Nothing is impossible

Recently there have been more "impossible" situations springing up in the lives around me and this has helped me to realize more and more that our God is the God of the impossible! Last night my dad and I were talking about the speed of light and the size of the universe (I'm not sure how we got on this topic) and it hit us again how intricate yet VAST God must be if His creation is so mind-boggling and complex.

So, as you also see impossible situations, I encourage and challenge you to take it to God who can handle our "impossibilities". Not that He always answers us the way that we think is the best, but God is faithful and answers. Even if it is a "no," He knows best. And His thoughts ARE higher than our thoughts (Isaiah 55:8-9). Do we trust Him enough to go out on a limb and simply ask with faith & boldness (Hebrews 4:14-16).

One of my pastors, Mike Erre, said in his sermon on Sunday, "Ask big and ask often." He reminded us that we don't annoy God when we come to Him persistently like the widow who kept approaching the Judge in Luke 18:1-8.

This song has encouraged me and wanted to share it with you as well.

she said it!

My sister, Melissa, is currently in Quito, Ecuador doing her student teaching with a class of 1st graders. Through some great skype (thank you, God, for free international video calls!) conversations, I'm so glad to hear about some of the lessons she's learning. Melissa wrote about one of them on her blog: www.xanga.com/mispena titled "Weeds". I hope it touches you like it touched me!

I love the Advent season!

This past Sunday began the Advent season and I absolutely love this time of year. I know I definitely need to be intentional about remembering what this Christmas is all about.

If you aren't familiar with this heart-preparation time, I found a helpful description at http://www.adventdevotions.net/advent.htm:

What is Advent?
The Church divides the year into different seasons that emphasize the life of Christ and the life of the Church. Beginning on Sunday, November 29, we will enter the season of the Church year called Advent. Advent is a four-week season of preparation and anticipation leading up to Christmas, on December 25and continuing to Epiphany January 6th 2010.

The focus of Advent is two-fold. On the one hand, we prepare to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who came into the world as both God and man so that our sins might be forgiven. On the other hand, we anticipate the day when Jesus will return to Earth and bring an end to this world. Those will be scary days, but we can look forward to the end of the world with hope because through faith in Jesus, the end of this world will mean the beginning of a new life with Christ for eternity.

Advent, then, is a time for us to repent and believe. Knowing that Jesus was born to forgive our sins, we repent (admit our failures to God) and believe that we are forgiven because of the death and resurrection of Jesus on our behalf. Also, knowing that Jesus is coming back, we repent and believe that when He returns, He will give us eternal life.