WELCOME...

WE HOPE YOU CAN SPEND A FEW MOMENTS OF YOUR BUSY DAY...UNWIND & ENJOY THE SOUNDS OF PRAISE TO THE ALMIGHTY...THE KING OF KINGS...LORD OF LORDS. OUR SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST

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THE FOCUS OF THIS CHANNEL IS A TRIBUTE TO THE LEWIS FAMILY....

Holland, Mary, Crystal, Candace & Cassandra...
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***CRYSTAL is married to Brian Ray has two children Solomon and Isabella. Crystal Lewis is a Contemporary Christian Recording Artist, Dove Award Winner and Grammy performer and Award Nominee. She has many albums to her credit. She was a recent vocal guest with the Fresno, California Billy Graham Crusade. For more information about Crystal you can visit her website (link below)

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A Great recent Blog from Crystal

ACCUMULATION

11-2-2009

For those of you that have ever packed up house and home and pulled up roots just me sayingwe moved is all you need to hear to feel my pain. right?!! ive read that moving is often referred to as one of the most stressful life events youll encounter. ive done it somewhere in the neighborhood of 15 times in the 20 years ive been married. we just moved this past May, as in 5-months-ago-May and then moved again 2 weeks ago. crazy, i know. i think the fact that moving must take place while life still goes on at a normal pace (kids still have school, family must eat, parents still have to work etc) is one of the things that makes it cause SO much stress physically, mentally and emotionally. anyway, yes, its been a stressful few months specifically the last couple weeks. however, as i mentioned early on, i have a little breathing room for the moment and the pause has given me some time to think.
as i have been packing and unpacking for what seems like endless hours. trying to find the proper and most efficient place for all of our books and bedding, shoes and socks, coats and cowboy boots, kitchen utensils and cleaning supplies, the thought, i have a lot of stuff, has crossed my mind more than once. i spent a great deal of time during our last move weeding out the things we dont use, cant wear, or arent playing with anymore and that was a huge help this time around. the previous move took us to a much smaller house and the act of downsizing, though difficult, was long over due. so the fact that id done a lot of the difficult, dirty work before was definitely in my favor as i packed up recently. however, as ive been unpacking things over the last few days, even just today, it still seems like there is no end in sight! there is no denying it no getting around the fact.weve got a lot of stuff!! i guess when youve been married for 20 years and have a couple of kids, things accumulate. although, i must say, im the opposite of a pack rat to a fault. i love throwing things away, giving things away, finding new homes for things.however you want to say it, i dont like clutter therefore i dont like keeping things around that i dont intend to use. at least thats how ive always thought of myself. but im currently being reminded that we have most absolutely been accumulating. there are clothes that i cant bear to part withdresses that carry with them special memories of special moments, toys my kids played with that hold precious memories, paintings my husband painted that, while they may not be my favorites of all time, i could never toss. (my favorites are all hanging in the house). so as i take advantage of the opportunity to take inventory of all i own, im remindedpainfully, obviously of Matthew 6:19-21
do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. but store up for yourselves treasures in Heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy and where thieves do not break in and steal. for wherever your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
last week as i went thru our garage where weve kept some things stored over the summer, i came across a box of clothes that ive loved over the years. i dont wear most of them anymore, but im excited to pass them on to my daughter, and perhaps a granddaughter, someday. i found mouse droppings in the bottom of the box. gross. thankfully not on the clothes themselves, but close enough! however, one of the jackets was destroyed. it was stripped of some of the fur on its sleeves, and the mice ate thru several different places, leaving wholes and tears in the fabric. i might be able to salvage itturn it in to something else maybebut i thought of this verse above. it wasnt rust and it wasnt moths, but mice can be just as destructive.
the things ive accumulated on this earth, while not evil, not even bad, can still cloud my vision of purpose. my focus can so easily be diverted. i truly believe that we fight an enemy that ultimately wants to see our destruction (1 Peter 5:8), but happily settles for our distraction. my goal, as i (hopefully) finish up putting things away this week, is to make the effort, to purpose in my heart, to put the important things first. to store up for myself more in Heaven than i have stored up on earth. thank you Jesus for being my treasure.