Psalm 108

O God.my heart is fixed : i will sing and give praise, even with my glory. Awake, psaltryand harp: I myself will awake early. I will praise thee, o LORD, among the people: and I will sing praises unto thee among the nations. For thy mercy is great above the heavens: and thy truth reacheth unto the clouds. Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens: and thy glory above all the earth; That thy beloved may be delivered:save with thy right hand, and answer me. God hath spoken in His holiness I will rejoice,.........Who will bring me into the city? who will lead me to Edom? Wilt not thou, O God, who hast cast us off? and wilt not thou, O God, go forth with our hosts? Give us help from trouble: for vain is the help of man. Through God we shall do valiantly. Psalm 108:1-7a & 10-13a

Merry Christmas, Everybody!

"And there where in the same country shepherds abiding in the feild, keeping watch over their flocks by night. And, lo, the angel of the LORD came upon them, and the glory of the LORD shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them; " Fear not: for, behold I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the LORD. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger". And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying; "GLORY TO GOD IN THE HIGHEST, AND ON EARTH PEACE, GOOD WILL TOWARD MEN".
Luke 2:8-14

A Day Taking Photo's!

photo credits go to: Cheryl Kauffman!

That step was suposed to hold us......well it didn't.

GOD is.............

GOD is within all things, but not included. Outside all things, but not excluded, above all things but not beyond their reach.

Kate & Maggie!!!!

My Latest Favorite Passage! ;)

I will love thee, O LORD, my strength. The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower. I will call on the LORD, who is worthy to be praised!

Ps.18:1-3a

A Few Bible School Pictures!

These are a few of the youth I hung out with up in PA.

Top: Anna Reimer and I, Deb Cook and I, Jed Eaton and Nathanael Leibee, Lena Neudorph and I, Anna Reimer, Briana Coats, Lena Neudorph and I.

p.s. i could not get this footnote to behave properly. ;(

Psalm 16

This was one of the passages read at bible school by one of the teachers, I don't remember which one, but it totally stood out to me because it is my testimony.

"Preserve me oh God: for in thee do I put my trust...The LORD is the portion of my inheritance and of my cup: thou maintainest my lot...I will bless the LORD, who hath given me council:...I have set the LORD always before me: he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved...Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth: my flesh also shall rest in hope. For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell;...Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fullness of Joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore."Ps. 16:1,5,7a,8,9-10a,11

Psalm 91

"He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God in Him will I trust.....He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy sheild and buckler....Because he hathset his love upon m, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name. He shall call upon me, and I will answer him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him." Psalm 91:1-2 & 4 & 14-15

Kate Brianna (2) & Maggie Pearl (5mon.)

My very adorable nieces. To see pictures of my other two nephews; Deitrich and Tucker, go to; http://www.MWphotographics.blogspot.com

Isaiah 41:10 &13

"Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strenghen thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hane of my righteousness......For I the LORD thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee."

GED ? Yikes!

Yeah I finaly made the appointment and I'm gonna do it. Oh my! ;) I guess it is about time. Hopfully my mind will work well and I can get it done quickly. lol

A Perfect Heart?

I read this in an online Bible course I am taking and it really hit home so I thought I'd share it. "God is desiring to show forth to the world the greatness of His power and love, but what He needs is a heart that is perfect. ( The word perfect meaning "complete") A heart completely toward Him." LORD, my desire is to be perfect and completely toward you. Here I am LORD, take me and use me.

When God Ran!

When I first heard this song I thought I'd cry! Oh how much He loves us! I hope this touches you as much as it did me.

He loves us so much!

Psalm 73:26

"My flesh and my heart faileth; but God is the strengh of my heart, and my portion forever."
Wow that totally sums me up right now. ;)

Excitment!!

I think that word sums up what I am feeling very poorly, but I am not good with big words like JB is. ;) Anyhow, today I am so excited I can hardly stand it. I spent the night with Joy Weaver and then we went out for coffee this morning and I am serious it is so amazing what God is doing in our lives. I am so overwhelmed. God is giving me a hunger for Him that I have never had before. That's like all I want to talk about and all I want to do is pray, praise and worship Him, spend time in His word. That's something that I am so thankful about my job is it gives me an hour in the car to worship God and all day to read the bible. God is so changing me it is absolutely phenomenal, ( don't laugh to hard, Dad. ;}). Man God is awesome.
"God today I just want to thank you for Your love for us. LORD, as I heard on the radio yesterday, You love and care so much about us, about our relationship with You, that You were willing to do whatever it took to give us eternal life, and that was to die for us, and not only physically but Your Father turned his back on You because You took on all the sin of the world, past, present and future sins. Why? Because You love us so much. LORD in turn may we love You more and more, and may we become living sacrifices for You.
LORD, I love You. Help me to love You more and more. LORD I want them to see You in me."

Those of us who are going to Ohio in about 4 weeks or so, maybe. ;)

L.R. Jed Eaton, Tash Mast, Ducky/Darryl Matthews, Conrad Eaton, Merritt Eaton, Jan Mast, Mari Ella Mast (not pictured) Martha Troyer.

Ok everyone this is one crazy group. It will be an awesome trip. Lol.

My Adorable Nephew!

I totally do not know how I'm gonna' survive 6 days without my "Bucah" (as he calls himself') I just got off the phone with him. I love it when he says; "I love Sadah".

"Nephew" Luke! lol

This is the newest member of the family. Luke has been

living with us for about 2 months now. It's been working out pretty good. Sometimes he and I "bonk" heads but overall it has been very good. We argue as to whether or not he's my nephew. He says he isn't 'cause he's older then me, but oh well at least I know I'm right. ;)

My "new lil friend"!

OK I'm at work and you should see my new friend. I don't have a picture of it right now, maybe in a few days or so, but it is this very green GECKO. Yep I'm totally not joking. He is crawling around on the desk legs and the wall. Yeah I know totally interesting. Well any how at least I have something to keep me company. I'm fine with it as long as I know where it is and it doesn't crawl on me. ;) I'll get and post some pics as soon as I can.

Happy 20th Birthday Jolene!!! Luv ya!

Isaiah 61:19-20

"The sun shall be no more thy light by day; neither for brightness shall the moon give light unto thee: but the LORD shall be unto thee an everlasting light, and thy God thy glory. Thy sun shall no more go down; neither shall thy moon withdraw itself: for the LORD shall be thine everlasting light, and the days of thy mourning shall be ended." Isaiah 61:19-20

These verses were and are a major encouragement to me. When things seemed so hard they would keep me going. One day I was sitting on my bed crying and asking God, "why, why me?'' and I opened up my bible and these verses popped out at me and after that they became my sustenance. One night I was trying to go to sleep but I was upset and hurting and these verses came on the radio, { and yeah I started to really cry ;)}. Looking back I am just so amazed at all God did for me to keep me going and to prove His love to me. I am so overwhelmed at how much He loves me. photography credits go to Joy Weaver.

Welcome Home Tash!!

Its so good to have you back!!

Photography credits go to John Detweiler.

Some of My Favoritest People!! Love You Guys!

Photography credits go to John and Ruth Detweiler

Jolene Martin, Ruth Detweiler & Joy Weaver, Jed Eaton.

Jan, Tash & Mari Mast, Vanya Mast, Gloria Troyer, Brian Byler, Micah Matthews

"I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall be joyful in my God; For He has clothed me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels." Isaiah 61:10

Wow! I was reading in Isaiah a minute ago and this verse so excited me because it is totally my testimony today.

I am getting so excited with what God is doing in my life, and others lives too, that I can hardly keep from going crazy. -grins-

God is giving me such a hunger and excitement for Him that, yeah I don't know how to explain. I want Christ to reflect off of me in every way possible. I want to be a beacon for the Kingdom. I want to learn to think in the realm that God would want me to think. To constantly thank Him, and praise Him. I want my mind to be a rubber band that is attached to God, always going back to Him in every aspect. As Susana Wesley said; "I want my life to count." I want to be a modern day Susana Wesley or Sarah Edwards, a woman who has Christ in the center of her life at all times. I know it is possible if I continue to connect with God constantly and not shy away from His gentle probings in my life. "LORD, make my life a sacrifice." photography credits go to John Detweiler.

"They that trust in the Lord shall be as mount Zion, which cannot be removed, but abideth for ever. As the mountains are round about Jerusalem, so the Lord is round about his people from henceforth even for ever." Psalm 125:1-2

Wow. Those verses are so awesome. God is so big and powerful.

Today I am doing pretty well. I'm learning to trust God more and more and I am finding more and more rest because I know God is in control of my life and that He allows things in my lifes to make me strong. He will not allow anything more than I can handle either. Sometimes I think I must be pretty strong. ;) God knows how strong we are. We are the strongest when we hold onto Him in complete trust and let go of the things that we seem to want to hold onto. Sometimes it seems like we're out there all alone, but we're not. I love the poem "Foot Prints In The Sand", especially the part where there was only one set of foot prints and Jesus said; "it was then that I carried you". Remember that when life seems hard if we completely trust Christ it is then that he carries us. photography credits go to John Detweiler.

Well every one this is my new blog. The other one some stuff disappeared on it so I couldn't do much to it so I decided to start a new one.

I hope you like this one. I do already. ;) I decided to call this one "Learning to Praise" because that is exactly what I am learning to do. Actually I am learning a lot of things right now, but I am learning to praise God in the midst of everything else. Yeah it has been a long and painful process but I know that in the end it will be worth it all completly. ;) Thru' it all God has been my strength and even though it seems at times the storm wont end He is there to hold me.

He has been trying to teach me to let go and trust Him completly. And yeah I will admit that is a very difficult thing for me to do. I want to live by Psalms 37:4-5. "Delight thyself also in the Lord; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to past." Photagraphy complements go to John Detweiler.