AUBURN, pictures of family, prayer, and the PCA

Get ready for several rabbit trails that lead to a fun ending that only God could orchestra!


I love AUBURN.  I love the colors orange and blue, the people, the greeting War Eagle, the campus, the etc etc etc.

I love to pray.  If you are on my Christmas card list, you have been prayed for, if you are on my church directory, you have been prayed for, if you are in ministry that my church supports, you have been prayed for.

When Andrew was at AUBURN he was involved in the campus ministry-RUF that is a part of our denomination-PCA.  We have prayed for the PCA minister that is in charge of the RUF at AUBURN since 2000.  We have prayed for several ministers in the last 16 years.  Just recently Carl and I sent an encouraging message to the minister, Wes, who is the current PCA minister at AUBURN RUF.  Wes immediately wrote us a thank you.  I was very impressed!

For my birthday this year Andrew and Taylor gave me a photo shoot with them in AUBURN during the A day weekend.  Taylor had hired one of her sorority sisters, who is a photographer, to take our pictures.  We brought our clothes, coordinated our outfits and were looking forward to it.  A few days before our shoot, Taylor got a text from her sorority sister that she couldn't do the shoot but she offered Taylor another photography that she knew that was able to take our picture at the same time as the previous shoot was schedule.  Taylor checked out the new photographer's photos and was pleased and said yes.  Taylor told me the name of the new photographer, Nancy Simmons.  I typed her name on Facebook to look at her pictures and I was stunned to see that I have three friends in common, Laura Dowling, Abbie Bailey and Cristina Green.   All these are PCA friends of mine.  I was curious as to how did they know both of us.  Laura goes to church in AUBURN so I figured that Nancy must go to the PCA church in AUBURN.  Abbie and Cristina are married to PCA pastors.  Could it be that Nancy Simmons was married to Wes Simmons the RUF pastor at AUBURN??????  Indeed she is.  What in the world.  I couldn't wait to tell Nancy our connections.  She was stunned enjoyed them as much as I did!

Here is a picture for Abbie and Cristina and Laura.  This is my new friend Nancy.  I love AUBURN, pictures of family, praying for many folks and meeting some that I don't know and the PCA.  We serve a great God who loves to lavish us with His blessings!

Happy Reformation Sunday!

Scotty Smith prayers

A Gospel Prayer for Reformation Sunday

But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it—the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. Rom. 3:21-26

Dear Lord Jesus, how could your church ever forget, lose or reject this glorious gospel? What circumstances created the necessity for Martin Luther to nail his Ninety-Five Theses to the front door of the Castle Church at Wittenberg on October 31, 1517? Why would weever choose some other way of salvation over the way of grace? Rhetorical questions indeed, for I know my own proud and foolish heart.

I know that by nature I’m allergic to grace; and by notion, I want to believe there’s something I can do to make God accept and love me. But the gospel declares me to be a whole lot worse off than I can imagine, and certainly a whole lot worse than I want to acknowledge. I wasn’t just distanced from God; I was dead in my sins and trespasses—running as fast and as far as I could from free grace. Such is the insanity of sin.

Why was there a need for the first Reformation? Because of people like me. Why will the church continue to lose and rediscover the gospel of your grace? Because of people like me.

Jesus, how I praise you for showing me the great depth of my need and the ceiling-less heights of your provision in the gospel. Earn my salvation, impress God with my works, merit heaven by my rules keeping? I could sooner sneeze an aircraft carrier into existence; click my heels and turn the moon into chocolate cheesecake; snap my fingers and watch Niagara Falls reverse directions! O the arrogance of works righteousness. O the despair of works righteousness.

You’re no mere moral model to follow; you’re my perfect righteousness to wear. You don’t give second chances to sincere people, you give new life to rebels, fools and idolaters, like me. I needed you to fulfill all the demands of the law for me; and that is what you did by your life of perfect obedience. I needed you to absorb all the judgment and wrath I deserve from God; and that is what you accomplished once-and-for-all by your death on the cross.

I needed you to begin a good work in me by your Spirit and that you will complete by your Spirit; and that is what you have signed on for by your resurrection. I need you to be my Advocate before the Father when I sin, not my cheerleader or coach when I fall; and that is who are you this very moment. I need and want you to come back and finish making all things new—in me, in your whole Bride, and in your broken cosmos; and that is precisely what you will do one Day. Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

Jesus, on this Reformation Sunday, I once again affirm that my hope is built on nothingless, nothing more, and nothing other than your blood and your righteousness. On you, the solid and saving Rock, I stand. All other ground is sinking sand. Keep bringing me back to the gospel, Jesus; keep bringing me back to the gospel plus nothing for my everything. So very Amen I pray, in your most holy and gracious name.

For Tim, Del, Josh and many others

This is Pastor Appreciation Month.  I know this because I have a daughter who works at Hallmark!  We have cards that we plan to mail this month.  Here is a good reminder to us all Things to do for our pastors
I would encourage you all to follow through with these things today.

Praying

I found this today and made a copy and plan to use it for the month of August. I thought you might like it too.

How to pray for your children or grandchildren or any children you love

What is your plan?

In their hearts humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps. Prov. 16:9

This Saturday is UALR's graduation. We plan to be there early to watch Kaitlin walk across that stage.

When my children were little I thought that once Carl and I figured out how things worked with disciplining one child that that work for all of them. LOL, how wrong could I have been? What worked for one usually NEVER worked for the others in any situation.

Andrew set a goal to have a job the December before he graduated from AUBURN in May. John had his job a month after he graduated from UCA and then got another one about five months later. So what will Kaitlin do, I have no idea. She has a pretty steady photography business and does freelance graphic design on the side right now. So what should she do, this prayer about the Will of God really was encouraging to me.

The Will of God

I hope it helps you today too.

thread, hardships and prayer

There is lots going on in my life right now. Lots in my opinion. Sometimes I feel like I have a thread within me that is being pulled taunt and I am so afraid that it will break and I will lose it. Lose what?? My ability to function well, to not be a babbling idiot, to carry on with day to day living.

After reading the latest article by Andrea Seu I was really convicted by what I consider 'hardships' Why me? is all I would probably be saying if that were my situation.

Today when I am feeling that thread being pulled, I plan to stop and pray for all the mama's that are being held and for the mama's that have children or husbands being held.

I am glad God is in control

http://www.denverpost.com/harsanyi/ci_11638925

http://www.semicolonblog.com/?p=4288

We need to pray for our country.