To my friends:

A couple of weeks ago we finished up a sermons series called Declaration. We talked about New Years Resolutions and how to set ourselves up to make good choices. Our main theme was "Your life doesn't get better by chance, it gets better by change!"

So the final sermon in the series was about relationships. And how to make those relationships healthy. We talked about how God designed us to have healthy relationships and how we are not meant to do life alone. God makes this very clear in Genesis. After making the heavens and the earth, the birds of the sky, the fish of the sea, the animals that roam the earth, the stars, the sun, the moon, night and day, and man to rule over all the earth "God saw that all that he had made and it was very good." (Genesis 1:31) But then we see in Genesis chapter 2 we see God showing Adam all that he is to care for and rule over and discovers that "for Adam no suitable helper was found." (Genesis 2:20). I realize that here he is talking about a mate for Adam, but I think it demostrated the importance of us not doing life alone. God even states, "It is not good for man to be alone." (Genesis 2:18). I think this also translates into friendships because we even see that Jesus, God himself, has very close friendships while here on earth. 

Now, I have fantastic friends that I love dearly! They care for me and treat me better than I deserve. But I left feeling very convicted. I left wondering if I treat my friends as good as they treat me. I left wondering if I am the cause of an unhealthy relationship. And ultimately wondering if I leave my friends sharper and at the throne of God! 

We learned that the start of a healthy relationship begins with me. That we need to be the friend that we want others to be to us. It sickens me to think that I could be the poison that eats away at my relationships. That my selfishness, my pride, my jealousy, my sin is what destroys the friends that I love so dearly! 

So, to my precious friends, I'm sorry! I'm sorry if I am the cause of an un-healthy friendship. I'm sorry if I have ever left you hurt and far from God. I'm sorry if I have made our friendship about me. I'm sorry if my selfishness, my pride, my jealousy, my sin is the disease that harms our friendship. I love each and every one of you and am so thankful to have you by my side on this journey. My prayer is that I always leave you a better person and closer to the Lord!

"As iron sharpens iron, so one man       sharpens another." Proverbs 27:17

Time Hop

Ok, so I was recently introduced (by my techie brother-in-law) to this new app called Time Hop! Every time we see Josh he always has new apps that he thinks we need to check out. Now usually the apps are way over my head or they just aren't applicable to my every day life, but this one really caught my attention! This app archives every picture, tweet, or blog you ever post on social media (I think you can also somehow hook it to your computer and archive all the photos you have stored on it as well, but I'm not sure how to do that yet!) But what's so great about it is everyday it shows you what was posted on that day specifically! It's the neatest thing to be able to see what you were doing a year ago, two years ago, three years ago and so on and so on! Just the other day mine showed pictures that I posted on Facebook 6 years ago!! 6 years ago!!! Talk about a walk down memory lane!!! It's such a fun app! Even Liam gets excited to see what that days pictures are! 

What was archived for today was a blog post from 3 years that talked about us getting ready to go bring Tytus home. It brought back a number of emotions and memories! It was so wonderful to read and see what God was doing in those days! It inspired me to start blogging again. To put into words things that the Lord is doing in my life and the life of our family. 

Here's a screen shot of today's            Time Hop: 

I also had a day that didn't have anything and I have to admit, it made me extremely sad! Like there were no memories of that day! Of what I did or what my kids did or what we did as a family......nothing! Just a blank day. I know it may sound silly, but after several days of pictures and memories to nothing, it made me realize that I can't get those days back. So I decided I am going to be proactive and I am going to post at least one picture everyday on either Facebook, Instagram or do a blog post so that in the following years I won't have a blank day! It's like my own digital scrapbook (because anyone who knows me knows "I ain't got time for that!"). 

Another great thing about this app is it's FREE!!! And it only takes a couple of minutes to get it set up! 

So what are you waiting for?! Go download your Time Hop and see what you were up to a year ago!