Learning to give over a cup of coffee

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today my wife and i got to talking about how God has blessed us more then we can count. almost everything in our house has been given to us. when we first moved to Germany we didnt have anything to start out with. i was just a young Airman who had just moved out of the dorms and into my first house. she was just a young girl who had been moving from country to country and had nothing. i mean i literally had nothing when i moved into our house 2 1/2 years ago. i rented our first house and was intending to sleep on the floor until i could buy a bed. God wouldnt have that. my supervisor at the time saw my need and just gave me a couch. then he just gave me a coffee and end tables. then my land lords asked if i had anything in the house as they had not seen me move anything in. i told them what i had (which again wasnt much) then they offered me a bed frame. they told me that i would have to buy a mattress, but that i could keep the frame. several days later they asked me if i wanted their couch set. that they were going to be getting news ones in and wanted to get rid of their old ones. of course i took them up on their offer. although the couches were not the best looking. i mean they were lime green. but at least they were couches. now let us fast forward about two years when our good friend was starting to PCS out. she started getting rid of all her things in an effort to leave this place with as much ease as possible. seeing that chantal and i only had one car with a baby on the way and my crazy work schedule she decided to give us her car. WOW! what a blessing.... i could go on an on of how God has blessed us and provided for us but what this comes down to is this. chantal and i started talking and came up with this: we want to start giving to others as God has given to us. we have been tithing for quite some time now and we both feel that slowly God is starting to have us give above what we are asked to...... i thank God that He has blessed us enough that we may be able to bless others in the same way.... i know that ending like this doesnt really make much sense but there is nothing really to say other then God is good and i am thankful for His unending provisions, unending goodness,and unending love.

Law vs Grace (Pt 1)

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for a while now i have been thinking about the Law vs Grace thing. why are we given the old law to read (old testament), and then given the new (new testament)? are we to follow the old law? or are we to follow the new? can we do both? are we suppose to? if we just follow the law then are we throwing away what Jesus did for us? but on the flip side if we just walk by grace are we just using what Jesus did to skate by and ride into heaven? all these questions i have been thinking about for some time. i know that i do not want to be bound to the old law as i know that i could never follow it. but i dont want to be the one that runs free with no remorse for my actions. i mean Jesus said in Matthew 7:23 "And i will declare to them,"I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!"" i dont want to be the one who "practices lawlessness." i dont want to be the one who acts as if my Lord Jesus never even gave me a law to follow. so my question that remains is this: "what is the Law of Christ, and what "law" do i to follow?

i know the question of law vs grace has been around since the day Jesus die and rose again, but i want God to speak to me personally about it. i want God to give me scriptures to back up what i believe. in 1 Thess 5:21 we are told to "test all things; hold fast what is good." i want to test law vs grace by the bible. my goal through all of this is to find in scripture what my Lord wills for me. i know that there is no way i will find all the answers (scriptures) in a day or even a week. that is why i have labeled this blog "Law vs Grace (Pt 1)" as i am sure that there will be more to follow after this one. so let me get started with looking at a few scriptures.

Romans 7:1-6 talks about the law for married people. when it is ok to remarry. at one time i thought that is all it talked about; that is until the other day. see the Lord will not hold those who remarry as an adulterer if their spouse dies. (or if there is sexual sin in the marriage Matt 5:32) this is because the law of marriage is no longer in affect due to death. the wife/husband has been set free from the law that bound them to each other. this is the same way the Christ has set us free from the law (of old). Jesus says in Matt 5:17 that He didnt come to destroy the law but to fulfill it. through His whole life (from birth to death) He walked perfectly in the law 100%. He said in John 19:30 "...it is finished..." then he gave up His spirit. it was right then that He set us free from the bondage of the law of old. He had fulfilled it in its entirety. once this death occurred we where able to follow (marry) a new law. (as Gentiles we were free to become children of God). we were able to do this without becoming adulterers, and without angering God. as He does say in Exodus 34:14 that His name is "Jealous God." now with this new found freedom did Jesus intend for us to run as children without a Father? most certainly NOT! we see at the very beginning of Jesus' ministry in Matt 4:19 He commands us to "follow Him." with this new found freedom we are to lay down the law and pick up Jesus. we are freed from the law of old (same as the marriage law), single and able to marry again (new law). we are to marry Jesus and become the "Bride of Christ." so what does this new law look like? Jesus laid that out for us in John 15:9-17. let me refer you to my blog on 14 July titled "God is Good!!! I love it when He Adds to His Remah Word," as i have already talked about the "law of Christ." but in short we are bear one another's burdens and fulfill the law of Christ. that is to love each other as Christ has already loved us.

what i have come to today is this: i am freed from the law as it will not save me from my sins. that i am free to choose, free to live without shame, and free to walk had in hand with my savior Jesus Christ. i have been freed from the had written requirements (Colo 2:13-14) praise the Lord.

here is the scriptures that i used:

Matthew 7:23
"23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’"

1 Thess 5:21
"21 Test all things; hold fast what is good."

Romans 7:1-6
"1 Or do you not know, brethren (for I speak to those who know the law), that the law has dominion over a man as long as he lives? 2 For the woman who has a husband is bound by the law to her husband as long as he lives. But if the husband dies, she is released from the law of her husband. 3 So then if, while her husband lives, she marries another man, she will be called an adulteress; but if her husband dies, she is free from that law, so that she is no adulteress, though she has married another man. 4 Therefore, my brethren, you also have become dead to the law through the body of Christ, that you may be married to another—to Him who was raised from the dead, that we should bear fruit to God. 5 For when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions which were aroused by the law were at work in our members to bear fruit to death. 6 But now we have been delivered from the law, having died to what we were held by, so that we should serve in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter."

Matthew 5:32
"32 But I say to you that whoever divorces his wife for any reason except sexual immorality causes her to commit adultery; and whoever marries a woman who is divorced commits adultery."

Matthew 5:17
"17 “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill."

John 19:30
"30 So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit. "

Exodus 34:14
"14 (for you shall worship no other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God)"

Matt 4:19
"19 Then He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.”"

John 15:9-17
"“As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love. 10 If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love. 11 “These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full. 12 This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends. 14 You are My friends if you do whatever I command you. 15 No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you. 16 You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you. 17 These things I command you, that you love one another. "

Colo 2:13-14
"13 And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, 14 having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross."

God knew my needs before i did

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well my ORE is done. (whooo hoooo)!!! those things are the worst...... well during the middle of the exercise my wife tries to call me several times. and of course the one time she needs to get a holt of me i am in MOPP 4 running an Fire Dept exercise. i didnt finish with that for several hours. when i finally get back to the station my wife just so happens to call the station phone. when i pick it up i hear her almost in tears (or she had just sucked them up long enough to call) telling me that she had to go the hospital for contractions. she told me that all was well with her and the baby but that the hospital was going to keep her over night. now this is where being in the military and being a Fire Fighter is not the best thing. i cant just drop what i am doing and run to be by her side. (though that is the only thing i want to do!) i cant leave my truck because if there is a real world emergency i have to go on that instead of going to be with my wife. i guess this is what the AF meant when they said i must put "Service before Self." either way i hated being in all that chem/fire fighting gear, and what seemed to be thousands of miles away from my wife. but during all of these emotions God is hard at work for me! See i was on the phone with my wife when my boss walked in and heard me say "i love you too, and everything will be alright." (as i hung up the phone) he asked me if everything was alright. well i told him what had happened to my wife and that was it. i didnt ask to be let off work, because i knew there was no way for me to leave. there was no one else that could take my spot (as i am Crew Chief of the Rescue truck). so i went on about my day doing all the things that i have to do during these ORE's, and before long my boss just comes to me and tells me to go the hospital and be with my wife. that he has a replacement for me on the way. what an answer to prayers!! God knew my families needs before i even did. He took care of my situation before i could even ask for Him to. oh how we serve a great God! just as God came through for me in this small thing He came through for me and my family with my wife's contractions. i wont lie i was scared driving to the hospital. and of course i was praying the whole way. as i was praying i was reminded of the man that came to Jesus and asked for his servant to be healed. Jesus saw his faith and healed the servant. i took this as a promise that everything was going to be alright. all i had to do was exercise my faith. see when we lost our first baby and it seemed that all my hope in Jesus was lost He in His own miraculous way made Himself known to me. He didnt leave me He understood the loose and the time i need to heal. then when He blessed us with our second baby (the one cooking now.... speck 2.0) i heard a promise from Him. He said that He keep speck 2.0 safe... this came in the form of what we read "Peace that surpasses all understanding." i can see even now how our Father is using my unborn child to minister to me even now. what a revelation "out of the mouths of babes" God speaks. this time the babe is not even born yet...... it is here that i count my blessings: my wife is well, my baby is well, and my God is great! He took care of my needs. He blessed me, spoke to me, and comforted me and my family. Praise be to JESUS!!!

Just count on the small things

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there is not a whole lot i want to write about tonight. see i am in the Air Force and i am having to play in these ridiculous war games. they not even useful. the things that we are practicing are still things from the cold war. never the less i still have to play in them. they have put in on 12hrs shifts which leave me pretty tired at the end of the day. especially after running on several real world emergencies. so where do i count my blessings????? it is simple i count them in the Lord. though i am working crazy hrs and my body is tired He is still strong and still in control. He also has given me a wonderful wife that has had food laid out on the table when i come home, and ready to let me collapse in her arms. He has given me a child that (lets keep our fingers crossed) should be here around 6 Sept. which is scary enough as it is. my job don't make that any easier. today i had a call were i was toned out to a "child not breathing." my heart almost stopped. after getting there and finding out that everything was actually ok that it made me think about my new born child. it hit me that from here on out that i will be worrying about my child's safety. i don't want anything to happen to my baby. but as always there is that voice (the clam voice of my Father) that tells me that He has protected my wife and baby this far, that He will continue to do so. so again here i count my blessings that i (we) have a heavenly Father that does take care of us and that he is concerned with even the little things in my life..... as i stated before i am tired from the silly war games that i have to play in so i am going to sign off for the night. be blessed and may the Lord of Peace be with you all.

God is Good!!! I love it when He Adds to His Remah Word

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last night during my readings God spoke to me about "bearing your brothers burdens." God has talked to be about this in the past but He added to it last night. so let me just quickly run through the few scriptures that talk about this so that you are on the same mind track as i was when God spoke to me.

Galatians 6:1-2,5 "1 Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted. 2 Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ...5 For each one shall bear his own load." this is pretty self explanatory but what is the "law of Christ?" well that is found in John 15:9-17. "9 As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love. 10 If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love. 11 These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full. 12 This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends. 14 You are My friends if you do whatever I command you. 15 No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you. 16 You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you. 17 These things I command you, that you love one another." The Law of Christ is to Love one another as He has loved us. He so loved us that He laid down His life for us. in an older post i talked about taking up your cross, and how your cross = your calling. well at the moment Jesus had to take up His cross (fulfilling the most important part of is calling) he had help. look at Matthew 27:32 "32 Now as they came out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name. Him they compelled to bear His cross." you see even when we follow in the mirror image of Jesus by fulfilling His Law of Love we find our selves in either two places: 1 in a position to extend a shoulder to bear a burden. 2 in a state where you need someones shoulder to help you bear your own burden. now we know the rest of the story of Jesus, and He didn't just let that man of Cyrene take it all (for if He did we would not have the name "Jesus" as a savior). Jesus at the place of Galgotha took His "own load" and full filled His calling. when you need that "shoulder" to help you bear your burden don't be afraid to let that person help you, (for they are fulfilling the Law of Christ) but please for your own sake don't forget that you must carry your own load. for that part may be the hardest, it is fullness of your calling/cross. it is what you are made for! now on the flip side of that if your "shoulder" is strong enough then bear the burned for your fellow brother/sister in Christ. by doing so you fulfill the Law of Christ. in 2 Corinthians 8:12-15 it talks about this as well "12 For if there is first a willing mind, it is accepted according to what one has, and not according to what he does not have. 13 For I do not mean that others should be eased and you burdened; 14 but by an equality, that now at this time your abundance may supply their lack, that their abundance also may supply your lack—that there may be equality. 15 As it is written, “He who gathered much had nothing left over, and he who gathered little had no lack.”" it is in your abundance that Christ has given you that you are able to "bear one another's burdens." if you are not led by the Holy Spirit then your abundance may not yet be full. (hence one of the importance's of "Do not quench the Spirit." 1 Thess 5:19)

what all this boils down to is that God is good and i am so thankful that He continually makes the "mysteries" known to me. (Eph 1:9 "9 having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself") so here i count my blessings: God is still a living God and He STILL speaks to His church today!!!!!! Amen

Just a Few thoughts for the Day

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so last night while at work i responded to several emergencies. one in particular was early this morning. we got called out for a report of sexual assault. what was said was as soon as we got toned out i thought "great another dumb call." for us as Fire Fighters/EMT-B's we can not do anything for this person. i don't know why i thought these things. maybe it was due to night being filled with silly little calls that i really should not have been called out for leaving me extremely tired. but still that doesn't give me the right to think so lightly on a situation that is such a life altering event. one that all wish they never had to go through. so for this i am very sorry for thinking such a thing. i fill so bad because as we show up on scene knock on the door and when she opened it and the look she gave us was one of pure terror. she was terribly shaken and crying, but allowed us in to talk with her. as she started telling us what happened my stomach started to turn, and in side i started to get more and more disgusted. i do not and will never understand why people can do this kind of thing to each other. there is no excuse for raping someone!!! as she finishes telling us what happened we asked her several more questions then i stepped out to call for DRK (German ambulance) when i saw a man out side looking conspicuous. when i keyed up my radio this guy opens his door and starts staring at me with (in my opinion) guilty eyes. i cant help but think that he is the guy that just committed this horrific thing. as i finish my radio traffic i keep my eye on this guy to ensure that he doesn't go anywhere until the cops get there. and thank God they made it quickly. as they walk up they quickly noticed this guy and by the way they spoke to him they also felt that he guilty. from that point on they took over with speaking to the victim and asked us to leave. though we complied with their request i couldn't this girl out of my head. she has stayed with me all day. it makes me sad to think that this girl has had to go through something like this. even though i do not know this girl i pray for her, and ask that all of you that read this pray for her too.

Oh to Be Perfect as our Father is Perfect

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as i said yesterday God is having me read Matthew to see just want Jesus has instructed me to do. though there are many things He commands us to do i just want to look at a few things.

in Matthew 5:48 Jesus says "therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect." now if that is not the hardest thing to do i dont know what is. i am left with the question "how do i be perfect?" Jesus is good enough to answer this for me. we see in Matthew 19:21 where the rich young ruler came to Him and asks what he must do to inherit eternal life. Jesus replies to him by telling him to follow the commandants (do not: murder, commit adultery, steal, lie, then to honor your father and mother, and to love your neighbor as your self). the ruler told Jesus that he had kept these from his youth, and in verse 21 Jesus tells him "if you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come follow me." see though this man lived my the law that was given to him from God he still was not perfect. he was lacking something. he was serving two masters at once. his heart was where his treasure was, and with it being there it could not be completely on Jesus. Matthew 6:19-21, 24 "do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasure in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do no break in and steal. for where your treasure is there you heart will be also... no one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. you cannot serve God and money." God wanted this young man to leave the god he had made for himself and love Him with his whole heart. Matthew 22:37-40 Jesus commanded us to love Him with all our heart leading us to love our neighbor as ourselves. He also told the young ruler to "follow Him."

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in Matthew 16:24 Jesus tells us "if anyone desires to come after Me let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me." now if we are to follow and be like Jesus we are to love him completely and to take up "our" cross and follow Him. Jesus had his own cross (calling) to follow just as we have our own to follow. as i talked about the other day where God wants me (as well as the body of Christ) to walk in and stir up the gifts that He has given me (us). though our calling may and probably will lead us right in to persecution as Jesus said it would. though these things seem to be impossible and to hard to do our Jesus says in Matthew 11:29-30 "take my yoke upon your and learn from Me, for i am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. for My yoke is easy and My burden is light." then in 2 Corinthians 12:9 "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness." so let us not be weary of the calling we have in Jesus but let us rest assured that He will be there to carry us through on His strength. let us live by grace and worship Him with our whole heart making Jesus our King and Master. when we find ourselves in need of the grace that He says is sufficient for us (for me it is all the time, everyday) let us ask for it boldly as it says in Hebrews 10:19, and 4:16.

to be perfect is one thing that i cannot do by myself. there is no way that by my works that i could be. it is only through the life of Jesus i am. through living in and walking out Love for Him, His Love for others, grace for all and allowing my self to become week so that His strength is what carries me. that is the process that i am made perfect in Him. so i count my blessings here; that in laying down my life at the feet of Jesus i may be made perfect as my Father is perfect.

Let the Body of Christ walk in their gifts

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last nigh at bible study God brought out that we should and need to be using our gifts that He gave us. it started with talking about my week with God. i have been thinking here lately that i do not really have a passion(s). i enjoy doing lots of things but i do not really have something that i am passionate about. i feel like for a while now that i do not have something that i get excited about, and with that i feel like God has been leading me to get excited/passionate about something. in my heart of hearts i don't want to devote my time to secular things. i don't want my day to be filled with things that i can come up with. i want my day to be filled with Jesus. see i started reading in Matthew (and will end with John) to see just what Jesus requires of me. i want to do the things that make Him happy..... anyway i am getting off topic. what i am saying is that this last week God has made me look at what my passions are. which in reality is serving Jesus (or at least that is what i want it to be).

as i sat down to look and asked God what we would talk about during bible study i felt like He wanted me to talk about our passions. so i asked Him what scriptures do i apply to this? at first i didn't get anything. so i started thumbing through my bible to see if anything would jump out at me. of course nothing did. so asked my wife what she thought about when i asked her about passions. (i thank God for my wife. He speaks through her so much) she thought about 1 Timothy 4:12-16. which tells us not to let people despise our youth, but to be an example to all, and to neglect the gift that God has given us. this lead me to 2 Timothy 1:6-9 where it tells us to stir up the gifts that we have. praise the Lord that He knows what He is doing. at this point someone asked "where in Corinthians does it talk about gifts?" so of course we looked at it and several others. here they are: 1 Corinthians 12:4-12, Romans 12:3-15, and Ephesians 4:11. there are many other verses that one could use for talking about the gifts but these are the few that we quickly looked at. now to start tying all this together let us first look at one last verse out of the Message bible: Colossians 2:6-10 "6 My counsel for you is simple and straightforward: Just go ahead with what you’ve been given. You received Christ Jesus, the Master; now live him.7 You’re deeply rooted in him. You’re well constructed upon him. You know your way around the faith. Now do what you’ve been taught. School’s out; quit studying the subject and start living it! And let your living spill over into thanksgiving.8 Watch out for people who try to dazzle you with big words and intellectual double-talk. They want to drag you off into endless arguments that never amount to anything. They spread their ideas through the empty traditions of human beings and the empty superstitions of spirit beings. But that’s not the way of Christ.9 Everything of God gets expressed in him, so you can see and hear him clearly. You don’t need a telescope, a microscope, or a horoscope to realize the fullness of Christ, and the emptiness of the universe without him.10 When you come to him, that fullness comes together for you, too. His power extends over everything." what a great verse!!! see God from a young age spoke to me about the gifts that i have in Him. and from a young age it has made happy to walk/operate in the giftings. after reading these several verses and hearing God speak to me about my "passions" it was and is clear as day to what i need to be doing. God wants me to (in His words) "Just start living it!" to let/make my passions be the spiritual gifts that He gave me. what a revelation! it may be a small one, and one that seems so obvious, but it is a blessing to know that God has found in me something that He wants to use. so here is where i count my blessings. i thank God that he has not forgotten about me and that He has counted me worthy enough (even through my filthy flesh)to be a minister for Him!

Auschwitz!!!

so the wife and i went to Auschwitz this past three days; and let me just say WOW!!! i have and never see or do i want to see something like that again. well i hope i never have to. we started out walking through the gates (what a sobering moment) and immediately we were walking through the "Blocks." we made our way to block 4 where the memorial fokes put up for display several disturbing things. walking through the door was crazy enough, but when we went into the room where they laid out 2000kg of human female hair was mind blowing. the hair came from all woman that was shipped there. talk about making my stomach turn. we went on to see thousands of pairs of shoes, glasses, toothbrushes, and clothes. these are just a few items that they displayed to keep the memory of those who were there alive. just when we thought that we had seen it all they told us that they would now take us to Auschwitz 2. i couldn't believe it! there was more! as if one of these horrifying wasn't bad enough. so we got on a bus and head down the street to Auschwitz 2. this one was (and i am not joking) 10 times bigger. Auschwitz 2 is the one that is mostly shown on TV and stuff. its the one with the train that goes right through the doors. they said that it could (and did) hold hundreds of thousands of people. it's almost safe to say that as far as the eye can see that is how far the camp, barracks, and crematoriums go. among holding that many people they killed just as much. at this Camp they had 5 crematoriums to aid in the disposing of all those innocent people. if that's not enough to make you shake your head in sadness they said that at the crematoriums where they dumped the ashes looked beautiful. that there were flowers that flourished from the soil being so fertile with ashes. how messed up is that. in a place of death, beauty springs up..... the whole time we are walking and hearing how they did the selection of who would live and who would die, i could not stop thinking about my family. if my wife and i were taken up and shipped to that place there is no way that she (being pregnant) would have been selected to live. and if she by some chance had been allowed to live she would have wished she was dead. from what they told us she and the baby would have been subject to God knows what kind of torture; leading to death. there is no way i would want my family to have to go through that. so here i can count my blessings. i am very thankful that God has sparred us from having to live in that time.... but in my personal opinion our time as Christians living in peace is on a short time line. let us be thankful that our Heavenly Father has been so gracious to us.....

A Day filled with Blessings from my Heavenly Father

Blessings. that is one thing that God has given me.... from a child my mother, grandmother and aunt would always tell me to count my blessings. i never knew just what they were talking about until i got a little older and started a family of my own. see i have always tried to walk with Jesus and have in my eyes served Him with all of my heart (or at least tried). three years ago He gave my what would be one of my most amazing blessings. He gave me my wife! today two years ago my wife and i got married. what a wonderful blessing that was. Jesus says be thankful in all things, and some times that is a hard thing to do. on that day two years ago it was easy, and today two years later it is still easy. now He has added to that blessing. 31 weeks ago today He blessed my wife and i by making us (her) pregnant. today is an easy day for me to count my blessings. it is a day filled with joy, happiness, love, and gratitude. i have been and know that i will continually be blessed by my heavenly Father. let us continue to count our blesses and be thankful in all things.