The CRY of my heart.....

Every Monday night, Stephen and I serve in an amazing ministry called eTeen CBS. It's for "early teens" aka middle schoolers, through the community bible study organization. We both absolutely love it and know that God called us here for a reason.

Last Monday I gave a short talk about BEING THANKFUL and giving God praise. It is something that the Lord has laid on my heart this year - to be more thankful and to give Him praise no matter what the circumstances. We have been blessed with so many good things and God deserves all the glory and praise for them! It says in James 1:17 that "Every good and perfect gift comes from above" and I truly believe it! I read something recently that said to "fill up the spare moments of your life with praise and thanksgiving". I have really taken that to heart and every time I get a chance I try to thank God for something that He has blessed me with. I challenged myself, the other eTeen leaders, and the students to write down 7 reasons they are thankful. Every day of the week spend time talking to God and thanking Him for one specific reason, and so on until it's been 7 days. Colossians 2:7 says "let your lives overflow with joy and thanksgiving for all He has done" -I prayed that after a week of intense thanks and praise that my life would indeed overflow with joy and thanksgiving.

My 7 reasons were:
- a Husband who loves me
- a healthy family
- my home and job
- God's grace
- christian friends and a great community of believers to do life with
- opportunity to serve
- forgiveness of sins

It's almost been a week and God has truly done a work in me this week! Being thankful and giving God praise NO MATTER WHAT is a lesson I am still learning :) I'm going to continue my "7 reasons" this week and see what else God wants to teach me.

The link below is from Hillsong - it's one of my FAVORITE songs, Inside Out. I truly am being changed from the inside out and the cry of my heart is to bring God all the praise!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tv0qZl_Qu84