Psalm 8

1 O LORD, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!
You have set your glory
above the heavens.

2 From the lips of children and infants
you have ordained praise
because of your enemies,
to silence the foe and the avenger.

3 When I consider your heavens,
the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars,
which you have set in place,

4 what is man that you are mindful of him,
the son of man that you care for him?

5 You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings
and crowned him with glory and honor.

6 You made him ruler over the works of your hands;
you put everything under his feet:

7 all flocks and herds,
and the beasts of the field,

8 the birds of the air,
and the fish of the sea,
all that swim the paths of the seas.

9 O LORD, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!

God is Good, ALL the Time! I Can't Seem to Say it Enough!

As I have mentioned before, God is good.....ALL the time!! He has just been making Himself known to me in such a tangible way. He is making me brave for Him! He is giving me courage and strength to do and say things I wouldn't have done on my own! He is visibly working and moving in my own family and in our church family, and this weekend was no exception!
Our youngest son B, was "babatized" Sunday morning! He was SO excited to show physically what the Savior had done in his heart. I was awe-filled by how GREAT our God is and again at the miracle of salvation! My heart is near exploding with gratitude and love! Along with B, we had a mother, daughter, and son baptized as well. The daughter had been to our VBS and Our pastor and his wife went and visited them afterward. They all three came to know Jesus as their Lord and Savior. Scottie, the son, is on Lee's Cross Country team and has been a force of nature for the Gospel. When God changes a person, He CHANGES them! On top of that we had a family of four come forward to make public their decision to follow Christ as well!
(If you would like to know how you can experience this joy and change, click here!)
God is SOOOO good!
The women of our church also did Cardboard Testimonies! It was one of the most powerful things I have ever witnessed and been a part of! God used every single one of those testimonies to minister to the hearts of the people who saw them. There was not a dry eye in the place! Every woman participating shared a part of themselves and that was very difficult for many of us! Again, He is giving us courage and strength to do and say things we wouldn't do on our own.
We will be doing it again for our 2nd Annual Women's Day Retreat on Saturday, September 12th at Lakeside Baptist Church from 9:00am-3:00pm! Please come and invite your friends! It's completely free and everyone is welcome!
To God be ALL glory, honor, and praise!

This is Me!

My name is Sara and I have alopecia. Alopecia is an autoimmune disease that attacks the hair follicles causing them to die and fall out. It can vary from small bald spots to total hair loss. Mine first appeared when I was ten years old. By the time I was thirteen, my hair had grown back and we saw no signs that the alopecia would flare up again. However, in September 2006, I found a quarter-sized bald spot. Alopecia had made another appearance. For months, hiding it was what consumed my life, my thoughts, and all my emotions. Over the course of those months, I eventually lost every bit of my hair, including my eyebrows and eyelashes. I sank into a deep pit of self-loathing and hatred. I felt stripped of my femininity. I felt ugly. I hated the woman I saw starring back at me in the mirror. I would go for days locked in my home, hiding from the world. Others in my life and even my own self, kept telling me, “It’s simply cosmetic. It’s only hair. At least you’re not sick. You should be thankful for that.” And I was! But I still felt horribly ugly. I was angry with my body. It wasn’t the first time I felt like it had failed me. We lost two babies prior to this; our first miscarriage (our third child), on September 5, 2004 and our second miscarriage (our fourth child) on June 3, 2005. Why? I asked that question many times. The answer ringing in my spirit was always, “To bring Him glory!” I wanted Christ to be glorified in my life, but I couldn’t imagine how this would accomplish that. After a while, I got used to living my life bald. The shame and pain was still there, but I got good at hiding it.

That was all until God decided He had had enough of my self-loathing. I was convicted. I started praying the Lord would clean me and sanctify me, so that I could fulfill the destiny that He has for me. In that process, He began to teach me what true beauty is, what it looks like, and how He sees me.

First, beauty is on the inside.

1 Peter 3:3-4 “Your beauty should not come from outward adornment….Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of the Lord.”

I was so concerned with the reflection I saw in the mirror, that I had failed to recognize and tend to the inside reflection. What was I really reflecting? Was I reflecting Christ to others through a quiet and gentle spirit, or was I so wrapped up in me that I reflected insecurity, anxiety, and pride? As I started focusing on Him and on being a reflection of Him, I found that I focused much less on the outside.



Second, the LORD of lords and King of kings thinks I am beautiful! He told me so!

Song of Solomon 4:7 "All beautiful you are, my darling; there is no flaw in you."
Psalm 45:11 "The King will greatly desire your beauty; Because He is your Lord, worship Him."

To put a question mark where God puts a period is to doubt God Himself! He commands me to trust Him in everything! He calls me BEAUTIFUL.(period!)


Last but most certainly not least, He made me EXACTLY the way He intended me to be. He saw my days before there was one. He calls me fearfully and wonderfully made.(period!)

Psalm 139:13-16 “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.”

This is who I am. This is how God made me! I’m a wife to Lee, a mom to Hunter and Braden, a mommy to two babies in heaven, a daughter, a sister, an aunt, a granddaughter, a friend, a niece, a cousin, a youth pastor’s wife, a Reality Check presenter, a worshiper and follower of Jesus Christ, and daughter of the KING of Kings; who is bald! Is it the worst thing that could, or even has, happened to me? NO! Is it still difficult sometimes, as it would be for anyone? Absolutely! But because He is my Lord, I will worship Him always, in every season! I will trust Him in everything! He picked me up out of that dark pit and has given me joy and a new song!

Psalm 40:2-4

He brought me up from a desolate pit,
out of the muddy clay,
and set my feet on a rock,
making my steps secure.

He put a new song in my mouth,
a hymn of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear,
and put their trust in the LORD.

How happy is the man
who has put his trust in the LORD

Brave

Tomorrow I will blog a post that has taken all the courage I have! He makes me want to brave, so He can get the Glory!

Psalm 37

Psalm 37

Do not fret because of evil men
or be envious of those who do wrong;
for like the grass they will soon wither,
like green plants they will soon die away.
Trust in the LORD and do good;
dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.
Delight yourself in the LORD
and he will give you the desires of your heart.
Commit your way to the LORD;
trust in him and He will do this:
He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn,
the justice of your cause like the noonday sun.
Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him;
do not fret when men succeed in their ways,
when they carry out their wicked schemes.
Refrain from anger and turn from wrath;
do not fret—it leads only to evil.

My Dear Sister
God has not overlooked you
He has not ignored you
He hears every petition
And intimately knows
The heart beneath it.
Give Him full access
To all your longings
Pray every single day
To become a person who delights in Him.
When it seems to disappear
Remember to check your JAW
Are you Jealous?
Are you Angry?
Are you Worried?
Roll it all on Jesus
He's strong enough to carry it
Big enough to handle it.
Trust God with all your heart
Now leave this place
And go into the world
And do some GOOD. (Taken from LPM blog)

You Know Me

This weekend I went to a Beth Moore simulcast. The Lord completely captivated me all over again. As I sat there Friday night, awe of His love and the absolute miracle of God Himself reaching down to love and delight in us, washed over me afresh! The words to a song that I had heard as a teenager, came flooding into my heart and mind again like I had just heard it! Thought I would just share them with you. It's based from Psalm 139.

"You search me, You know me.
You see my every move.
There's nothing I could ever do
to hide myself from You.
You know my thoughts, my fears and hurts,
my weaknesses and pride.
You know what I am going through,
and how I feel inside.

But even though You know,
You will always love me.
Even though You know,
You'll never let me go.
I don't deserve Your love,
but you give it freely.
You will always love me,
even though You know."

And in Your Holy Name, I give You praise! Amen!

God is Good....... ALL the Time!

The last few days have been a whirlwind and I haven't had much time to blog or anything else for that matter. But I have some PRAISE to share!! I am overwhelmed and at moments simply overcome with tears over our Great God and the undeserved love that He showers upon us!
On Tuesday night, my little boy Braden accepted Jesus as his Savior! Hunter, my oldest, in his goodnight prayer prayed over his little brother that he would understand his need for a Savior. After that prayer, Braden started asking some questions. I answered the best I knew how, all the while doing some heavy praying for God to grant me wisdom. After the questions Braden said he wanted to do it "RIGHT NOW, when I'm six!". I asked why and he said, "I know bubba was seven when he did it, but I can't wait that long! I have to have Jesus in my heart tonight!!" So we prayed together! What an honor and an answer to prayer! When Hunter had wanted to ask the Lord into his heart several months ago, his daddy and I put him off a little bit. We wanted to make sure he understood. Well, a few minutes later he came out of his room saying, "I just went ahead and did it without you. I was tired of waiting!" So this time, we also wanted to make sure there was understanding, but wanted to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit. Our God is good, ALL the time! Even when we are a little thickheaded! :)
My heart wept before the God who saves, as my son repented of his sins and asked the Lord to come in. As soon as Braden had prayed, Hunter proclaimed "It's official! Praise the Lord! Braden is finally a part of the family of God!" There was much rejoicing and jumping around in the Wood home! OUR GOD IS SO GOOD ALL THE TIME!! He gives and blesses us so much more than we could EVER deserve! Will you join with me in praise to our Great King?

Yesterday, one day after the miracle that is salvation, Braden had an accident on the playground at school. He ran head first into a low hanging tree branch, it impaled him right under the eye and he was scraped up quit a bit. I received a phone call to come and get him to take him for stitches. We rushed to the doctor and (praise God!) were told that stitches wouldn't be necessary. However, they did have to dig out tree bark and debris that was deeply embedded into the wound. It was his first traumatic injury!
He definitely has a pretty black eye and a great war wound out of the deal! The doctor said it was a miracle that it didn't get his eye. It came as close as it possibly could without doing serious damage to the eye itself. Again, our God is good all the time!

Tonight I'm going to be leading in some worship at a revival service at Open Door Baptist Church. I'm very nervous. I haven't done anything like this before, and I want to bring God honor and glory and for Him to be worshiped and loved tonight. That is my hearts prayer! Captivate us, Lord Jesus!

I really can't say it enough, GOD IS GOOD ALL THE TIME!!! Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, Who was and is and is to come! ALL honor and glory and power, be unto YOU!!!

Again I ask you, will you join with me in praise to the Lamb, the King of kings and Lord of lords, the God who is Good ALL the time?