Psalm 34:1-3
1I will bless the Lord at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth. 2My soul shall make her boast in the Lord: the humble shall hear thereof, and be glad. 3O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together.

Thinking just of myself I can't imagine how much negativity I spread with what comes out of my mouth every day. It's so easy to complain or talk others down... Why? I often catch myself gossiping or saying things that aren't nice, or yelling at my kids. I don't like doing these things. They always leave me feeling miserable. Verse 1 is definitely something I want to apply to my life. I would much rather let the praises of God fill my mouth and go forth for others to hear. I should be magnifying the Glory of God instead of contradicting it with the words spewing from my lips.

I am trying to spend more time reading my Bible :) During the day I find myself watching talk shows and junk tv just because I'm bored. Well no more! Instead I'm going to crack open the good book and fill my mind with the word of God :) I need to keep up to date with my blog postings too so I'll be posting more :)

Philippians 1:12-18
12But I would ye should understand, brethren, that the things which happened unto me have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the gospel; 13So that my bonds in Christ are manifest in all the palace, and in all other places; 14And many of the brethren in the Lord, waxing confident by my bonds, are much more bold to speak the word without fear. 15Some indeed preach Christ even of envy and strife; and some also of good will: 16The one preach Christ of contention, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my bonds: 17But the other of love, knowing that I am set for the defense of the gospel. 18What then? notwithstanding, every way, whether in pretense, or in truth, Christ is preached; and I therein do rejoice, yea, and will rejoice.

Amazing Scripture... Paul sets such a great example to all believers. In spite of being in prison he is able to think of the positive aspects of his situation. He shows all believers that every circumstance can be used and should be used to spread the Gospel.

Paul could have felt sorry for himself and spent his time questioning God and wallowing in self pity. However, he chose instead to praise God. He didn't praise God because he was in prison but because God was still using him to spread the Gospel. I don't think Paul is saying God wants us to be happy when something bad happens to us... That is unnatural. Instead Paul shows us to focus on the good instead of the bad.

Starting in verse 14 Paul talks about people who preach the Gospel for the wrong reasons. The only reason to preach Gods word is out of love for God and unbelievers. In spite of those preaching for their own gain and glorifying in Pauls inprisonment he was able to see past that and just be happy Gods word was being spread. He didn't condemn or judge, he praised God and rejoiced that Christ was being preached.

My uncle Abraham tied the knot. This is him and his lovely new bride Toni!

Me and the Bride ;) Toni

This is me and my uncles Caleb and Aaron.

This is me, my Dad, my sister Misty and her two cuties Macey and Mattie.

This is a picture of the whole clan on the Teerlink side... Well not the whole clan but those who were there. I'm not even going to try to name them all.

Me and my sister Misty :)

Me and my Dad!

Me and my Lovely Grandma Ruby Teerlink.

Me and my Grandpa Abe Teerlink.

Emily was a flower girl in a wedding this last weekend. Chris's cousin Amanda was married on Saturday November 11th. Emily was so excited about being a flower girl. These are pictures from the rehearsal and dinner after. Emily's cousin Devin was the ring bearer. There were two flower girls in the wedding so he had his hands full. I'll post pictures of the wedding tomorrow.