praise first

A couple days ago, Grant needed a bath as SOON as he woke up in the morning. Such a pleasant discovery!

He LOVES to play in the bath. So I got out my bible and thought, while he is splashing around I will sit in the hallway and keep an eye on him and do my quiet time with Jesus. So I opened up my bible and turned to the verses for the day (My bible has a weekly devotional plan in it, so I usually just follow along) I read the verses, read through the whole devotional and... nothing.

I didn't get anything out of it. nothing. I felt like I did something wrong. God has been speaking to me so much lately. His word has just been jumping off the page. So I started flipping through my bible looking for passages that had been highlighted, hoping to find the verse God wanted me to see so He could speak to me that day... nothing. 

I am sure we have all had days where this has happend to us. At least I hope I am not alone. 

I thought, 'Well, maybe it is because I am half focused on Grant and can't give God my 100% undivided attention.' But as the day went on God started to show me something... after Grant's bath we went downstairs and had breakfast. We always turn on praise & worship music in the kitchen in the morning to start our day our right. Then to get in the car to go run errands around town, we have praise and worship music playing. I started to soak in the Lord's presence.

And then God started to speak to me.

He brought to my mind the Lord's Prayer: (Matthew 6:9-13)

    ⁹ Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy.
   ¹⁰ May your Kingdom come soon. May your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.
   ¹¹ Give us today our daily bread,
   ¹² and forgive us our sins, as we have forgiven those who sin against us.
   ¹³ And don’t let us be lead into temptation, but rescue us from the evil one.

PRAISE COMES FIRST! The first line of the Lord's Prayer is Praise! Before we ask anything of God, He deserves to be praised & glorified! Before I can get into His word and ask Him to reveal Himself to me, I must to praise Him, because he is so worthy! Praise sets the atmosphere for His spirit to come in. That is why in church we praise first. To set the atmosphere for God's presence. Once I am in His presence He can speak to me and reveal things in His word to me.

That night after having a day filled with worship, I got my bible back out and asked God to please speak to me. We had such a beautiful quite time together. He is so wonderful. I love Him.

sweet aroma

I have been wanting to write out scriptures and post them around my house so that we can see and read God's words to us all day everyday. So I was going through my bible re-reading verses I had highlighted long ago that jumped out to me.  And I found a lot to write down, but one that jumped out to me was 2 Corinthians 2:14-16:

But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him. For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. To the one we are the smell of death; to the other, the fragrance of life.

Wherever we go as believers we carry God's fragrance with us. Like a perfume, you can't see it, but it is on our skin, and anyone near us can't deny that it is there. I love that when I seek God with my whole heart He is with me so close as a perfume. And that everyone I encounter can not deny that it is there.  

And we are a sweet smelling aroma to God, I like to think that as I worship Him my aroma rises to His throne. Think of that for a second! That when we worship Him with songs or dance or sharing His message with others or just having compassion on someone it comes before His throne as a sweet aroma. I can just imagine my God closing his eyes and breathing it in, taking a big breath through his nose, and smiling. How awesome! When we live for Him, worship Him, we make Him smile! Wow! The Lord of all things, the King of everything, the Creator of the World... I make HIM smile? 

I am so blessed. The Lord of all things wants to have a relationship with me (and you) and I make Him smile! WOW!!!

inspired

2 years ago this month I found out I was pregnant for the first time. We hadn't been trying, but hadn't been preventing either. At first I didn't think I was ready & I knew my life (our life) was about to change DRAMATICALLY.  Looking back now on how I freaked out, I think it was so silly because now we have this amazing little man in our lives that I can't imagine living without. 

So once I found out I was pregnant, I read somewhere to not make life-altering decisions when you are pregnant. (I think it was the Girlfriends Guide to Pregnancy) Wow should I have listened! I found out I was pregnant in February 2009, quit my job in April to pursue photography full time, went into business with another photographer in May, decided that wasn't going to work out so I disolved the partnership in August, photographed 12 weddings that summer (standing on a ladder at ALL of them - pregnant), re-arranged our house so we could have a nursery for the baby and an office for my photography. It was quite an interesting 9 months to say the least. However, I can't regret any decisions I made because they all taught us something & brought us to the place in our lives we are now. 

Grant Wallace Little was born November 3, 2009. 

He is such a little adorable blessing. Each day he surprises me. I love the innocence and the curiosity of a child. And then the other day in my bible I read Matthew 19:14  But Jesus said, "Let the children alone, and do not hinder them from coming to Me; for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these." Our Father loves the little children, their innocence, their imagination, their unwavering belief. That verse reminds me to strive to be more like a kid with faith. To believe in Him uncontrollably & to have a crazy imagination that God can do anything! 

Haha, that is so not where I was wanting to go with this post. Anyways, what I WANTED to share with you is what inspired me to write a PERSONAL blog. I have a blog for my business too, but I have never had a personal one. ( http://littleimages.blogspot.com/ ) So if you didn't know me before, now you know I have a photography business. Last year was huge for my business. So huge that "staying home with Grant & working at the same time" didn't happen. We had to get childcare for Grant at least 3 days a week so that I could get all my work done. It was a busy year! Which is good, but it slowed down in December and I have been being a "full-time" stay-at-home mom since.

So since I am a very social person and the only person I have to talk to all day is a 15 month old. I just wanted a place where I could share. Share what is going on with me, what Grant is doing that is cute, and most important what God is teaching me. 

He is teaching me so much everyday and I just have to share it! I have share how very awesome He is! I started really seeking the Lord again in December, when my life slowed down and I took a good long look at my life. My priorities had gotten all out of wack. I am going to be really honest right here and say that Jesus wasn't first, in fact I don't think he was even 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6th. I think work had become first and family second, Jesus got lost somewhere, and it was time to put him back where he belonged. As the #1 priority, on the throne in my life. So I have been making CHOOSING to seek Him everyday. A friend of mine posted on her blog:

“I will allow no sleep to my eyes, no slumber to my eyelids, until I find a place for the Lord, a dwelling for the Mighty One.” -Psalm 132:4-5  I do not want my eyelids to close at the end of the day without dwelling in the Lord’s presence.

I feel that has become my goal as well. Whether it is worshiping Him to praise music on the iPod while I do dishes, or just reading a verse or two, praying & asking him to reveal Himself to me through the little things each day. I must get with Him at least once a day. He must become and remain my #1 priority. 

I love the Lord so much, and I am excited to share what He is teaching me. I hope this blog finds you and will encourage you to also seek the Lord and grow in Him

Amen!