Let’s see… condensed version, right?
I was born in the end of the 70’s, to what soon became a family of seven! I grew up, enjoying imaginative play with my siblings, reading as often as possible, drawing, and living a simple but happy life.
At the tender age of four, I became aware of the fact that I sinned and became convicted of my need for God’s forgiveness. I was overjoyed to learn that Jesus died so that I could be forgiven and not need to be entrapped in my sin. I remember the day that I got down on my knees and simply asked Jesus to make me His child and to forgive me for my sins. Immediately, indescribable peace and joy flooded my heart. It was like millions of tiny prisms of light were reflecting rainbows into my heart. I jumped and ran through the house, telling my family, “I’m saved! I’m saved!” My life was never the same after that.
Fast forward 30+ plus years, and I am now the mother of five children. (Gasp.) Yes, you read that correctly.
It was my five children that motivated me to start this blog. I wanted a way to “log” my faith, my thoughts, and my love for my children and God.
In addition to my occasional blogging, I am also busy living life in a bustling house of seven people. Life isn’t all chocolates and roses, but it’s a blessed life. It’s where we live the “skin” of love. It’s where the messiness of the mundane can be transformed into the glorious beauty of grace, lived out in our actions.
In the past five years, I have discovered so much more about myself, about who God created me to be, about grace and what it means to live it, and about the unconditional and perfect love of God.
Learning that I can trust God because He is a Good God means that I am learning to truly and finally live the abundant life that God has created for me.
There is no more glorious description than I am the beloved, accepted, redeemed daughter of Abba-Father!
Isaiah 50:4 — “The Lord God hath given me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to him that is weary: He wakeneth morning by morning. He wakeneth mine ear to hear as the learned.”
Grace In The Moment 
Could you post your oatmeal cookie recipe, my recipe isn’t that great and your cookies sound really good! Thanks!
Sure, Diana!
It is:
Bobbie’s Oatmeal Cookies (with Amy’s revisions)
Ingredients:
1 c. butter, softened
1 c. packed brown sugar
1 c. white sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
2 c. flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
3 c. rolled oats
1 bag butterscotch chips
1 c. raisins (You can use golden or regular dark.)
1 c. craisins
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease cookie sheets.
2. In a large bowl, cream together butter, brown sugar, and white sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Combine four, baking soda, and salt; stir into the creamed mixture. Mix in the oats, chocolate chips, raisins, and pecans, one ingredient at a time. Drop by rounded spoonfuls onto the prepared cookie sheets.
3. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
Lets finally follow you, for the sake of knowledge, and the view of other side!
Read my latest: https://graceinthemoment.wordpress.com/2016/02/12/dear-atheist/. 🙂
Dragallur, I want you to see this guy’s testimony. Dragallur, you have been greatly in my prayers. I know that God is pursuing you because He loves and values you that much. Bro, I am praying for you… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJ3ti3ffZbE
Thanks, I have link to share too: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gs_gY1K1AMU
It is always interesting listening to someone who does not believe in God try to explain God. It would be like me trying to explain a food item that I have never tasted. All you can do is go by what others say for or against the food item and try to draw your own conclusions. In other words, you would need to be honest and admit you have no basis for your concepts of this food item — only conjecture based on the opinions of others. Now, if I had actually tasted the food and knew all about the ingredients and the means used to produce the food, I might be considered more of an authority on the subject of that particular food.
You refer to the video right? So atheists can not say anything about God? I mean in the video there were just drawing conclusion from pure logic and you cab do it too, either God is allpowerful and lot of paradoxes are there or not and he is not all powerful.. also the part about prayer I think was very interesting.. just by pure logic why would you want God something to change when all is set up by Him for the best since he is allgood?
Dragallur, people can say things about God, but you can’t say it with any confidence when you really don’t believe in Him or know Him. God isn’t going to be understood completely by humans. If we could understand everything about Him, He would be only as “big” as our own understanding. If you read through the Bible you see how His permissive will is still within the authority of His Sovereign will. God does know everything, and He is all-powerful. Yet, He does also hear us and answer our requests. I have written many blog posts on free will, the origination of sin, and God’s character. You would need to go back and read through them. I know that I am not a good example to God, but I can give you a parenting analogy to demonstrate how you can still have authority over your kids and yet give them freedom to exercise their own will within some boundaries. A lot of people don’t understand this and think it’s either total freedom or total control. It is possible to have both, and good parenting will know how to balance this. God is a Good Father — a perfect Father — and can do both perfectly. For example, I can allow a child to play in my yard, warn them of certain dangers, and explain consequences if they don’t obey. If I am too controlling, I won’t ever give them the choice and will never allow the child outside. If I am too permissive, I will be too afraid to curb my child’s “creativity” and will never instruct the child on how to properly and most effectively channel their creativity and freedom. As the parent, I may know that my child will potentially disobey. As God, He knows we will disobey. If He is too controlling, knowing we will disobey, He will just keep us so constrained, we will live within a prison. No freedom to choose. As a parent, I may know my child may disobey, but I will still give them chances to make the right decision. Depending on how severe the disobedience and how great the danger, I may not give them that specific choice again, but will give them other opportunities to learn and choose the right way next time. My disobedient child may get hurt because of their disobedience at times. (Perhaps, they did something unsafe and not allowed and got hurt.) If I am too controlling, I could remove anything and everything that might potentially hurt that child. In that case though, has my child ever really learned to protect himself — to curb his own unbridled desires for his better good? The same is really true for the too permissive parent. If I never teach my child the importance of “check-points” or “reality-checks,” am I really teaching my child how to curb his own desires for his better good? Good parenting gives opportunity to exercise (preferably) “controlled-will” within the protective and reasonable boundaries and “check-points” of loving authority. I can give my kids freedom and not control all and every action and still be in “control” of them and be their authority. My kids may get hurt at times from their own foolish choices. This doesn’t make me negligent so long as there are healthy boundaries and safety “nets” already established. God does establish His boundaries in His written Word — NT applies to us today. He also gives us freedom to choose Him or reject Him. Remember, love always gives a choice. We will then live with the consequences of our choices — just as a child would when he obeys or disobeys his parents. Sometimes, as a parent we will still “sweep in” and rescue a naughty child from themselves. God often will do the same thing, and I have heard many stories where He has. The rescued child may kick and scream at the parent for “hindering” their freedom, but the parent knows this is for the child’s good. God also sometimes chooses to interfere for our own good. Remember, God in his Omniscience does know what we will choose ultimately. He helps those who wish to be helped. What I can tell you is that God is truly all of the things the Bible declares He is. It is our own blindness that sometimes keeps us from understanding. My children don’t always understand my decisions. Sometimes, they think the things we say “no” to are keeping them from fun. We can’t tell them all the dangers that are present, but we do have to make some decisions that aren’t liked by them. As a parent, no matter how good I am, sometimes, my kids will get hurt. This doesn’t make me a bad parent. I don’t desire my kids to get hurt or to suffer pain, but pain does serve a purpose. It alerts us to danger, to injury, and it can build stamina within us as well. The point is there is no way to prevent all evil from happening or all suffering from happening and still allow free will. God wanted everyone to have opportunity to choose Him for themselves. He doesn’t want a robotic obedience/choice from us. He wants our willing and true love. True love is a choice. It is choosing to love, choosing to sacrifice, choosing to serve, choosing to forgive, choosing to be patient, choosing to “know” and be “known” personally and/or intimately by someone… God chose to know us and pour out His kindness, forgiveness, and pursuit upon us. We still though have to respond to that love. He won’t force it. Dragallur, you can try to wrap your mind around God, but you can’t. Sure, we can understand Him intellectually to an extent, but to really know Him personally, we have to respond with our hearts and that comes with faith. Faith opens the eyes of our souls to the supernatural — to God. Faith is one of the scariest things to an intellectual. The problem is that God cannot be known personally through just your intellect. In order to know God personally, it will involve a part of your “person” as well. You will have to be willing to have faith. That, I cannot help you have. I love thinking things through, debating, discussing, ruminating over information. I want to know all the facts. At some point though, I have to recognize that it is fear — not facts — that is holding me back. While I cling to my fear, I cannot clearly see the “open door.”
Sure I probably can not say anything against this, except that there is really this problem of faith which still bothers me, because faith can also create other things, maybe I should believe in some other God or Gods because they are right, who will prove me that? And simply I am not willing just to have faith because I would never know if I am fooling myself or not. Right now I am fairly happy without it.
That is true. My challenge still remains to start reading the Bible for yourself. 🙂
That could be interesting, I anyway wanted to read Koran so I could do it with Bible too..
I would start with John though you could start with Matthew. They are an easier read. 🙂
Have you seen this: http://www.archaeologyhub.info/archaeologists-discover-remains-egyptian-army-biblical-exodus-red-sea/
Nice one but it did not even happen: http://www.hoax-slayer.com/remains-egyptian-army-red-sea-hoax.shtml
http://www.messianic-literary.com/chariots.htm
http://www1.cbn.com/cbnnews/insideisrael/2015/February/Exodus-Documentary-Evidence-that-Demands-a-Verdict
It seems that on one sides experts thing that it is hoax and on the other hand experts think that it is not… even if it is true than ok, this does not prove many things does it? (Also I would rather be skeptic about skeleton surviving 3000 years at the bottom of the ocean, and that page uses wiki picture and states that it is from that site: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khopesh
really?)
I agree. I am skeptical about the skeletons — haven’t read that anywhere. Yes, skeletons can definitely survive a long time in a fossilized state, but I am not sure these were in a skeletal state.
Hmmm.. ok
http://www.imj.org.il/en/# — here’s a great place to go to find out what has been discovered in Israeli digs.
Ok thanks 😉
Dragallur, I recently sat in a lecture by a scientist who for half of his life was an atheist but then changed to creationist. He fascinated us with all of the latest findings and also with his story of what led him to change from an atheist to a creationist. His one site is http://creation.com/. Check it out. All of the board members are scientists with at least one science doctorate obtained from secular universities.
Will check it out, thanks 😉
I bet you can contact them and ask them all of your most challenging questions. 😉
Yeah I would, though I am leaving for two weeks right now..
Have fun!
Thanks!
Dragallur, where you ever able to check out the site I told you about? I know it’s been awhile since we corresponded, but I haven’t forgotten you and continue to pray for you. I just read this article and thought of you: https://world.wng.org/2017/02/the_impossible_improbable.
http://creation.com/geneticist-evolution-impossible
I was reading through your comments, and I must say, I really enjoyed the part in which you gave an example of how much control a parent has over their child when wanting to play in the yard, and comparing that to the control God has over his creation. Its a perfect explanation really. Atheists truly amaze me with their ignorance and lack of faith, but I can only pray for God to help pave them a path back to him before its too late. I’m not Christian nor do I believe Jesus is God, but I am Muslim and we believe Jesus was actually a Prophet of God (Who is very highly respected in Islam, by the way). I was immediately intrigued by your writing, and can truly feel a connection to your words. I believe both religions have more in common than what people make it seem like.
I hope its not too awkward since this was posted years ago.
Thank You
Abraar, I am sorry that it took me so long to reply! With all the quarantine stuff, I am quite busy, working from home and homeschooling my kids right now. Thank you so much for your thoughtful comments! Your comments are quite intriguing, and I am glad you did write. Feel free to read more posts and to reach out. I do understand that Jesus is respected as a prophet in the Muslim community. I am curious what you know about Jesus? What are the characteristics and actions of Jesus that make you respect him?