for Him to be so good and so kind to me. I fail Him so often yet He always loves me the same. As Breakin Ground's song says, "So even when I'm at my worst, He sees me as His best."

Well I have been telling people that I would update my blog for about two weeks now. Well I have done so. Bye. Just kidding.

Here lately I have been thinking alot about the conversations that we engage in. How many things do we say each day that have no significance? How many people do we gossip about in a single day? How many things that do we complain about? How many discouraging instead of encouraging words do we say to others? These questions have been going through my head alot here of late. I try to be very conscious of everything that I say, but sometimes that does not always happen. My pastor in his message yesterday, said something that I really liked and am going to try to make a habit of. Whenever we have a mean thought about somebody, instead of saying what our thought was to someone else, we need to say something nice about that person. Or whenever we start to complain about something, we need to say something positive instead. We need to have good things to say. Words are more deadly than anything. That saying "sticks and stones may break my bones but words can never hurt me" is not really true. Words can hurt you. Not to say that we should wear our feelings on our sleeves, and take offense to everything anybody says to us. We cannot control what everybody else says and does, but we can control what we ourselves say and do. I do not want anybody to say that I have hurt them with my words. I want to guard my tongue. If we are to be witnesses for the Lord, what we say is a big part of accomplishing that task of being a good Christian witness. I would hate for my words to hinder someone from accepting Christ as their Saviour. Also, every word that we say we will be held accountable for someday.

"Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be. Doth a fountain send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter? Can the fig tree, my brethren, bear olive berries? either a vine, figs? so can no fountain both yield salt water and fresh. Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? let him shew out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom. But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth. This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish. For where envying and strife is , there is confusion and every evil work. But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy. And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that a make peace."
--James 3:10-18

The Bible truly is an amazing book. No matter how often this great Book is read it will read the same each time its read, but will have new messages revealed to the reader as the reader digs more into what it says. Until just recently I did not know the full definition of meditating on the Word of God. In my devotions I found out what it is:

"Anyone who knows how to worry knows how to meditate. A worrier takes one thought (for example, "I just know I'll never get married" or "I'm afraid my parents will never let me have a close friend") and looks single-mindedly at that thought from every possible angle, examining every possible implication and application of that thought to him personally. Worriers are skilled in the meditation process but are meditating on the wrong kind of thoughts.

Biblical meditation involves the same process, but reflective thoughts must be on the truth from God and not on a lie from our own heart or from Satan. We must start with truth revealed to us from the Word. Then we need to examine it from every possible angle, asking God to show us its implications and applications for us and our relationship with Him. We will "bend over to see it better." For some that will mean looking up verses in commentaries or studying the individual words in Bible dictionaries or word studies. We may need to look up cross-reference to other passages in the Scripture that shed more light on a passage.
Someone who knows Greek or Hebrew will examine the words in their original languages.

Above all, biblical meditation will mean an ongoing interaction with God Himself, asking Him to reveal to us the truth He wants us to know and practice so that our fellowship with Him can increase and our fruitfulness for Him can grow. He will most often respond to us first by convicting us of unconfessed sin. "The entrance of [His] words giveth light"(Psalms 119:130) and the light will expose our sin. Notice the sequence in Proverbs 1:23: "Turn you at my reproof: behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you, I will make known my words unto you."

Remember, the aim of this meditation is to help us behold our God and think like our God so that we can know and therefore "do those things that are pleasing in his sight"(I John 3:22). The barriers that hinder our fellowship with Him must be removed before He will reveal His words to us."

The passage in James 1 that exhorts us to look into the "perfect law of liberty" says we are to continue in it. The next question might be "How long do we continue peering intently into the Word?" The twofold answer is found in the next phrase: "He being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work." We are to continue meditating on the Word as long as it takes to make sure we do not forget what we have heard. That often means meditating on the same passage, studying and reflecting on it , for several weeks. That certainly doesn't mean we cannot read other passages or keep up with a "through-the-Bible-in-a-year" schedule, but it does mean that our focused attention must continually come back to the passage at hand until it becomes a permanent part of our thinking." (Berg, 105-106)
- "Changed Into His Image"
- By Jim Berg

This is an excerpt from Jim Berg's devotional. This fully helped me to understand what meditation truly is. I have been meditating on James and am finding so many things that I knew were there but are just now really becoming real to me. Each day I am reminded of the same truth but each day I learn how to master it or I must keep myself from participating in something, until it becomes easier and more ingrained into my everyday thought patterns. This is just a thought. Something that I have been thinking about, and something that I just recently learned.

"Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My bretheren, these things ought not so to be. Doth a fountain send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter?"
-James 3:10-11

"Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He shall lift you up."
- James 4:10

This particular verse has been on my mind alot lately. Sometimes we feel like we are so above others, that we are so much more spiritual that others. We will never fall into sin like others do. Well I am here to tell you that the Devil wants to see us fall, and when we are puffed up about ourselves that is the best time for the Devil to put something in our path to cause us to fall. I truly want to be humble. Paul speaks about how he is the chiefest of sinners. Paul was humble, he knew that he was flesh, and sinful. That he needed a perfect, Savior to save him from his sins. Only when we recognize who we really are, can we begin to fully be humble. Without God we are nothing, we can do nothing. Humility is a big characteristic to a truly Godly Christian.

Speaking in front of people is something that I have never really been comfortable with. Today while in U.S. History class the teacher decides to call on me to answer questions about the material covered the night before. I personally feel that the man knew that I was nervous, and that he decided to play with it. He would ask me questions that I answered to the best of my ability, but he would word strangely on purpose to confuse me. I am not good at thinking when asked a question on the spot. All during class he would ask questions directed to all of the students, and I would be the only one answering them most of the time, correctly too. But when he would direct a question directly to me I would freeze. One time he asked me a question and I answered it, and he laughed at me, causing the whole class to laugh.

Another time today I had to speak in front of my class today, and that was during Speech. I was the second person to speak, because I volunteered to be one of the first ones to speak. I wanted to get it over with, and the teacher normally grades easier on the students that go first. All the other student that get up to speak later during class already know what the teacher expects out of them. Well I got up to speak and I did a pretty good job of it, except that my voice shook. I made it through my speech, but right when I finished I noticed that my mouth felt like I had chalk dust all in it. My mouth was the dryest that I ever remember it being. Thankfully I keep a small bottle of water in my purse just for such emergencies. When I got back to my seat a wave of relief passed over me. All of that worry and loss of sleep was over something that only lasted 2 to 3 minutes, and just as quickly as I had started I was finished. I did ok and I did not get sick so I guess I can get through the rest of the course. I hope.

Just for Fun

Something that I found on someone else's blog that I thought would be interesting to fill out.




-What are your nicknames? Care Bear( by most people), Callie(my Dad), Callie Marie(my dad), Pumpkin, Punky, Carrots, Ms. Carrots, Carrie Anne(my friend Ashley), Cavis(my brother), Cat(my brother), Blondie, and Peaches( actually this is my newest nickname. My pastor one Sunday morning was calling on me and a friend to sing. He said, "Well I really do not know what to call this new group. How about Peaches and Cream." It stuck.)



-What is your favorite scent? Cool Water( by Calvin Kline) or Fresh Cut Roses



-What is one place you've visited, can't forget and want to go back to? Charleston, South Carolina



-Do you trust easlily? It really is according to what you mean by trust. Do I trust people that I just meet. No. Do I trust people to tell me the truth. Yes. Many people play pranks on me all the time. They will tell me something and I will believe them, and in reality they are pulling my leg. I am very gullible.



-What is your favorite flower? Daisies

- Do you generally think before you act, or act before you think? Most of the time I think before I act. Many times before I do or say anything I roll it over in my mind a dozen times before I actually say or do it.

- What is the last song that got stuck in your head? A Few Good Men :)

There are a few of the questions.

Search Me

Search Me

Search me O' God and know my heart

Try me and know my thoughts

And see if there be any wicked way in me

And lead me in the way, lead me in the way

Lead me in the way everlasting

You have known me, you have known me

My downsittings, my uprisings

You understand my thoughts from afar

You know all my ways, you know all my ways.

While attending Pensacola Christian College, I learned and fell in love with this song. During prayer group and during hall meeting all the girls in my dorm would sing this song. Each time it was sung it really challenged me.

In this song it talks about the Lord knowing us. He knows our downsittings and our uprisings. Also, he understands all of our thoughts, and he knows all our ways. I do not know about you, but that really makes me feel ashamed. To know that someone knows all about me. We can not hide anything from God. He sees everything that we do, He hears everything that we say, and He even knows everything that we think. It makes me ashamed, and it also makes me want to watch myself more closely. We may be able to hide things from our friends and our families, but we cannot hide things from the all seeing eye of the Lord. The thing that amazes me is that even though the Lord knows all about us He still loves us. I fail Him each and everyday, but yet He still loves me the same as He did yesterday, last year, and 20 years ago.

I also love this song, because to me this is a song of prayer to the Lord. I want so much to do what the Lord wants me to do. When singing this song I sing it as a prayer to the Lord to search me, and see if there is anything in my life that I need to turn away from or place into my life.

This song was actually taken out of Psalms 139. Another thing that is mentioned in this chapter that is not in the song is that the Lord's thought's of each of His children are precious. I just love that. The Lord's thoughts of me are precious. As my pastor says, " That is enough to make one want to run around the church praising the Lord ( something like that)." Thank you Lord for having precious thoughts about me.

"Search me, O God, and know my heart, try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting."

- Psalms 139: 23-24

" O LORD, thou hast searched me, and known me. Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought from afar off. Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways."

-Psalms 139:1-2

"How precious also are thy thoughts unto me. O God! how great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand: when I awake, I am still with thee."

-Psalms 139: 17-18