I know who loves me.

Today I learned about copy poetry. I woke up this morning with the chorus of Aaron Neville's, "I don't know much but I know I love you," song running through my mind. But I changed the words and sung, "I don't know much, but I know who loves me."  So I decided to look up the rest of the song and create my own version.  I emailed a colleague to make sure it wasn't plagiarism and she informed me that it is copy poetry and as long as I site my source I'm in the clear. 

 

 I know who loves me.

Look at this face, I know I may be glowing.

Look at this life, I finally know where I’m going.

I don’t know much but I know who loves me and that may be all I need to know.

Look at these eyes, they finally see what matters.

Look at these dreams, now Christ centered

I don’t know much but I know who loves me and that may be all I need to know.

 

So many questions, God provided the answers.

So much I have broken through.

And when I feel him near me, I always see so clearly.

The only truth I’ve ever known, is his love for me and you.

Look at this woman, so blessed with inspiration.

Look at this soul, finally found salvation.

I don’t know much but I know who loves me and that may be all I need to know.

I don't know much but I know who loves me and that may be all I need to know.

I don't know much but I know who loves me and that may be all I need to know.

 

 

 

Original Song, "I don't know much but I know I love you" written by,

Songwriters: MANN, BARRY / WEIL, CYNTHIA / SNOW, TOM



 

 



The Lord Loves Me and Is Watching Over My Family!!

Psalm 121:7 “The Lord keeps you from all harm and watches over your life.”

Over the past year, my 3 year old son has been seeing an eye doctor because his right eye hasn't been moving correctly.  After a few visits, the doctor decided to send him for an MRI to see if any growths/tumors could be preventing the nerve from working properly.

His MRI was this past Tuesday (Jan 29, 2013). Today we received a phone call from the pediatrician and Kyle has an infection called Mastoiditis. It is an infection in the air pockets in the skull behind his ear.

 PRAISE THE LORD that Kyle had the MRI!!!!!! 

Otherwise, we would not have detected the Mastoiditis. Kyle has had ear discharge for the last year also, but his pediatrician said it was no big deal and instructed me to keep washing it with soap and water. Kyle has not had a fever or any signs of pain.  If undetected, Mastoiditis can have some very serious health risks. I will allow you to research it more if you are interested. I won't go into all those details now.

We received a phone call from the eye doctor today too, but we were unable to reach him.  We will know more tomorrow. We are still unsure if this has anything to do with his eye movement and we are unsure if there are any other results from the MRI.

Tomorrow Kyle has an appointment with his pediatrician and we will begin treatments for the Mastoiditis.  I do not know what all that will entail. It could be as simple as draining the infection and taking antibiotics or it could mean surgery and tubes in his ears.

All I know is that the Lord is watching over my little Kyle.  God loves me and he loves my family.

My 2nd grader brings me homework.

Christopher is star of the week at school.  As part of the celebration, his parents had to write a letter or a story about him.  Here's what I came up with. I thought it was too cute not to share. :) 

Once upon a time, in the Land of Davison, there lived a beautiful Queen, Niki, and her King Nugget.  They dreamed and dreamed of one day having a little Nug to follow in the King’s footsteps.  They waited for five years before seeking the assistance of the town’s wizard.  The wizard cast a spell on the two of them and the beautiful queen became pregnant with the new prince.  The prince was born on November 29^th and they named him Christopher Daniel.  He was the most handsome prince of all.  He had beautiful blue eyes, gorgeous blonde hair and the most precious smile in all the land. 

At first the King and Queen thought the wizard may have made a mistake. They thought their handsome prince might be part turtle.  The prince would stretch out his neck and pucker his lips and he looked like a turtle popping his head out of his shell.    So they sent him on a trip on his valiant stead, his brave horse, back to the wizard.  After much testing, it was decided that he was a pure boy!!!

As Christopher grew he was such a big helper.  He helped his mother, the queen, put groceries away and he helped with laundry. He was so strong and brave. He always drank lots of milk and ate good food which made him have strong muscles.

When Christopher was four years old, the King and Queen visited the wizard again and Christopher became a big brother.

Christopher was a wonderful big brother. He taught his little brother to be brave and strong. Christopher and his brother, Kyle, would sword fight in the castle.  They would also have wrestling matches with the King.  Christopher and Kyle wanted to be big giants just like their father. 

Christopher became a very good soccer and baseball player. He loved anything that involved running, throwing or hitting a ball. He practiced most of the time.  Sometimes he would take a break and sing and dance with his mother.  Oh, how she loved those moments.  Dancing and singing with her sons in the kitchen was one of her favorite things to do, especially when prince, Christopher would bust out his shuffle.  He was a great singer and dancer. J 

Christopher learned to love Jesus and trusted God with all of his heart.   He loved to read.  He loved school.  He loved his friends.  He was very silly and loved to have fun.  He loved to play video games too.  His favorite was Skylanders. 

The King and Queen were very, very, very proud of their son, the prince.  They loved him so much and knew that someday he was going to do a great job when he would take over the Kingdom. 

Wait.....

Psalm 27:14, "Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.

I was reading Revelation recently and there is so much in this book of the bible that I just don't understand, YET!   But there was a reoccurring theme and phrase..."This calls for patient endurance and faithfulness on the part of the saints."  Revelation 13:10  and again in Revation 14:12, "This calls for patient endurance on the part of the saints who obey God's commandments and remain faithful to Jesus."

My prayer for today is to be patient and wait upon the Lord and his timing.  I pray that whatever you might be going through that God will give you patience also. 

Trust his timing today. Check out these songs.

In his time.

Silently now I wait for Thee, Ready, my God, Thy will to see;

Click on the links above and have a blessed day.

               ~niki~

Instruction Manual

Have you ever had those times when you question, "WHAT am I suppose to do with my life?" or someone asks you to explain, "WHY" you do what you do? Lately I have been asking God WHAT he wants me to do? Today I began reading Titus and I was once again reminded that everything I need is in this book. God has written us and Instruction Manual for life, we must just open and read it.

WHAT must I do?  

"You must teach what is in accord with sound doctrine. Teach the older men to be temperate, worthy of respect, self-controlled, and sound in faith, in love and in endurance. Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers and addicted to much to wine, but to teach what is good. Then they can train the younger woman to love thier husbands and children, to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God. Similarly, encourage the young men to be self-controlled. In everything set then an example by doing what is good. In your teaching show integrity, seriousness and soundness of speech that cannot be condemned, so that those who oppose you may be ashamed because they have nothing bad to say about us. Teach slaves to be subject to thier master in everything, (i took this to mean employees be subject to your employer), to try to please them, not to talk back to them, and not to steal from them, but to show that they can be fully trusted, so that in every way they will make the teaching about God our Savior attractive. "  Titus 2:1-10

As a teacher, I am continually trying to convince my students that what I am teaching them is something they need to know. I mean really, who needs to have the quadractic formula memorized? How many of us use that daily? So as I read this today, I did not read it from a teacher's perspective saying "oh this is what I must teach others." I want to know what God wants me to do.  I consider myself to fall under the "younger woman" category.  So I need to love my husband and children, be self-controlled and pure, be busy at home (keep my home in ORDER, Pastor Allen preached on that last Sunday), be kind, be subject to my husband.  That's where I am now. I need to be doing those things.  But I also look ahead to my "older" years.  As I get older I need to be reverent in the way I live, not be a slanderer, not be addicted to wine and teach what is good, and train younger woman.  As an employee, I need to be subject to my bosses, try to please them, not talk back to them, not steal from them, show that I can be fully trusted and make the teaching about God MY Savior attractive.  Be the light!!

It wasn't long ago that my life had the motto of the Cyndi Lauper song "Girls just want to have fun." But today as I read this chapter in Titus, I had a longing in me that wants to follow these guidelines that Paul gives us in the book of Titus. To a worldly person they definately don't sound "FUN", but I have found that as I follow God's guidelines, he fills me with joy, so much joy that my cup runnith over with joy, happiness, peace, love, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.  The fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22) is the reward.  I used to chase after things that were "fun" and try to fill my own life with things and people that would make me happy, joyful and loved. I chased and chased, I would feel happy for a little while then have to keep chasing something more to keep filled with happiness and joy. 
BUT now that I LISTEN and OBEY, God fills my cup every day.

WHY do I do what I do?

"At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life. "    Titus 3:3-7

I will never foget the moment that God's kindness and love appeared to me.  I was raised in a Christian home and I knew "of" God's love and mercy, but it wasn't until I was 32 years old that he appeared to me. I had been living a life of lies. I tried to look good on the outside but on the inside I was a twisted and tangled mess. Who I was as a person depended on who I was with at the time.  I was a chameleon. I blended in with whatever crowd I was around.  I was fake, as fake as someone could get.  Until one day, I looked in the mirror and it was as if I could see right through myself. I couldn't see ME. I was playing out so many lies, I didn't even know who I was. I seriously said out loud, "WHO ARE YOU?"  I cried out to God. I asked him HOW in the world I was going to untangle all the lies and get out of the mess I had created. And he said, "THE TRUTH WILL SET YOU FREE!"  I didn't hear it with my human ears. It was God speaking directly to my soul. I began to question, how exactly he was going to untangle my mess and he replied, "JUST TRUST ME, I WILL LEAD YOU THROUGH EACH STEP." I began to put 100% of my trust in him. I started taking baby steps forward and began following my Lord and Savior will all of my heart, soul and mind.

I vowed that day in November of 2010, to start telling the truth....ALWAYS.  And God is putting the pieces of me back together. Through his mercy and grace, he is setting my path straight. I have never in my life felt more joy, happiness, peace, love, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. 

I want to listen and obey, so that God will fill my cup every day.

I stand amazed at what the Lord has provided us in his word.  In the small book of Titus, I am reminded WHAT I need to do and WHY I do it!!  Thank you, Lord for leading me and guiding me today. I love you!

            ~Niki~

One Down and One more to go!

Well I completed my Algebra 1 online course. :)  I passed!!! :)  Now I am working on my Geometry course. I am learning so much about what is available online for each of the courses I teach.  There is absolutely NO excuse for my students not to be successful in my classes. There is so much information available to them.  You can learn anything online.  About a month ago, I was looking for a creative way to decorate a birthday present and I looked up origami butterflies. In just about an hour, I had mastered the concept of creating origami butterflies. As I logged in to my blog today, I realized that they have changed EVERYTHING!!  So now I am off to learn more about how to post on here and upload some pictures.

Spring Break 2012

Spring Break has arrived!!  Praise the Lord!!  I spent the first weekend in Chicago with my sisters and my mom.  It was a great time!  We had great food and wonderful conversations. I miss my sisters very much and it was wonderful to get to connnect with them.  Now that I am home I am working hard to complete my online classes.  I created  a wiki today.  I don't really know if I will ever be able to use it in the secondary classroom but I hope to use it for my future bible studies.  I pray that God will show me how I can use all of this technology for his purpose.
Speaking of bible studies, I completed my second one last week and I look forward to the next one. :)