May He Be Praised!!

Awhile ago, it seemed like everything was just caving in around me and nothing was going to get back to normal. All 5 of us were feeling stress and it's almost like knowing that everyone else was feeling stress put even more stress on us.
I think things are getting better now, hopefully.
About last Sabbath, I was feeling really low and depressed (I suppose from all of the stress), and the whole week I was like that, but tried not to show it. Well, a few days ago, I cannot really say when or how it happened, but that Joy that I had a few weeks ago just started flowing right through me again. I felt like nothing was gonna get better, but it was like the Lord showed me somehow that it's all going to be ok. Like I said, I don't know how to describe it.
A little while ago I was sent a questionnaire in an e-mail and one of the questions was something like "what have you learned in '08?" My answer was that I don't really know how to describe this.....I always knew that God was in control of everything and everything that happens is a part of His plan, but I never really grasped that. This year has been different, I am learning more and more to hand things over to Him and trust Him in all things. I don't think I worded it exactly like that, but it doesn't matter.
This past year has been hard on all of us going through this and that. I believe I have finally learned, though, that no matter what happens it is all according to God's Perfect Plan and I must trust Him. It is definitely difficult sometimes, but still, He is with me through everything and I know that.
Not only does everything happen according to His will, but everything that has happened and is yet to happen He has ordained since before there was time.
We don't always know why, but we should always trust that He has a reason for it and though it may be difficult because we don't understand, we must give Him praise. God has promised in His Word that He will never leave us or forsake us (Deuteronomy 31:6-31:8, Joshua 1:5, 1 Kings 8:57, 1 Chronicles 28:20, Hebrews 13:5) and I must remember to hold fast to that. God never breaks the promises He made to us, if any of us were to believe that He doesn't keep His promises then that person makes Him a liar. God does not lie, He does not fail, He does not change. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever, He does not change neither can He. He is Perfect and Holy. Too Holy to look upon me in my sin, but because Jesus Christ shed His Precious, Holy Blood on the cross for me, He can look upon me because I have been washed in the Blood of the Holy, Spotless, Lamb. Not by my own doing, God ordained me to be His child. I did not choose Him, He chose me, as it is with all of His elect, we didn't choose Him, He chose us.
To think, that Jesus Christ was thinking about me when He was on the cross is almost too much to bear. I put Him on that cross, I crucified Him by my sins....He died because of me. I am the worst of sinners and deserving of nothing, but Hell and God's wrath, yet in God's Love and Grace He sent His Son, Holy and Sinless, to this cold world as a man to die. He lived a Perfect, Holy, Sinless life and then at 33 died on the cross as a sinner, but was NOT one, He died the death that I deserved.....that the Father's elect deserved.

Matthew 24:22
And if those days had not been cut short, no human being would be saved. But for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short.

Matthew 24:24
For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect.

Matthew 24:31
And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

Mark 13:20
And if the Lord had not cut short the days, no human being would be saved. But for the sake of the elect, whom he chose, he shortened the days.

Mark 13:22
For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform signs and wonders, to lead astray, if possible, the elect.

Mark 13:27
And then he will send out the angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven.

Luke 18:7
And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them?

Romans 8:33
Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies.

Romans 9:11
though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad—in order that God's purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of him who calls—

Romans 11:7
What then? Israel failed to obtain what it was seeking. The elect obtained it, but the rest were hardened,

Romans 11:28
As regards the gospel, they are enemies of God for your sake. But as regards election, they are beloved for the sake of their forefathers.

1 Timothy 5:21
In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus and of the elect angels I charge you to keep these rules without prejudging, doing nothing from partiality.

2 Timothy 2:10
Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.

Titus 1:1
Greeting
Paul, a servant[1] of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the sake of the faith of God's elect and their knowledge of the truth, which accords with godliness,

By the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ I am alive and alive in Him.
I bid you all farewell for now!
Alive because of His Blood,
Bekah
Praise Him at all times!

Easter and Stuff

Hello again!
I would like to tell you all about my Easter :)
Daddy had to work :( so it was just Mommy, my bros, and me. We went to Memaw and Grandpa's and Mommy, Chris, and I stayed there for about an hour then we had to leave at like 2:30 for Church. There was an Easter Fellowship Meal after the Service.
First I will tell you about my little goofy thing that I did :) I've typed this up so many times, but I still laugh every time, lol.
Ok, so there's a fella at Church (Matt...one of our Pastor's twin sons) and he's really the only young guy there that Chris and I have actually talked to. Anyway, I was sitting down and he was walking by me and I put my foot out to trip him, just for fun :) He jokingly said "don't trip me", not in a mean tone or anything, 'cause he laughed too. So that was kind of my thing for the rest of the day, when he walked by me I would do that and he would say that.
Well, at one point he was walking by me with a cup of water in his hand and he looked at me and said "don't even try it", lol. So, Chris and I are finally starting to be friends with the other kids at Church (not all of them yet, because there are some that we've never even talked to before, hopefully one day all of us can be good friends there).
There was also a family there that goes to our mother Church whose 3 year old daughter was diagnosed with a rare form of leukemia about a year ago, but she is doing really well now. She isn't totally better, but she's getting there, I think. She was up and running around with the other children and having a swell time. She is such a cutie and it was such a blessing to finally meet her after all this time praying for her and reading all of the family's updates and stuff about her. They stayed for the Fellowship Meal too and when I was finished eating I got to hold her baby brother who will be 1 in a few months. The Lord blessed me with a nice long time to hold him. I haven't held a baby in so long, so I was in heaven with him in my arms :) We had a wonderful time with everyone!
Chris is a shy fella so he never really talked to any of the guys there, but these past couple Sabbaths we've talked to Matt for a little while. Well, during the Fellowship Meal when Chris was getting his drink Matt was at the same table and he asked Chris if he would like to play a board game! He said yes and they had a great time together!!! Mommy and I were so happy that Matt asked him! Mommy later told his Mom that she could've hugged Matt for asking Chris to play with them! Truth be told I could've done the same, but that wouldn't be proper ;)
To anyone who reads my blog, I am asking for prayer for the little family (parents and 4 children) I wrote about. They have had a hard time this past year and need lots of prayer.
Now to tell you about my new favorite group :)
Celtic Thunder: the best group I have heard well....ever! I absolutely love them and their music! They're on tour in America right now. It would be cool if we could see them in concert somewhere, but that is in the Lord's hands (as is everything else). Their CD just released in America a couple of weeks ago. I don't have it, but hope to get that and their DVD soon. Their voices sound wonderful together, very different, but amazing. So far, my favorite songs are "Heartland", "Caledonia", "Ireland's Call", "Raggle Taggle Gypsy", "The Mountains of Mourne", and "Lauren and I". I suppose that's all I'll say about them, seeing as how I can't think of anything else to say.
In the mean time, the Lord has blessed us with a beautiful rainy day today!! I like rainy days just as much as sunny days, and thus consider every day a blessing.
The Lord blessed us with a brief snow fall on Easter, which was very pretty. It only lasted a couple of minutes, but was beautiful as it gracefully and gently fell to the ground.
Chris has a cold so has just been resting on the couch trying to stay away from everybody and everything so he doesn't get his cold germs anywhere. Hopefully the rest of us won't get it, Lord Willing. Mommy and I have been taking care of him and getting him whatever he needs. Hopefully he'll start feeling better soon. He doesn't wanna miss Church or the Officer Training Class on Monday. I'm hoping and praying that he will feel better because I know he hates missing those times. Please keep him in your prayers also, if you don't mind.
Alive because of His Blood,
Bekah

Oh No!

Yes, my friends, it's true, Man United lost to Portsmouth:( It was a penalty kick that led to that fateful loss. Oh, we had so many chances, but alas, it just wasn't the Lord's Will that we win that game or the FA Cup, as we are now also kicked out of the FA Cup.
I will admit, it took me a while to get over this sad event, but I'm over it now and moving on. Never ever thought I could love a sport as much as I love real Football, but I do and it saddens me when our teams lose, but life goes on. There's always the hope that they will win the Premiere League. Plus, they'll always be our favorite no matter what!!
Anyway, we had a big snowfall starting on Friday and ended sometime yesterday. So there was a lot of snow on the ground, but the Lord Blessed us with beautiful sunshine today and the snow is melting away. Before there was so much snow that one couldn't even see our driveway because it was blanketed in snow but today that snow is going away and the driveway is popping through. Tommy even had to park his truck at the end of the driveway when he got home from work yesterday morning because he couldn't get it to go through the snow.
We were unable to go to Church today but that's alright, it was the Lord's Will.
I can't believe there are only two more weeks till Easter! I'm so excited, this is gonna be our first Easter that we get to spend at Church in like 8 years! The Lord has truly blessed us!!!!
All Glory, Laud, and Honor be to our Risen King!!!
Alive because of His Blood,
Bekah