March 16, 2009

My verse for March 15: "As you come to Him, the living Stone - rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to Him - you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ."
1 Peter 2:4-5 (NIV)

Here is the Message version: "Welcome to the living Stone, the source of life. The workmen took one look and threw it out; God set it in the place of honor. Present yourselves as building stones for the construction of a sanctuary vibrant with life, in which you'll serve as holy priests offering Christ-approved lives up to God."

I discovered this verse in God's Word in 2004. I really like this verse because I have always loved collecting rocks and stones since I was a little girl. I try to collect a few rocks from each place I visit. I have also found that my granddaughter, Erica likes rocks...as well as her mommy Elizabeth, which I just found out on our cruise this past week! So I will be passing this verse along to them!

I read in the Bible that Jesus is the cornerstone...the foundation...our foundation. He is referred to in this verse as "the living Stone". To know that I can join Christ as a "living stone" in the building of His sanctuary is awesome!! I think of the rocks and stones I've collected as beautiful pieces of God's creation...but never as living. And they are not living....but Christ is ALIVE! He is our living Stone....THE foundation that we need to build our lives on. I want to be sure to live my life for Christ...to be Christ-approved before God. I want to encourage others to live their lives in the same way...so we can all join together as living stones with Christ in the building of His spiritual house....His sanctuary...to serve together as a holy priesthood for God.
By memorizing His Word this year...and for the remainder of my life...I am building my life on His Word. As I keep coming to Him throughout ALL circumstances in my life...the good ones and the bad ones....not just remembering Him when I need something or need some help....I will place myself as a stone in His house and keep it there. I cannot think of a better place to be!!!

On a family note: We really enjoyed our cruise these last few days! We returned home today from Jacksonville. We sailed on Carnival Fascination to the Bahamas. We had our children - Courtney, Shane, Elizabeth, Breonna, son-in-law, Scott, and granddaughters Erica and Layla with us...this was their Christmas gift!! Shane, Elizabeth and Breonna had the whole ship explored within an hour of boarding. If we needed to know where something was...just had to ask them!

We visited Port Lucaya in Freeport..this was a nice beach/shopping area. Erica and Layla LOVED playing in the sand and walking to the ocean! This was Erica's first time ever on a beach! She saw the ocean on the ship before she ever saw a beach!! I also got to test the baby powder theory...yes, it works great for getting the sand off the babies! I never knew this before, but recently read about it before the trip. Of course, Courtney had baby powder with her too...she had heard it also!

Next day was Nassau. We took a ferry over to the Blue Lagoon Island. I HIGHLY recommend this, especially to families with small children. It is protected from the ocean, so the water is very calm...small ripples so the kids can play in the water without getting knocked over. It was gorgeous...very clean everywhere. Lunch was included and they had dolphins and sea lions. Layla was taken to the dolphin encounter...she got a kiss from Stormy, the dolphin. She didn't like the dolphin sounds though!! My highlight of the day was my nap in a hammock with Erica!! I could have stayed there all day with that great breeze blowing! It did get a little cool after a while...had to have Papa bring us another towel to wrap up in!!

We got an unexpected treat....we got to watch the space shuttle launch while on our last day on the ship coming back from the Bahamas! I got some good video and pictures of it! That was a cool addition to our trip....we booked a perfect time to take a cruise without knowing it!!!

I'll see if I can figure out how to post pictures on here later....