Plans for 2013

Another year is ending. I can't believe how fast they fly by. 2013 is upon us. Who knows what it will bring. (God does...thankfully!) 

I would appreciate your prayer, love, and encouragement as I strive to accomplish these tasks. 

• Give a senior recital in May
• Get my drivers license in the fall
• Exercise every day of the week but Sunday throughout the year
• Share God's love freely with the people I come in contact with
• Deepen my relationship with my siblings
• Grow closer to my Lord and Savior! 

 Lots of love to all my friends and family. See y'all next year. :)

~Madi

Merry Christmas!

If you look for Me at Christmas you won't need a special star -

I'm no longer just in Bethlehem, I'm right there where you are.

You may not be aware of Me amid the celebrations - 

You'll have to look beyond the stores and all the decorations.

But if you take a moment from your list of things to do 

And listen to your heart, you'll find I'm waiting there for you.

You're the one I want to be with, you're the reason that I came,

And you'll find Me in the stillness as I'm whispering your name.

Love,

Jesus

Dogs...

Everyone seems to have a dog. It's pretty much just a given. :P I have never really enjoyed the creatures though. I usually spend a lot of time complaining about them to be honest with you. I mean, they stink, they get hair in your food (ALL your food), they get all wet and then come in your house and plop down like they deserve to be there getting your carpet all wet and stinking up the room, they bark at every car that drives by or every person that walks up the street, they get hair on your velvet skirt, and they eat the grossest things ever!!!! need I say more?

Today, I decided to stop my complaining and think about what I had to be grateful for in our dogs. (Yes, we have more than one!)

1. They are beautiful

2. When they look at you with those big sad eyes and you eventually give in and pet them they have really nice, soft, warm fur! (Although, I recommend washing your hands afterwards because for one, they will stink and two, you can never tell what a dog has been rolling in.)

3. They have a big bark and you know they'll protect you if it comes to that. 

4. They don't ask questions, they just listen. They don't criticize or judge you, they just listen and love.

So there you have it. I actually found something to be thankful for about dogs. :)

As if we don't have enough, we are planning on breeding our beautiful Bernese Mountain Dog sometime next year. You can look at some of her puppy pics here. I will post our website when it is finished.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

I pray that this will bless you as it has me. Happy Thanksgiving!

Giving Thanks

”Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make joyful noise unto him with psalms”. Psalm 95:2.

The first Thanksgiving proclamation by George Washington in 1789 is worth repeating today.

'Whereas it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and ­humbly to implore His protection and favor . . . Now therefore, I, do recommend and assign Thursday, the twenty-sixth day of November next, to be devoted by the people of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being, who is the Beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be; that we may then all unite in rendering unto him our sincere and humble thanks for his kind care and protection of the people of this country."

Since the first Thanksgiving Day, America has been greatly favored by God. We should pause to recount God's blessings to us and to thank Him from the depths of our hearts. We should never be un­mindful of God's great mercies, but always manifest a grateful spirit. True thanksgiving is not manifest in overeating and indulgence. It will hold more meaning and bring more joy to us and our children if we share God's blessings with others.
It was with this in mind that one mother suggested that the family prepare two dinners. The children were curious and excited as the second meal was packed in a basket and carried to a home where the mother had recently deserted her family. They watched in silence as their own mother arranged the table, then called the family in. The father with his children around him bowed his head and gave thanks to God. When the givers returned home, their own meal was eaten with genuine gratitude.

I know we are living during troublesome times, and there is much suffering and sorrow, but remember, back of every cloud there is a silver lining.
We have so much for which to be thankful. Our hymns of joy and praise should ascend to our loving heavenly Father this Thanksgiving Day and every day. The Lord delights to have us express our grateful appreciation for all His love to us.

“Happy Thanksgiving!!”

 ~ Lee Davis ~

A Good Reminder

"It is not the critique who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena. If he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory or defeat. The joy of living is his who has the heart to demand it!"
-Theodore Roosevelt

I was reminded of this wonderful quote on Naomi Houston's blog.

I know I've definitely been guilty of being the critique one too many times. It makes you feel more powerful or smart, but it's just a masquerade to cover up your insecurity. It makes you afraid to go out and try new things because you're afraid everyone is going to be as critical as you. You really miss out. Trust me, I'm talkin' from experience. :)  Wouldn't it be better if we would just be encouraging to the people who are out there trying? I've also tried this. ;) This approach works the same way. You realize most people are very encouraging and don't want to see you fail, but will stick with you and help you succeed! Best of all...it makes you try new things, reach outside of your comfort zone to help people, and be a good witness for Jesus because He's the One we're really trying to please!

Thankfullness

1 Thessalonians 5:18  In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.

I wasn't thinking when I decided to post today that it was almost Thanksgiving. I love this holiday. It reminds me to always thank Jesus for the wonderful blessings He has bestowed on us! (I just wish everyone didn't eat so much :P) 

So, today what I'm especially thankful for is...heat. :) Our heat isn't working (even though we had it fixed yesterday and about a month ago) and it is super cold in the house! (It's freezing outside...literally.)

Heat...one more thing we take for granted. 

I'm thankful today for our fireplace. I'm not sure if it is meant to heat the whole house but it offers some heat to the living room. 

Also, electricity is something to really be thankful for! Even though our heat isn't working, we have light, cooking ability, and everything else wonderful that comes with electricity. (Except heat of course :(   )

A while ago I was struggling with the praying continually verses. 1 Thessalonians 5:17 Pray continually. 

How do I obey this?  Well, if we look at the next verse it helps us out. 1 Thessalonians 5:18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. So I decided to be thankful continually. For all the little things. I would just send up simple "thank you Jesus!" prayers from my heart. Now it's a habit, and it is a good one! It helps you feel better when you keep a brighter outlook on life. God has blessed us with an enormous amount of commodity. The least we can do is say thank you!

I know y'all have heard this saying but it's a good reminder to get us thinking:

If the things we had today were the things we thanked God for yesterday, what would we be left with? 

Autumn leaves = God's beauty

My sister and I went out to take some pics for my graduation (possibly) this spring.

I am always amazed of the beauty of fall. God's colors are so spectacular it takes my breath away! (That and the cold.) From the leaves, to the clouds, to the mountains out in the distance...it's all so pretty.

God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good. Genesis 1:31a

The excitement and passion that fills my heart when I walk out into the crisp air, is from realizing that even in my sinfulness, God still allows there to be beauty to lift my spirit and tell me... "I still love you!" Even among the colors though, the most important way He shows me His love is this...
But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8

Meditate on that one for a while.

The Performance Mindset

There will be some review of the last post in this one. How do we learn things though? 

...repetition, repetition, repetition! :) 

There are steps you can take to prepare yourself for performance. Three things you can prepare are:

1. Heart: Examine your heart to find out what your motive is for playing. Are you trying to please people or God?  Your main goal shouldn’t be to show people how good you are and how perfect you know your piece. That doesn’t mean you can’t practice hard and do your best. It doesn’t mean you should go into the performance with an attitude that says “I’m not here to please people so I just won’t try!” Your goal should be to bless the people but not to show off! Pleasing God should be our highest motive. There are three things God cares about:

• Effort: Did you practice your hardest?
• Attitude: Are you going into the performance attempting to do your best or already set up for failure?
• Stewardship: You should have a gracious heart when you mess up or when others do better than you.

2. Mind: This preparation is thinking over the performance mindset ahead of time.

• Dynamics: When you perform it’s important to play the dynamics in your piece so that you don’t bore people to death!
• Tempo: Another important thing is tempo. That is more for yourself than the people because if you go too fast it’s easier to make mistakes which then makes you nervous which makes you play faster which makes you make more mistakes and it just keeps going until you finally give up crying. J
• Don’t Try Too Hard: The last thing to remember when performing is not to try too hard! Trying too hard can make you expect too much of yourself. That can make you disappointed when you mess up causing you to loose your concentration and mess up some more and on, and on, and on!!

3. Body: These are the physical steps. In order to be physically ready for a performance you should rest well the days before the performance. Eating a healthy diet helps too. You should think through all the things that hinder playing (stress, cold hands, fatigue), and be prepared to prevent them as much as possible.

If you have done your duty and fulfilled your role then the results are totally up to God. You must be prepared to deal joyfully with whatever he brings you!

Nervousness when performing, the root of the problem

Do you get super nervous when you perform? Your knees knock together, your palms get all sweaty, and you think you are going to the throw up!? Why do you think that is? Oh wait, duh. Everyone gets nervous. That's just what happens when you perform, right? .....WRONG!!!! There is an answer! Maybe. It depends on how much you want to grasp the idea and make it a part of your life. If you've read this far I guess you might want to know what the answer is. Soooo, without further ado....drum roll please!!!

You are selfish and proud.

Yup, that's the problem. Not what you were hoping for? Well, sorry, I can't give you a four step process on how to cook the herbs to eat the night before you perform so that your stomach feels better (although that might help). I can give you a larger process on how to change your thinking though.

It all starts with the heart.
Quick disclaimer, if you don't have Jesus Christ working in your life, helping you, and being the reason you are performing, this process probably won't be very effective. 


1. You have to figure out why you nervous.  ..................okay, admit it. You are worried about what other people think of you. We all struggle with this. Don't think you're the only one! We are afraid that we will make mistakes and that people will think we are terrible at whatever we are performing.

So, up till now, we know that we are really playing so that people will think we are really awesome; and we're super nervous because if we don't play perfectly, they won't think we're very good.

2. So why should we be playing? Ultimately we are playing to please God. He is the one who gave us music and wants us to use it for His glory. (What is man's primary purpose? To glorify God and to enjoy Him forever.) God doesn't count mistakes. All He cares about is that we are playing for Him, not for our own pride. We can't leave the people out all together though. Otherwise we would just stay home and play for God there. Much more comfortable. ;) We are definitely there to bless the people who have come to see us perform. But, think about it. If we play with a haughty spirit, mess up, make terrible faces, then walk off the stage crying...they probably won't be very blessed.

Okay, so we know why, in our sinful nature, we are playing. To have people think well of us.
We now know why we should be playing. To glorify God and bless the audience.

3. How do we not get nervous then? Just knowing the facts isn't going help very much. We have to decide in our heart that we want to change. We have to daily ask Jesus to take away our pride. To allow us to play for His glory instead of our own. Easier said than done!

Conclusion:
1. In ourselves we play for our own glory
2. In Jesus we should totally be sold to playing for His glory
3. We must pray every day that He would humble us (even if it means Him allowing us to terribly mess up to show that we aren't anything in ourselves).

So, that's the root of the problem. My next post will be on how to prepare ourselves as much as we can, perform at our best, and leave the results up to God. Helps immensely with nervousness!