Hello and Happy Monday! It’s been a little while since my last post—hope you al had a great Thanksgiving! James and I had a great time up in Tulsa, OK visiting with aunts and uncles and cousins, eating lots of good food, and exploring the city of Tulsa. Thursday we did the traditional Thanksgiving thing, and then Friday we went to the aquarium with one of James’ uncles—I love aquariums. Overall it was a great holiday weekend, with lots of quality family time.
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| Turtles at the Aquarium. |
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| Pretty Trees…kind of reminded me of Michigan a little bit:) |
Oh, side note, we also went to this amazing light display on Thursday night near Tulsa. I can’t remember what it was called…but it was awesome! I have never seen so many Christmas lights in one place before…literally. Here are some [blurry] pictures..
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| The Jesus Train. |
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| Cute…despite the red eyes. |
We got back Saturday night, and spent the day Sunday regrouping and getting ready for the week—it always seems like I have so much to do after coming back from a vacation/holiday. Little Samson was very happy to have us home. He hasn’t really stopped purring since we walked through the door on Saturday night—I think he missed us:)
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| Peek-A-Boo! |
Over the weekend I also started reading in Romans—one of my favorite books of the New Testament. There is so much meat there. I love it.
“Do not transform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”
Romans 12:2
I love this verse, and it is so relevant to our world today. One thing I notice over and over again is how, in general, the church is becoming much more like the world than it ever has been. We have become so seeker sensitive that our desire to fit in to the worlds system has overcome our original mandate to live differently than the world does.
As Christians, we need to work on this. We should not desire to be like the world, but instead desire to be more like Jesus. This can only be done through the renewing of our minds, and ultimately the transformation of our lives through a personal relationship with Jesus. When we allow him into our lives, we should no longer strive to fit into the world’s way of doing things. Instead, we should stand out. Be different.
When others look at our lives, they should see a difference between our lifestyle, and that of the worlds. Only when we are living transformed lives can we truly be in alignment with God’s will for out lives. This can’t happen if we are trying to fit in to the patterns of the world. It can only happen through the renewing of our minds and the complete transformation of our lives.
Just some food for thought. Hope you all are having a great day so far! God Bless:)