How to Pray...

One pastor I met and attended his church for a while said there were four important passages for us as Christians to read and understand for our prayer life. He said they would teach us how to pray even for those who we considered our enemies or at least not a friend.

John 1:1-18
Philippians 2:5-11
Hebrews 1:1-3
Colossians 1:12-20 (this one is approximate)

Especially in Colossians Paul gives us such a great example of how to pray for those we may not know too well but we know that they need our prayer.

Prayer is a powerful thing. It can help in such an unspeakable way that I don't even know where to start. My family has had some bouts with cancer, several of the people were told that they had only a few months to live, and one is now 4 years out from first diagnosis and the other is one year out. I truly believe this is all because of the power of prayer. Both people have a faith background and had strong prayer circles praying for their win over the disease and God granted that to both of them. This is just one simple example of the power of prayer. I am sure all of us have had experiences with what others may label as miracles, but we label as the Power of God and prayer!

Take time to pray and think on the different scriptures that help us to learn how to be more effective in our prayer life, it will only help us as Christians :) I by no means am a wonderful sayer of prayer, in fact I refuse to say prayer outloud because it is so jumbled in my head that I doubt anyone would follow me, but I am trying, and that is what counts in God's eyes :)

Blessings in Christ,

How Do I Read The Bible?

This is a question I often find myself trying to answer. I know that the Bible is not like another book where I can pick it up, read it continuously and understand it. In fact I can't do that with any non-fiction book. What I also know is that certain books of the Bible pique my interest more than others so I need to mix it up what I am reading and not just try to read it straight through.

What has worked somewhat good for me is to read part of Psalms and then part of the New Testament everytime I go to read it. Most of the time I will read one chapter from each part, but if the chapters are short then I may go onto a second chapter. I have started highlighting in my Bible this year, it feels kind of weird to me, almost like I shouldn't be marking up God's word like I am, but I am not sure how else to flag things for my memory or verses that stuck out to me. I suppose I could write them all out, but then I would also lose the context that the verse was in.

This article contains 10 "simple" tips on how to read the Bible. Here is a second article that tells you how to read for better understanding. This would be a good resource for anyone who is thinking of trying to read the Bible for the first time and does not know where or how to start. You can find many more articles by simple googling "how to read the Bible".

Hope this helps, I know I certainly would of liked some tips like these when I first started reading my Bible.

Blessings in Christ,

Buying a covering

Wondering how to go about buying a covering? Here's a few hints.

First you need to decide what style covering you want, if you want a veil or a more traditional cover, or yet even something different.

Second, if you are looking for a veil you will do just fine buying one off the internet. Veils are generally easy to adjust to fit your head and bun shape/size as compared to a more traditional kapp. If you are wanting a traditional kapp, you can buy them on the internet, however, keep in mind that each covering is made differently so the same size can be different covering to covering. Your best bet is to buy one in person where you can try on many different coverings to figure out what you like best. Many fabric stores in the areas with Amish communities have coverings. You will most likely find that the Mennonites tend to make their own coverings whereas more of the Amish will buy their kapps. If you know a Mennonite or Amish woman you could ask them where they buy their kapps from or if they make their own. However, if you are really wanting a covering but cannot buy one in person, there are several websites that specialize in making coverings and sell them pre-made. Plain-and-Simple Headcoverings is one and Christian Coverings is a second store that sell various styles of coverings. They both also sell veils.

If you are ever in the area of large Amish communities (ie. Lancaster PA, Holmes County, OH, and Shippshewana IN) be sure to try to find a place to try on coverings if at all interested, it is absolutely amazing how differently each covering fits!! I bought my first covering on the internet and then found a fabric store in Holmes County that had coverings I liked so I bought one there and boy does it fit so differently! I actually bought two more coverings today because I was in need of them and I was able to get them for half-price because they had some "flaws". Well me not being a member of a church with guidelines on coverings it doesn't matter if the pleats aren't the right size or if the front band is a little bit larger than it should be. I am excited!

Another website that has some veils and snoods is Garlands of Grace. I have a veil from there and like how it fits :) I like their website because they do some "fun" colors as I call them! Or maybe less traditional covering colors would be better? I bought a pistachio paisley veil from them, oh so much fun! I am not the type of person that says there is only one color or style for a covering. My opinion is that your heart must be in the right spot first off and then the Lord will lead you to the style He wants you to wear. It doesn't matter what another person says, to me it only matters what my God says.

If you get really adventurous, there are patterns available for purchase both on line and in fabric stores that already sell coverings for different coverings. I, myself, am not that adventurous! I think making my own covering might be a bit over my head, at least at this point of my life! I have made several veils for myself though, those are a bit easier to start with and easier to fix if you make a mistake somewhere :)

Blessings in Christ,

Encouragement to others...

So I have been talking to some people who are also experiencing parents who do not agree with their decisions to live plain, or not as their parents have planned for them. I thought it might be good to try to encourage others in a similar situation.

First off, the first and best thing that you can do is pray. God will guide you down the path of truth...His will.

Secondly, pray for a softened heart in your parents or whoever is differing with your decisions. I know I am guilty of thinking that they will not have a softened heart (in my case my parents) because I think I know them too well, but God is always able to work miracles. Just because we do not expect someone to have a softened heart to our decision does not mean that God will not work in them to allow them to accept our decision as our decision.

We must always realize that others have dreams for us. My mom has dreams for me as her daughter which she feels are dashed because I have chosen to move. My dad definitely feels the same way - his dream was for me to get a full-time engineering job and to live nearby and pay off my student loan debts. A lot of times when someone disagrees with us, it is because it does not follow their plan for us or what they think is best for us. We must take what they say and pray and mediate on it. God will show us the truth. Whether we end up being led the way of our parents or someone else or the way that we think He wants us to go it doesn't matter. We must set aside our pride and allow God to work in us and others. It doesn't matter who is right, it matters if we are able to differ God's will from our own and follow His will. This is practing humility...a character that all Christians need to have and practice everyday.

The last thing I would suggest is do not wait until a month before you finalize your decision to say so to the other people in your life. I do not mean to say it to someone the minute the idea comes to your head; first pray about it yourself and listen to what God is telling you. Then choose someone who you feel will listen to what you have to say, doesn't mean that they will agree with you, but listening to you is the first step. Of course you will be faced with telling someone who maynot be willing to listen to you and this will be discouraging. But pray for God's wonderful guidance on when to talk to the person and what to say. He will give you the words that you need :)

Blessings in Christ,

Getting Answers to Prayer

I write this one with burning fingers...literally! I canned semi-hot peppers today and did not wear gloves. Smart move right?! Lol. Oh well. It will go away eventually. Anyway, lately I have been having troubles figuring out what to write about, so if there's anything that anyone would like to see be sure to let me know!

Before I moved, I was attending IFB churches and one of them had a Sunday School lesson on Getting Answers to Prayer. I am going to share those notes with you (these are the notes the teacher gave to us).

God's prerequisites for "yes" answers:
1. Right relationships
- Psalm 66:18-19
~ What does it mean to "regard (love, cherist) iniquity" in your heart? Continuous sin that you don't get rid of
~ Why does God "not hear" your prayers in this condition?
- What is the solution to this situation? 1 John 1:9 - confess and turn away from the sin.

2. Right method
God wants us to be definite and specific in our prayers (Mark 10:51)
Our praise and thankfulness is a direct reflection of our faith (Phillipians 4:6). Pray boldly for it, if it's not in His will He will show us.

3. Right request
To get a "right" answer, we must ask according to His will (1 John 5:14). He will not grant our requests if it does not go with His will.

4. Right framework
John 15:16 - He will not pray for something that will not help us.
What would Jesus pray for in my situation? His need? His desire? Need to pray in Jesus' name. Think of Jesus as praying my prayer for me. What is the desire in my heart?

5. Right attitude
We must have an attitude of faith.
Hebrews 4:16 and James 1:5-6 - Believe in what you are praying for. Have faith in what you ask for that He will answer your prayer.

Since hearing this I have tried to implement these into my prayer life and I seem to be getting "answers". They may not always be the one that I hope for or want for myself, but I am positive they are what God wants for me and knows I need. It has been difficult for me to submit to the Will of God, but I know that is what I absolutely must do and I must 100% trust in God that He will provide for me when I may not be able to.

Blessings in Christ,

Canning Adventures!

So my new roommate and I decided to can some green cabbage and red beets the other night. Oh boy, the kitchen was an absolute mess! We decided to can them together to try to make the German sweet pickeled cabbage... I'm not quite sure how it will turn out, but I am excited to try it!

We blanched our cabbage and then shocked it with ice water while cooking the beets. We ended up using 5 beets to bleed for the pickling juice, but we only cut up 3 of the beets to put in the jars with the cabbage. Then we used 2 cups & 2 tablespoons of sugar, 1 teaspoon of pepper and 1 tablespoon of salt as the spices. Mixed that in with the beet water after they were done cooking and added vinegar to taste. Make sure it isn't too sweet for your liking though because ours was really sweet before we added the vinegar.

For one rather large head of cabbage and 3 beets we needed 3 regular mouth quart mason jars. We divided everything up while we hot bathed the jars and lids. Then did the canning as quickly as possible! One of the jars did not seal so we ended up putting it in a pot of hot water over night which sealed it right up! We did save our beet juice for when we finish canning our beets we have left, but that would be up to you if you want to save the juice or not.

What else are we going to can? Well I would love to can some banana peppers for sandwiches, I have gotten on a kick with those banana pepper rings...oh so yummy! I think we are also going to try to can some green beans and maybe some salsa. But we shall see on the salsa...

Thought I would share this with you. Happy canning!

Blessings in Christ,

Forgiveness...

I was going to post about this past Sunday's sermon, but as I sat and listened to the sermon, I wondered what the topic was. This preacher was definitely all over the place, not quite as organized as the other preacher I have heard when I've gone to the Beachy church. So new topic :) Forgiveness.

This is a common theme in the Bible, knowing we must forgive those who have tresspassed against us in order to be forgiven by our heavenly Father is something most Christians are taught from a very young age. Forgiveness is a hard thing though, especially as we grow older. Remember when as young children if someone would do something to wrong us a minute later all was forgotten and we were friends again? God wants us to be like little children all the time, to be forgiving without a doubt, to be teachable and to follow what He says. How many times are we to forgive a fellow brother or sister in Christ? The Lord says "not seven times" but "seven times seventy" (Matthew 18:22). Now I don't believe God means that after we reach that number of times that we stop forgiving, I believe the point is that we never stop forgiving someone. As many times as they ask for forgiveness is how many times we should give it. As many times as someone wrongs us, whether or not they ask for forgiveness, is how many times we give it. There are no strings attached to the forgiveness which we receive from our Father, therefore, there should be no strings attached to the forgiveness that we give to another person.

What happens when we hold onto our feelings and do not forgive? The feeling of resentment eats away at our soul, nothing good will come of it. Yes, we may feel powerful over the other person being able to hold their mistake or wrong doing over their head, but that is not what we should do as Christians. We should immediately forgive the person and as many times as their actions come into our heads or hearts we need to forgive again. Forgiveness may not be a one time deal especially if the action really hurt us.

If you are feeling like you are not able to forgive at that moment, what must we do? We must pray and ask God for the strength to forgive the person and for our hearts to be directed to the right place for forgiveness to truly be issued to the person. Only God can give us the strength to forgive those actions which really truly hurt us. God knows our hearts. He knows if we refuse to forgive or if we are unable to at the moment. There is a difference. Unable means that you want to forgive but you do not have the strength to do it on your own. Refuse means that you are digging your heels in the sand and saying you will not forgive the person because of what they did to you. If your heart is not in the right place then there is no sense in saying that you forgive someone because God knows that you simply said the words rather than really truly forgiving the person.

Forgiveness is ordered by our Father, but our hearts must be right in order to truly forgive those who have wronged us.

Blessings in Christ,