JOY



Joy and I at Notre Dame, Picture taken by DC Curry for mom's birthday. 



If you know nothing else about me, you should know that I love this girl with all my heart!!  My little sister is my bestest friend, and I'm so grateful for her.  She's absolutely hilarious, and can make me laugh anywhere, anytime.  I call her Joy, because she brings great JOY to my life, and if you don't know her, you should, because she'll bring JOY to your life too!!

Love you, Joy :)

Abundant Giver

One thing I LOVE about scripture is that I can read the same passage over and over again and get something new out of it everytime. I've read the following passage multiple times, and have skipped over another awesome quality of God a number of times...until recently. In Matthew 14, Jesus' disciples came to him, weary, because they didn't have enough food to feed the crowd of 5,000. All they had were 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish, but Jesus took the bread and broke it and provided enough food for all the people.

They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfulls of broken pieces that were left over." -Matthew 14:20

Wait! Did you catch that?! Not only did Jesus provide them with enough food to satisfy them, but there were LEFT OVERS! Amazing! God will always provide, and He won't just provide, but He will provide in ABUNDANCE! God is good!!

1 Corinthians 1:25

I LOVE this verse!!!!

For the foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom, and the WEAKNESS of God is STRONGER than man's strength. 1 Corinthians 1:25

Suffering Happens, But God Knows Best

I just found the coolest poem I've read in a long time...I wanted to share it with you!

Our Father knows what's best for us, so why should we complain?
We always want the sunshine, but he knows there must be rain.
We love the sound of laughter and the merriment of cheer,
But our hearts would lose their tenderness if we never shed a tear.
For growing trees are strengthened when they withstand the storm,
And the sharp cut of the chisel gives the diamond grace and form.
God never hurts us needlessly, and he never wastes our pain,
For every loss he sends to us is followed by rich gain.
And when we count the blessings that God so freely sent,
We'll find no cause for murmuring, and no time to lament.
For our Father loves his children, and to him all things are plain,
So he never sends us pleasure when the soul's deep need is pain.
So whenever we are troubled, and when everything goes wrong,
We know God's working in our hearts, to make our spirit strong.

-Amy Carmichael

Sometimes bad things happen to good people so that God's work would be known in our lives. In times of suffering, we often want to turn away from God or blame Him for our suffering. But God has bigger plans. I speak from experience when I say that, and things have always turned out better on the other side. I'm so grateful for my times of suffering, because God uses that time to make my heart stronger, to yearn for Him even more, and so that His work might be done in my life.

As he went along, he saw a blind man from birth. His disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" "Neither this man nor his parents sinned," said Jesus, "but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life." -John 9:1-3

Sweet, Sweet Girl

Jada Marie Curry just might be the cutest little bundle of joy that ever walked the planet! Okay...so she doesn't quite walk yet, but she's still the sweetest! :) I love spending time with her, she's such a happy little girl, beautiful inside and out! Jada is so blessed to have DC and Brooke as parents - they are AMAZING, and I have nothing but wonderful things to say about them! What a beautiful family! I'm SO blessed to call them friends :)

Flashback to Mexico: Eager to Learn

I was just reading Mark 2:2, which says, "So many gathered that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them." This gave me a flashback of our trip to Mexico in the summer of 2009 with the youth group. On Sunday morning, we went to gather with a crowd of people at a small church in Monterrey. There were literally SO MANY people there, gathered all around the inside (some of us even sitting on the floor), yet there were even more people outside the church, peering in through every window just to hear the good news! Instant chills!

Can you imagine what it would be like, if the next time you went to church, and there were so many people there that you had to sit on the floor, or stand outside and listen in through the windows? What would that be like? What would it take for that many people to gather from all around just to hear the GOOD NEWS of Jesus Christ?!

"Get Behind Me, Satan!"

Tonight, as I'm reading in the book of Matthew, I'm reminded how awesome God is and how powerful He is!

Jesus said, "Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of man." Matthew 16:23.

I LOVE that!!! Jesus just told it like it is! Next time you're feeling tempted, I encourage you to tell Satan like it is and be reminded that God is ALL-POWERFUL!