Misha

It's amazing the differences you notice in your life once you make an active effort to do what you know good and well that you should do.

Stop doing things that make you feel iffy. Fess up to it, you know when you do something wrong, you just don't always want to admit it, especially to yourself. Do it anyway. It's so worth it. Whatever gain you're imagining that you're getting from doing wrong, doing right will give you so much more.

And pray about stuff. 

While we're on the subject of small things you can do to make major impacts. That's definitely one of them.

At this point I'm going to do something now that I haven't done previously in this whole blogging endeavor (although I would be glad to if anyone were curious enough to ask). I'm going to reveal the inspiration for the name of this post.

I have a puppy. His name is Misha. I have pictures of him on my phone like most mothers do their children. He loves giving kisses and snuggling and I believe I am his most favorite person in the whole world. He is at least part corgi because he has the short little legs and big ears that stand up when he's listening to you tell him how good a boy he is. He had so many ticks when we first got him that he was horribly horribly anemic and is just starting to feel better. He doesn't mind baths because you're petting him when you wash him. He doesn't mind car rides either as long as he can curl up in your lap. He does get in the way of homework sometimes because he likes having all of your attention, but he's learning that sometimes it's okay to just sit nearby. He was named after an actor that plays an angel in a TV show that TA and I both like. I say after, but really I think it was that we both happened to like the name and didn't mind where it had come from. I'm liking more and more though that he was named after an angel, even if it was in an indirect way and a fictional one at that. He keeps me company when I'm lonely and it's nice to think of his wholehearted and unreserved love.

So as we were cuddling last night I was reflecting about how content I am. Bro James's (fabulous) sermon Saturday night at the Salem really made me analyze things I do; I do want to "overcome" things I do wrong and temptations that seem to pop up so frequently. Some of my most repeated words are "get thee behind me Satan." And once I'd thought about it and started fixing things I noticed out of place, the flood gates opened and I could hear the angels singing Hallelujah she quit!

And as I was reflecting, I was scrolling through Cool Springs Church's impressive collection of sermons on their website. I love listening to preaching as I go to sleep. Not because it puts me to sleep, but because I find it wonderfully comforting and because I think it's a good idea to make God and his wonderfulness my last thoughts at night.

And when I was reflected and scrolled I came upon this little beauty: Rejoice Evermore. It was the name that caught me. Two little commanding words, and they just so perfectly fit my mood.

Now I have to admit something.

I don't like the idea of having "favorite preachers." I really think the one I'll like most is the one that The Lord blesses, and sometimes we miss blessings because we say "Oh him? I never get anything out of his sermons," and we just don't listen.

But Brother David is one of my favorites. I won't give a specific ranking, and I have a lot of favorites, but he'd be pretty high on the list if I did.

Seriously. If there were a Bro David fan club, I'd have the t-shirt. I asked Bro Adam to make me some cd's of preaching at the beginning of classes last fall, and there were two or three of Bro David in the mix. I've literally listened to them between 20 and 30 times a piece. They got me through the awful dreadful (aka first semester). I can't give the preacher all (or really any, I guess) of the credit though; those sermons just happened to be ones that God obviously and richly blessed, I would say most every time I listened to them. Still, I'd rank him pretty high on the list. 

It's amazing the changes that happen when you fix things. Or not really I guess. You know things get better when you do, but you don't really appreciate it until you do.