Are YOU Rejoicing?

Everytime something happens that is frustrating, no fun, blah, sad, WHATEVER - Rance and I shout at the top of our lungs "REJOICE" or at least remind each other to do so.  Why?  Let me tell you why...

THE WORD OF GOD says so!

Rejoice in the Lord always, again I say REJOICE! ~ Philippians 4:4

Paul did not say to “be happy,” but “rejoice in the Lord.”  What does this mean?  We are to “Rejoice in the Lord,” not our circumstances. Our rejoicing is to take place in Christ. We are to delight in Him.

When do you find it difficult to “rejoice in the Lord always”?  I'm sure we would all agree that there are certain things, situations, circumstances that we all find really hard to clap our hands & rejoice in whether it's a sickness, a job, a family situation, a relationship, dealing with a coworker, a death, or whatever the case may be.  We allow Satan to steal our joy and we become so consumed by the situation that we forget the bigger picture.  It's okay to cry, hurt, miss someone - Jesus felt all of those things too when He lived on earth in the flesh.  We don't have to LOVE the situation we are in, that's not what Paul is saying, but we can choose to rejoice & delight in Him because at the end of the day God is still God no matter what this messy world throws at us.  “Rejoicing in the Lord” is something every Christian can do regardless of the chances, changes and circumstances that come...


(Side note:  Keep in mind, this is something the Lord is teaching me so I'm really preaching to myself here)

Think about this...
 If you are a believer in Jesus Christ everything that really matters in this life and the next is yours in Christ.  Is your hope fixed on Jesus Christ?  Rejoice in Him!  Psalm 37 says “Delight yourself also in the Lord.” Do you delight in knowing you have been saved by grace through faith in Christ? If so, Rejoice with all your heart and soul!  Do you delight in knowing Jesus Christ died as your substitute on the cross? Rejoice in the Lord!  Rejoicing is realizing that God didn’t have to save me, but He did, free of charge, no matter how much I fail Him. Rejoicing is thanking God that, one day, Satan will be forever locked up into everlasting torment.  Rejoicing is knowing that “all things work together for our good, who are called according to His purpose,” (Romans 8:28).  Rejoicing means that because we have a SAVIOR that loves us so much - we will never have to spend eternity in hell where there is no possible way to rejoice ever again...

Whatever happens REJOICE in HIM. That is an attitude. Even those hard situations, times of long-suffering, or even small little frustrations in your day...as a believer you can fix your eyes on HIM and REJOICE always. 

Fix your heart on an attitude of REJOICING!

Have you learned to rejoice in everything?

*God's INVISIBLE Qualities*

I have always LOVED the outdoors but I must admit that there is something about the MOUNTAINS and the way the Lord makes Himself so REAL through His creation that He spoke into existence!!!  Rance and I love taking hikes and there is not a single hike that we go on that we aren't completely in awe of His majesty, His beauty, His creativity!  One verse from God's Word that always comes to mind on our long hikes...

"For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse." 

Romans 1:20

Nature reveals God in such an unmistakable way!  There is no way we can look at creation and MISS seeing God, the Creator!  He has been made available and 'clearly seen' by us all 'since the creation of the world'  which means Adam saw it, Cain saw it, Noah saw it, Abraham saw it, Jacob saw it, Moses saw it, David saw it, and every other person that has ever lived since the beginning of time.  God makes Himself overwhelmingly evident to all...

A lil' taste of His creation in Robbinsville, NC

Does He not take your breathe away?

 
~He didn't miss a single detail~

THE VASTNESS OF GOD

 My NEW Family & our Sunday afternoon hikes!

(from left: Rance, Jenni, Cody, Lil' Frank, and Frank)

DADDDDYYYYYYYYYY!!!

(for those of you who have been around us know this is shouted OFTEN)

Love hangin' out with them! 

Cody-Funnest kid EVER!!!
(he was the ring bearer in our wedding!)

Stop whatever you are doing, step outside, take a look at Creation and tell me...

How Great is OUR God?!?! 

Home Sweet Home!

Our Cabin

 My dear friend SNOW.

 View of our neighbors cabins from our front porch!  They live in Florida so they only visit every 6 to 8 weeks!

More coming soon...



Dear Snow!

Oh how I love thee, let me count the ways.  I remember the days I longed for you growing up (in EASTERN NC).  If anyone would see just ONE small flake, the phone chain would begin to inform everyone to go look out their window.  Everyone would rush to the grocery store and basically everything shut down whether it was a light dusting or a whole INCH accumulated.  You were so rare in my life the past 26 years.   

Oh how things change.  The year 2010 changed drastically for me when I moved to WESTERN NC and you became a significant part of my life.  I really do love the way you look, the way you TASTE and the way you so clearly reflect the Lord and His majesty over creation.  I don't even mind the frigid temperatures that are required for you to appear now that my husband and family have so graciously provided me with some serious SNOW boots/gear.  However, you really do some annoying damage to our DRIVEWAY.  As in, you cause me SERIOUS anxiety over the means to get to and from our lovely cabin that sits so HIGH on the mountain.  You see, I really do love our house and the view from up high - but I did not like our driveway from the beginning before I experienced YOU invading it too.  Three words describe this driveway of ours:  long, STEEP, and narrow.  Before I met you on our driveway, it was intimidating enough going up and down.  Now, you come down beautifully and pile up THICK, then you turn to ice, and eventually you MELT producing more MUD than I have ever seen.  Mud that makes you slide everywhere.  Let me remind you again that there is NOT a lot of room to slide on this lovely driveway of ours without going over the side of the mountain.  So whether you are falling beautifully, turning to ice, or producing a pile of mud - you are not doing a great job welcoming me to Robbinsville.  You are SCARING me.  Do you feel my pain?  Not to mention, I've already given up EVER owning a clean, shiny vehicle again.  I now look like a professional mud slinger. 

Here is the thing dear snow.  Just when I think MAYBE just MAYBE you will be going away for a little while (meaning a day or two) and our driveway might have an opportunity to DRY, you make your appearance again.  And when you make your appearance around here, it's no light dusting or 1 to 3 inches - you like to go ALL OUT and snow 10 to 12 to 14 inches!  You are so humorous.  It seems you never end.  I guess reality is - me and you are going to have to become friends.  Can we compromise?  Make a deal?  I mean, it'd be cool to have a chance to miss you ya know?  Distance makes the heart grow fonder right?  The Lord commands me to love thy neighbor as thyself though so I shall be obedient but He also asks me to speak the truth in love!  How did I do?  I do apologize for any harshness because I really do like you - you just take some getting use to I guess. 

Good to see you last night and this morning by the way.  I'm REJOICING even though everyone is off of work today but me.  Is there anyway you could make it possible to shut down public accounting too when you are here?  Every now and then would be suhhweeet!

Goodbye for now.  I'll go outside and see you in a minute and maybe we can chat.
Jenni

You know you live in Robbinsville when...

1.  McDonalds becomes your Starbucks.
2.  Everyone you meet for the first time already knows you as Rance Shuler's wife! :)
3.  You leave your truck running while you go into Ingles to grab groceries.
4.  You are 45 minutes from the nearest WalMart (don't even ask how far Target is.)
5.  The UPS man can't get up your driveway because it's so steep (side note: online shopping is the thing to do 'round here!).
6.  The Appalachian Trail runs right behind your house.
7.  You have to make a schedule to plan out all the people inviting you over to eat (Praise the LORD for this).
8.  Your husband stops to buy you flowers on his morning school bus route & has a student hop off the bus to deliver to the office!
9.  You try to make your daily trip to town count because you don't want to have to drive over the mountain again that day.
10.  Snow is NORMAL.  Very normal.  School closings happen often...and when they do everyone heads to the slopes for some skiing/snowboarding...wait, EXCEPT Jennifer whom has to work regardless of the weather (I love you public accounting!). 
11.  Your husband hasn't got fired from his job yet for sharing the gospel, praying & having devotions daily with his classes...yes in a public school (I've got a Paul on my hands!  I'm so blessed!).
12.  The age gap from 20 to 30 is missing!  (Thank you Jesus for Kelly Grace Ritter!).
13.  Half of Robbinsville Middle/High school are missing on the opening day of BEAR season!
14.  It's a TREAT and well planned out event to go shopping (Asheville is an hour and a half away!)
15.  You can't get too close to empty on gas because you might not make it to the next gas station!
16.  You leave one vehicle parked at the bottom of the mountain when it starts snowing in case it snows/ices so much you can't make it up and down your driveway for a few days (which means you get to WALK up and down it).
17.  The thing you want the most after getting married and moving here is FOUR WHEEL DRIVE. 
18.  You learn what ginseng is (go ahead and google it hahaha)!
19.  Your biggest fear in pregnancy is wondering if you'll make it to the hospital in time once you go into labor (we be far, far away).  And no, I'm not pregnant! 
20.  You actually consider joining facebook for the first time ever to keep in touch with friends :)   

*I love you Robbinsville, NC*

It was definitely NOT in MY plan to move across North Carolina (5 to 6 hours away from my family/friends) but it was no doubt in GOD'S PLAN for me all along.  Psalm 139:16 says "...all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be."  It's amazing to think that God knew before I was ever even born exactly where I would be on December 22, 2010.  His plan is perfect and I know I am exactly where He has called me to be... 

If you want to hear God laugh tell Him your plans :)

B.L.E.S.S.E.D.

BLESSED - This one word describes my life.  No matter what, I am forever BLESSED because Jesus Christ came to this earth as human flesh (the REAL meaning of CHRISTmas); lived a perfect, sinless life; died a bloody, painstaking death on the cross to take on the sins of the world; rose again in THREE days and ascended into heaven to sit at the right hand of God so that I (and those who believe) can spend eternity with HIM in a place so magnificent I cannot even fathom it.  Never again on this earth should I wonder what I have to be thankful for.  That my friend, is why I am not just 'okay,' I am not just 'good', I am absolutely 100% BLESSED.  If God never gave me another blessing, answered another prayer, or provided anything else for me; simply being offered the gift of eternal salvation would be worthy of a lifetime of thanks to Him.  Wouldn't you agree?  But on top of all that, He does daily guide, provide and continue to be a miracle working God who answers prayers constantly - Do you know Him?

God put it on my heart a while back to start a blog.  Time is always the enemy but I realize now more than ever how IMPORTANT it is to journal.  Here's why:

Psalm 77:11-14 (New King James Version) 

¹¹ I will remember the works of the LORD;
         Surely I will remember Your wonders of old.
 ¹² I will also meditate on all Your work,
         And talk of Your deeds.

It is a given that our time on this earth is TEMPORARY.  Thanks to Adam & Eve and their disobedience in the Garden of Eden (eating what they were told NOT to eat) - SIN entered the world and as long as we are here on this earth, we are guaranteed to experience seasons of blessings & seasons of drought.  This year has definitely been a season of BLESSINGS.  God has so graciously BLESSED Rance and I far more than we ever deserved and trust me, we are giving Him the GLORY each day.  However, just like David in the Psalm above - there will be seasons in our lives when things aren't so easy.  David boldly says in verse 11, "I will remember the works of the Lord; Surely I will remember Your works of old."  I want to be like David.  I want to write down, recall, lock into my memory all the Lord has done.  I want to remember the deeds of the Lord.  When hard times come, God is still good.  His love NEVER fails.  He never intended for the world to be the way it is.  In fact, it is so far from where He desires it.  He gave us the ability to make 'choices' and unfortunately the first wrong choice started with Adam & Eve and it seems they spiraled out of control ever since.  Thankfully, our HOPE can be found in Jesus, not in this world!  Hebrews 13:8 says "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever."   

With this blog, I desire to remember the deeds of the Lord and remind you of His goodness! 

 

To be continued my friend!