Our Inheritance

Psalm 16 sometimes known as The Psalm of Confidence! I think we could all use a dose of confidence at times, couldn't we? This will look long, but it really isn't! I put the Psalm on here in case you don't have your Bible with you! Here it goes! Keep me safe, O God, for in you I take refuge. I said to the Lord, "You are my Lord; apart from you I have no good thing." As for the saints who are in the land, they are the glorious ones in whom is all my delight. The sorrows of those will increase who run after other gods. I will not pour out their libations of blood or take up their names on my lips. Lord, you have assigned me my portion and my cup; you have made my lot secure. The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance. I will praise the Lord, who counsels me; even at night my heart instructs me. I have set the Lord always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. Therefore, my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will rest secure, because you will not abandon me to the grave, nor will you let your Holy One see decay, You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence. with eternal pleasures at your right hand. This is a beautiful Psalm. I love ending. We will however, focus on verses 5 and 6 for the message that Beth Moore brought us. Our Inheritance! We're gonna make our theology of Heaven our reality. We know that when we have accepted Christ, we are going to live with Him for all eternity in Heaven. The problem is, (if we're honest),we think that we are going to be bored. We make comments such as; "What are we going to do up there FOREVER!" "I'm not ready to go yet, because there is still stuff here that I want to do!" "Are we just gonna sing and sing and sing and that's all we are going to do?" "What are we going to look like?" Paris Hilton made a comment that the worst sin, would be for a princess to be boring! Well, maybe that's not exactly the truth huh? But, let's look at what God thinks of us. In Romans, 8:15-17, it tells us that we did not receive a spirit that makes us slaves again, we received the Spirit of Sonship! We are God's children! We are an heir of God. We are co-heirs with Christ himself! We are an heiress of God! Indeed, we will share in His Glory! If we could get it through our head: I AM AN HEIRESS OF GOD! We should not be boring! Salt and light are not boring! They bring flavor and help brighten up the world and lives around them! We should be as Salt and Light to the world! Never boring! Gen___INHERITANCE THEME___Rev 22:17,18 21:7 OLD covenant + (the cross) NEW covenant The inheritance theme was displayed throughout the OT and NT scriptures from Gen to Rev. Gal 3:8 refers to the gospel in advance in Gen. 22: 17,18. God tells Abraham to sacrifice his firstborn son, Issac. Abraham was faithful to obey God. God provided a ram that was caught in a thicket of thorns- that took the place of Issac. Abraham feared God and God provided for Him. God again spoke of His Inheritance. Look at the parallels from OT to NT. The gospel was being told even then. Ram and Jesus, innocent blood that took the place, thicket of thorns. COOL! When inheritance is talked about, there are always 3 elements: Presence- When we talk about inheritance, usually someone has died and their presence is no longer with us. However, when Jesus died, His presence is now with us through the Holy Spirit, he will never leave us nor forsake us. We have already inherited His Presence! People- part of our inheritance are the people around us- at work, school, church, family... Property- In Numbers 26:52, they took a "roll call" and divided the people into their tribes and then according to how many there were, they were assigned property. They were assigned their portion of property. v.5-6: You have assigned to me my portion! My lot is secure! My boundary lines have been set up in pleasant places! My inheritance is beautiful! We are an heiress of God! Our inheritance is beautiful! Over the next week, I will post the 8 points that Beth taught us about our inheritance. Hope you enjoy it!

PICTURES!!!!!!!!

This is Veronica with Miesta Moose! Beth meets Miesta Moose!

They came all the way from Wyoming!

Love the sunglasses!

These are pictures of the Q&A panel during the Siesta Fiesta. We were able to ask Beth, Amanda and Melizza questions, NO, I didn't ask, I was scared I'd cry if I spoke! One of the most important things that I got from this, that spoke directly to me was, do not let you quiet time become your ministry time. My quiet time is my time with God. (Now, I'm adding in my stuff. But I remind myself of this alot. This is where God speaks directly to me and I need to value that most.) But she said if you're in ministry or teach a class, or whatever, don't use your quiet time to prepare for your lesson. That needs to be separate. And start each day, before God, before anything else, give it to him. Even if it's only a minute. Just bow down and give your day to Him.

Beth and Melissa and

Amanda, Beth and Melissa

This next picture is a lady that I was sitting by on Saturday. It was our commission statement. I call it our vow!~ Her and I were loners, so we paired up and said our statements together. We were both bawling by the time it was over! She has a great ministry. Her husband just died several months ago. They rode bikes and they helped with Homeless Missons. She also sells Mary Kay and has been known to go over the the transition home and give women free makeovers. I thought that was so sweet! Of course, you know we love bikers in this family! I thought it was so good of her that she is keeping in her ministry. She said all the people that they serve with have been very good to help take care of her. And, of course, you know me, I didn't write her name down. UGH!!! I hate that about myself! Anyway, I gave her by blog address. If you should happen to see this picture of yourself, would you comment and tell me your name? It's killin me!!!!

These are two ladies from the Siesta Fiesta. Lisa, the Preacher Wife! and Patty! These ladies are so sweet and I'm glad to have been able to meet them. They worked so hard to put this thing together. So did Holly and Kim, but I did not get pictures :(

BTW- I did straighten my hair, but the humidity, oh my goodness! It's awful, just awful!

This is Julie and myself! We are eating dinner the night before it is time to go home. We had such a good time! The waiter took a really really long time so we were there about three hours, it couldv'e been longer, I lost track of time!

This is Angie, Julie, Cari, Kristi, and Shanda standing behind Kristi. This is us four standing outside the Alamodome Friday night after the conference.

Angie, Cari, Me, Julie, Kristi

Saying Goodbye :(

This was an incredible experience for me. When I get home, I am going to work on my notes and soak it all in. God's presence was strong; he spoke to me and I can imagine that he spoke to everyone at this event. I have had a great time but I am ready to see my kids and my husband! I've really missed them all. Tonight I met with the ladies that I told you about in the earlier post and we had dinner. They have been so much fun and I know that we will be friends forever now! We met at the Fully Loaded conference. Now, you know, I couldn't remember all their names the other night and so I need to tell you the one I forgot! Her name is Julie, and when she reads this, she probably isn't gonna want to be my friend anymore because I forgot her name! She has such a great, spunky personality, I don't know how I could have forgotten it! Of course, it is probably because we called her Lion! Ha!Ha! okay, funny story! At Fully Loaded, I took a training class that taught you about personalities. We took quizzes and then it would tell you what animal you were. Well, we were talking about it over dessert that night and we were laughing because several of us were Lions, in other words, we like to take charge and tell everybody what to do. Like I said, I thought we were gonna get thrown out of the restaurant! Anyway, we've pretty much have called each other that all weekend! Or whatever personality was showing up, we'd call it out. Except for Kristi, she doesn't talk much, probably cause she doesn't get an opportunity to with all of us! She's the quiet one. She's a golden retriever. Sweet:) Honestly, getting out of the car tonight was sad. I am going to miss them so much. I really connected with them and it just felt like I'd known them forever. We laughed so much tonight and we were able to discuss what we learned. We each shared our stories and what God spoke to us. Angie leads her women's ministry, so her and I talked about sharing some of our ideas and they had another friend that I met tonight. Her name was Shanda. She has such wisdom and the words that she spoke to me was exactly what I needed. She is a great Godly woman. I am so thankful that God put us all together. Oh and just so you know, Cari and Julie are the crazy ones! Once it hits 10, it's over! The rest of us behaved! :) Cari home schools her kids and she's really smart. Tonight we all passed around pics of the kids. I think were all ready to get back and see them! Well, I can't wait to get home and see everyone. Our Daniel Bible Study starts in about two weeks! I cannot wait to get started on it! I think last I checked, we have 8 signed up at church and around 6 for my home group. Everyone that I talked with here said it was good. It was one of their favorites. If you haven't signed up yet and would like to, let me know. I will see you soon! Bridgette Here's some reading for you. It was our focus scripture from Beth. Next week I'll start posting points that she gave us. For now, meditate on this. Psalm 16, read the entire Psalm, but the emphasis will be verses 5 & 6..

New Friends!

The women's conference was great. It was exactly what I needed! I love the way God works, it amazes me. It really does. I met new friends! :) Some were from the area, some from Midland, some from Oklahoma, and I think the other group of ladies that I met were from the Dallas area. Having a hard time remembering that and I spent more time with them! We finished the conference last night around 9:30pm and went and had dessert at a place called Mimi's cafe. Great place. We had also ate there for lunch as well. That is where I first ran into them but we did not sit together. We actually sat together at the church for supper and then for closing worship. So, since we didn't sit together at that neat little place for lunch, we decided that we would go there for dessert. We had such a great time! Their names were Angie, Kristi, Cari, and I think I've forgotten the other name! I am so bad at that. Maybe it will come back to me. We're going to hook up later this afternoon. We laughed so much, they were so funny! I thought we might get kicked out! I also met a nice lady named Denise. Some of the other ladies I met were Jennifer, Patrice, and there was a lady who is called frozen chozen on her blog but now I can't remember her real name! They were all trying to help me get back to the church this morning and back here at the hotel in time for my lunch at Pico de Gallo! But the times were not matching up so it didn't work out. I didn't want to spend the money on the rental car again today so I turned it in this morning. I had a good morning though. I did some shopping and took some pictures, reflected on yesterday's lessons...you get the picture. Now I'm getting ready to go have lunch! Oh, before I forget I also met these other ladies at the opening worship. I can only remember two of there names, we sat side by side, It was Beth, Bridgette(me), Brenda! We thought that was funny. It was great worship led by Kelly Minter. She has a great voice. Last night, Travis Cottrell led worship for us. He gave us some encouraging words. Remember this particular conference is for women who are leading women's minsitry, so he was speaking to us on that. But I thought how relevant for us all. Not only is he a great singer, he is also a great speaker! Everytime I hear him, he is always so encouraging. Anyway this is what he said and then I'm going to lunch! You all have a great day! There are times when we are called to serve and we can get overwhelmed or think that the job might be too big for us! If God has called you, he has CHOSEN you to serve. Keep your posture. Keep walking in His Power. In Jeremiah, he tells us that He has set up boundries for us in pleasant places! He is with us. Keep our hearts open to Him. KEEP YOUR POSTURE. I. LOVE. THAT. STATEMENT! KEEP YOUR POSTURE!

Learning to do new things!

I had a great flight! I was able to ride first class and I had a window seat! It is so cool to look down at the clouds. Of course, then my mind gets to wondering, What kind of clouds are those? Stratus, Cumulus, then I said okay Bridgette, it's time to start reading your book! I am still reading Believing God. When I arrived here, I took a taxi to the hotel. I had the best Taxi in San Antonio! That is what the taxi driver said! He was very friendly and gave me history and points of interest on the town. very nice! Then I came to hotel, and went to the Riverwalk! It is so neat! I ate at a little mexican restaurant right on the river called Rita's mexican and margarita bar. NO, I did not have a margarita! I would not have been able to find my way back to the hotel! Besides, I'm wired and crazy enough without adding any substance! Of course, as Beth Moore says, We are Women of Means... Women of Substance! ANYWAY, I am leaving in just a moment to go to the women's conference, I am renting a car. so, got me to thinking... I have taken trips by myself before but it has been a long time. The first time I flew in an airplane, I was sixteen. I saved my money and bought a round trip ticket to Houston to see my Grandma. I flew all by myself out there and back. It was fun! I'm so glad that my mother let me do that. I know she was probably a nervous wreck because at that time, she had never even flown in a plane! I have driven to Houston by myself and also had to drive to Greensboro and Charlotte on business. Now, I am doing some other things I have never done before, like... renting a car! riding in a taxi! eating at a restaurant by myself! (I would usually get drive thru and take it back) walking around this place with noone but me, myself, and I! I was just walking up and down the Riverwalk, looking and soaking it all in, and I would have no one to talk to or show, except for God. So, I talked to Him! Don't get scared, they didn't come lock me up for insanity or anything, I didn't talk out loud! Although I usually do! But, I had a nice time yesterday and I know I am today! It's just amazing that even at the age of Sixteen, God had a plan for me and he was preparing me. I had someone ask, have you ever done anything like this before? Well.. some. Obviously, this is a much bigger time span and requires a little more. Of course, I am an adult now! I can do a little more! So, yes in a way, I have done things like this before. But also, I'm learning to do new things! For so long, I was afraid to do new things. So, today, I'm headed to do something else new! I'm going to go rent this car and head to a women's minsitry leader conference with not one single person that I know! and I'm sure that by the time I leave there today, I will have some new friends! Tomorrow and the rest of the trip, I will be with all the ladies who are coming to the Beth Moore event. I can't wait to get to this conference and see what God has in store! Hope you all have a good day! Love, Bridgette

Well, the day has finally arrived! Yea! I'm leaving here in about 5 minutes, (as soon as I get done writing this!) to head to my Dad's. He is taking me to the airport, where I will hopefully get on the flight that leaves at 8:43! That's the bad part about flying standby! Pray that I get there and get back with ease and that the flights are not full! That would be me, stuck at the airport, ready to go and can't go! Anyway, I can't wait to get there and see what all I'm gonna learn. I will be attending the women's leadership conference Thursday and Friday. Friday night and Saturday will the Beth Moore LP event. I return on Sunday. My goal is to be able to blog while I'm there and let you know how things are going. I will probably be exhausted by Saturday night! (but will still be too pumped to be exhausted!) Thank you all for being so encouraging and for the prayers you've lifted on my behalf! Pray for the speakers and for all the ladies that are traveling there and back. Pray that God will speak to each of us. That is what I am most excited about! Seeing what God is going to do next! That it will be a life-changing experience. See ya when I get back, Bridgette BTW- we've been getting the kids up and doing their Bible verse, it's working great so far! Of course, like I said, Randy is the last one to venture in! But they just about know their verse by heart now. and they are enjoying learning about Noah. I'm going to miss them while I'm gone, but I am going to enjoy the break! :)

Level of Santification

I started a new thing. In Believing God, we are challenged to a personal level of santification. So, I started thinking about what I needed to do or to give up. God has been laying on my heart for sometime to teach my children what I'm learning. I've tried different things and it's been very challenging with the age differences that we have. But then, again, 2 Peter 1:3-4 came to me. I started reading over again and ideas started to form! This is what I'm gonna do. I myself will get up at 5:30 for my own quiet time. Then I will make sure everyone else is up at 6, Pat is generally already up but it will take a good 15 minutes to get the kids up. We'll all come to the table and have our juice, milk, coffee, whatever. At around 6:25 or 6:30, the kids should be awake enough to retain something! We'll do a short scripture and prayer before everyone heads out for the day. This has been something that has been on my heart for a long time. Starting off everyone's day, not just mine, with a word. Something they can take with them and call on when they need it. So, here's what we are going to start with. How to be Godly and Participate in the things of God. These are some things I jotted down to myself pertaining to what 2 Peter 1:3-4 says:

1. He has given us everything we need so that we can be Godly.

• What is it we need and what has he given us?

2. He has given us His very great and precious promises so that we can participate.

• What are his promises to us?

3. He has given us examples in His Word of others who have participated.

• Who are some people that have seen God's promises and lived by this principle?

I paraphrased this verse, according to each kid, and wrote it on an index card for them. We read over and discussed it's meaning and the topic that we will be learning about. Then we put the index card in their bookbag so that they would have it with them. We even wrote it down for us and are carrying our index card! We are going to take a few months to learn about different Godly men and women in the Bible. We will take a close look at how they relied on God's knowledge and His promises, and they participated in God's will for thier lives and escaped the corruption of the world. The first person we will learn about will be Noah. It will take several months to learn about the different people because we will only discuss and pray for about 5 mins each morning. Just to give them a nugget for the day. Then once a week, we can have a devotional and go into a more detailed lesson/discussion on each person.

I pray that this will work a little easier for us as a family. Not only is it helping us to have a family moment around the table, but it is also teaching them to start their day with God. It will be challenging at times I'm sure! Rebecca likes to get up early and she's not so bad, Tanner is a little grumpy but then perks up, and Randy, well, he's a teenager! I don't think I have to elaborate futher!

I'll keep you posted on how our mornings go!

Partake and Participate

I am currently reading Believing God by Beth Moore. I am between Bible Studies, just finished Stepping Up and will be starting Daniel in September. I've wanted to do this Bible Study but haven't yet, so I'm reading the book. It is great! I find myself marking and highlighting in this book as if I'm working in my workbook! I wanted to share this verse with you because it seemed to jump out at me, especially this weekend! 2 Peter 1:3-4 says, "His divine power has given us everything we need for his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires." That was the NIV version. Here is the New American Standard version. "Seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust." So that we may become PARTAKERS... So that through them you may PARTICIPATE... and ESCAPE the corruption that is in the world by lust. If we want to escape the corruption in this world, we have to participate in the things of God. Our sermon at church this week was titled, A Lustful Lesson! He shared with us that Jesus was talking about the intentions of our hearts. What is in our heart? What are we secretly holding on to? The sin is not the act itself, it begins in the heart. The sin can be anything that is pulling us away from God. God wants to bless us with His great, precious, and magnificent promises. He has given us everything we need, we just need to PARTAKE and PARTICIPATE! Lord, We want to receive your magnificent promises! We thank you that you have given us everything we need to escape the corruption of this world. Father, we know that you have a plan and a purpose for our life. We seek your Will for our lives. We want to know you more. We want to Partake and Participate in the things of your Kingdom. We thank you for your Word and for your knowledge. Thank you, Lord, for loving us. We love you, In Jesus' Name, Amen.

School Has Started!

Well, school has started! My kids went back on Wednesday. I like having my mornings back but right now I have not been able to take advantage of them. I will get into my routine next week! It's been a little crazy around here this week. I took pictures but I can't get my camera to work for some reason, so I can't post them. I've been wanting to post pictures of the FlipFlop event as well. If I ever get it figured out, I will definitely post pictures! The kids have had a good first week of school. Rebecca is loving middle school and has already met several new friends. She is in Chorus this year, so she will have a few performances at the Performing Arts Center. Randy says that this is going to be a good year for him as well! He likes all of his teachers. He started Spanish and he has Stagecraft so he is excited about that class! Tanner came home from school and informed me that First Grade is VERY BORING! (and, you don't get to walk down the hallways by yourself either!) His new thing that he keeps reminding me of is that He is a big boy now. He is almost 7 years old and he is in the First grade! He thinks he doesn't need me anymore! Until it is bedtime and he wants me to snuggle with him before he goes to sleep. Reminds me of the Psalm we just did in Stepping Up. Psalm 131:2 But I have stilled and quieted my soul; like a weaned child with its mother, like a weaned child, is my soul within me. We talked about being like that with God. Weaned and independent, but not so independent that we do not rely on Him. We rest in Him. Still and Quiet. We give Him our day. Independent enough that we do what He has called us for, but Dependent enough that we allow Him to guide us through it. I hope you all have had a good week. Let's remember to pray for our school systems; the leaders, teachers, students and the parents!