My Verses of the Year: 2009!!

John 15
"I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.
"I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.
"As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. This is my command: Love each other.



Each year as the holidays come to an end and the new year begins, God puts a verse, or verses on my heart. I usually pray over them for a few days, and then adopt them as my "Verses of the Year". The first step is to memorize them, then God has me meditate on them at different times throughout the year. It has been awesome to see how God has used the verses He gave me in January much later in the year, when I have almost forgotten about them! Well, this year it is a fairly well known section of scripture. I have bits and pieces of it already memorized, but I do look forward to learning the whole thing in context of the other verses!

I was thinking about these verses when I read them as my daily scripture in a new devotional I am doing. God is always good about confirming things! So, I am thrilled, and scared when I read(really read)these verses. I have been feeling lately like I need to simplify my spiritual life like I have my daily life. I need to get back to the basics(not that I have been far off). I need to focus on reading my Bible, prayer, and helping others in Jesus name. I am excited to see where this new year will take me!

During the Christmas break, we went to lunch after church one day with all the kids. We were sitting at a mexican food place talking about church, life and the new year. The kids all said they wanted to adopt more kids. They have been saying this even though we have a new baby at home! (We told them a while back to pray for a different house if they want a bigger family...We are full!) This is when Brian said he feels that we should be praying for our situation in regards to adoption, and for what our families' growing involvement in Africa might be. This is a big statement from Brian.

So, where is God leading our family? I don't knowexactly. I do know we will dig deeper into His word and prayer. We will continue to grow through serving the people in our community and at church. Hopefully we will finalize Baby J.'s adoption!! Please pray that whereever God leads we will follow!