Your Cell Phone vs. the Bible

Correction...

AGAIN...I need to make a correction.  The verse I am working on is Romans 15:13, not vs. 14. 

Memorizing

I am great at remembering a lot of things but I tend to not do as well with memorizing scripture.  I have a lot in my head but I don't always get them "right" or the right "address" but I usually know where I can find them.

So I wanted to work on memorizing this year and I am not setting a time on any one verse.  I figure if I tell myself one a week then I set myself up for failure so I am just doing one until I have it and moving on to the next.

Last week I was trying to figure out what to memorize and while reading in one of my books a verse just jumped right out at me and I thought...AHA that is the one to start with this year.  Since then I have had another that has popped up in a few devotions and I am going to work on that one next...but one at a time for my aging brain.

I wanted to share the first one with you.  I made it into a card and have it posted all over my house and so far I am doing pretty good.  I have the first part down and now working on the second half.

I think this is a great verse to start the New Year out with.  I hope you find time to dig into God's word and find the treasures that await you.

Welcome 2011...

OK so I am a few days late but what's new.  Hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas and a great start to the New Year.  I know I have. 

With the new year comes changes.  A lot of people make new years resolutions...I don't.  I just have pretty much the same goals year after year---survive!!  OK, I have more than that but they are pretty much the same.  Does that mean I will never get it right?  Do I need to rethink how I think?  Do I need to change my goals?  Or do I just think to much?  (my guess is the last one)

I did a LOT of changing in 2010.  I started a job after being a stay-at-home mom for a long time.  That was a BIG change for me and a tough one.  I have no regrets taking that job since it taught me so much about myself and helped me to see a few things more clearly.

Today I turned in my 2 week notice to resign from my current job.  It was not easy but it was something I needed to do.  I was very thankful to my manager for taking a chance with me and she was very understanding.  I told her I believe it was a God thing that I got the job and that I had learned so much.  She agreed which was nice to hear. 

Twelve hour days were just not a good fit for me and that is hard.  It makes me feel old and I am not.  When I told my manager that she said they lose a lot of people due to 12 hour days.  I have to say if you work 12 hour days then you know what I mean...they feel more like 20 hour days.

So what is next you may ask (or maybe you don't really want to know but you have read this far and figure you might as well keep going).  I am starting a new job next week.  Two days a week.  No weekends or holidays.  No 12 hour days.  Same 2 days every week so it will make it easier to plan.  I am very excited and a little nervous but more excited.  Plus it is closer to home.  I still have one more day to work at my other job and that is next week also.  It will be a busy week.

So that is how 2011 has started for me and if feels good.
(except for the cold I have) 

I hope your 2011 is off to a GREAT start!!

'Tis the Season

Have you been busy?  I know I have.  Sometimes it is easy to forget the TRUE meaning of Christmas.  With all the shopping and grumpy people due to bad traffic and long lines.  It is easy to forget WHY we celebrate this time of year.

I will confess that this year has been a rough one on me.  I have missed a lot of church from either working or being sick.  This makes it more difficult.  I have had a hard time getting into the Christmas spirit.  Due to work schedules (with almost all of my kids and myself working on Christmas Eve) it has made me re-think how to "do" Christmas. 

It is interesting how things change through the years.  This is the first year we do NOT have a tree.  That could change, we have gotten a tree just days before Christmas before but with all the crazy schedules and the fact that we will be "doing" Christmas at my folks on Christmas Day it just doesn't seem worth the money and time to put one up.  I have not put up any decorations or anything.  In some ways it feels weird and in others it feels OK.  Things change as we change and our families change. 

It is nice to have the good memories & also fun to make new ones. 

I am just so very thankful & blessed to have such a wonderful family. 

So as the "day" fast approaches I stop and think that it is not about a day it is about the birth of Christ and the reason He came to earth as a baby and grew to a man.  A man that took on ALL our sins on the cross then rose again so that we may have eternal life with Him.  Now that is a GIFT!!  No returns, no exchanges...it is ours to keep once we except it.  

HE TRULY IS THE BEST GIFT EVER!!

So I want to wish you ALL a Very Merry CHRISTmas!!

Giving Thanks

I know Thanksgiving was last week BUT we are to always give thanks in ALL circumstances.  This is not always easy to do but after working Thanksgiving day and having 2 family Thanksgiving gatherings I know I have a lot to be thankful for.

So better late than never--right!

I am very thankful for my family & friends!!  Well that wasn't to hard now was it. 

OK, to make it a bit more challenging and to make you and I think more on what we are thankful for I received an email from Tommy Newberry the writer of The 4:8 Principle I have mentioned before on this very thing.  You can get to it by this link http://www.tommynewberry.com/index.php/blog.  Read about Genuine Gratitude or just go towards the end and click on the link to the GRATITUDE GAME.  There are 12 questions to make you think about what you are thankful for.  For me some were very easy and others were a bit more difficult. 

Even when life is tough there is always something to be thankful for.  I recently had a devotion that was saying we are to be thankful in ALL cirumstances--that means good and bad.  WOW that is not easy, at least not for me.  I mean I can find things to be thankful for but to be thankful for what I am going through--Not easy and honestly I am not good at that.  I can look back and see how God really worked on me during those tough times and then be thankful for the "fire" I was under but not good at is during the "fire".

"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose."  Romans 8:28

That doesn't mean that all things will be good.  It means that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him--big difference.

It would be nice if we all had easy sailing through this life but we don't.  We are put through the fire for a reason and that is to refine us to be more like Jesus.

"I will put this third through the fire; I will refine them as silver is refined and test them as gold is tested.  They will call on My name, and I will answer them.  I will say: They are My people, and they will say: The LORD is our God." Zechariah 13:9

I am sure many have had this email (poem) come around but I thought I would share it here:

Malachi 3:3

“And He shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver…”


This verse puzzled some women in a Bible study and they wondered what this statement meant about the character and nature of God.
One of the women offered to find out the process of refining silver and get back to the group at their next Bible Study.
That week, the woman called a silversmith and made an appointment to watch him at work. She didn't mention anything about the reason for her interest beyond her curiosity about the process of refining Silver.
As she watched the silversmith, he held a piece of silver over the fire and let it heat up. He explained that in refining silver, one needed to hold the silver in the middle of the fire where the flames were hottest as to burn away all the impurities.
The woman thought about God holding us in such a hot spot; then she thought again about the verse that says:
“And He shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver…”
She asked the silversmith if it was true that he had to sit there in front of the fire the whole time.


The man answered that yes,


He not only had to sit there holding the silver, but he had to keep his eyes on the silver the entire time it was in the fire. If the silver was left a moment too long in the flames, it would be destroyed.


The woman was silent for a moment. Then she asked the silversmith, 'How do you know when the silver is fully refined?'


He smiled at her and answered,


'Oh, that's easy -- when I see my image in it.'


If today you are feeling the heat of the fire , remember that God has his eye on you and will keep watching you until He sees His image in you.

Well, I am not sure how I got from Thankfulness to this but somehow I did.  Maybe because I feel I have been in that "fire" lately and it is very reassuring that God has his eye on me at ALL times to make sure I am not destroyed (even though sometimes it feels like I will be).  He is there to refine me and make me more like Jesus--for this I am VERY THANKFUL!!

So today just take a moment and think about what you are thankful for right now.  I would also challenge you to start your mornings with a few things you are thankful for before you even get out of bed.  Then at night as you go to bed before you fall asleep list off a few things you are thankful for.  Before long you will feel more graditude for the things in life.  That is a good feeling.

God Bless!!

Finding God's Will

Once again I am over-thinking my life and what I am suppose to do.  One would think at my age I would know but NOPE.  I do know I want to be walking in God's will and that brings me to where I am at now in my thinking (or over-thinking). 

What is God's will for my life?  Something I ask myself a lot BUT I am not the one I should be asking.  I do ask God what He wants me to do but I tend to get impatient and do things the way I think they should be done. 

So I have been working to figure out what God's will is for my life.  One thing I know is that He wants me to take ONE DAY AT A TIME!!  I am working on that one.

Part of this has to do with my job.  Since starting my job I have been stressed and that led to a depression which has made life difficult for me and my family (mostly my husband since the kids are older but I am sure it has affected them also).  I was trying to figure out if I did the "wrong" thing in taking this job.  Why was I feeling this way.  Why was I not content.  What was wrong with me.

So here are some things I HAVE figured out and learned about myself and about God's will in my life.

First, I know that God does NOT hide His will from us as long as we are seeking Him and wanting to live a life pleasing to him.  If we are walking daily with God and seeking Him then we are living His will for us. 

"And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him.  Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect."  Romans 12:1-2

Second, there really is no "wrong" in taking the job.  I did and do feel like God blessed me with the job so that is one reason I was so frustrated with how things have turned out BUT then I started thinking back to when I went on the interview and how I said that I would take the job if offered because I would NOT make that mistake again.  Meaning that I was offered a job in the summer of 2009 and turned it down because I did not feel a peace about it.  This time I felt at peace either way.  I was in a good place and was happy if I was offered the job and would be happy if I was not.  So Yes, I believe He blessed me with the job.  I also believe I took a few things into my own hands and that is what added the stress and struggles along the way.

"You can make many plans, but the Lord’s purpose will prevail." Proverbs 19:21

At this time I feel at a crossroads in my job.  I have cut back my hours but still have the cons outweighing the pros in keeping the job.  So for now I will stick with it and just keep praying God will direct me on what I should do.  Give the "less" hours a try before making a final decision.  Plus I know that whether I stay at the job or not there is no "wrong" answer there because God can and will use me as long as I am walking with Him.


Next, I learned that when walking in God's will we will have peace.  Not perfect happiness or lack of stress and struggles just peace knowing we are right where God wants us.

There were a few questions that came up in my search for knowing God's will:

"What are your deepest longings?"

"What are you passionate about?"

"What is the desire of your heart, what is your heart telling you?"

This is where it really hit me.  As I was really drawing closer to God last spring I knew that I was really feeling a desire to strengthen my marriage and work on being the wife that my husband needs.  This is something I have worked on all our marriage BUT raising kids and other life events have made this more difficult.  

Just a little background--we had kids VERY young and were married when we were just kids.  We have had to grow up together and have had so many ups and downs that I was looking forward to this time in our lives to just be a "couple" and grow in that.  Since doing things a bit "backwards" by having a couple kids before getting married we have never really had time to just be a couple.  We are young, early 40's, and ALL our kids are adults now.  It is time for US!!  With my husbands job being a bit crazy and at times overwhelming and stressful I feel it is my job and my desire to be his support and love him and be there for him instead of being in a job that is causing me stress.  We don't need both of us stressed out--not a good combination.

OK, so now I know where my passion and desire is--I WANT TO BE A HOUSEWIFE!!  It is what I have been for so long, that and being a stay at home mom.  Sometimes we think we want something but then when we get it we realize it is not really what we wanted but what we had is what we really wanted.  We just need to learn to be content with what we have and look at the positive and not let the negative make us discontent in a place we know we should be.

I love my husband with ALL my heart and I know I want to be his wife for the rest of my life.  I know I want to serve him.  My spiritual gifts are serving, mercy & encouragement and I thought it was time to take those gifts somewhere else.  I do believe God can and will continue to use my gifts as He sees the need outside my home but I do see that those gifts are there to also serve, show mercy & encourage my husband. 

 "A wife of noble character is her husband’s crown."

Proverbs 12:4a 

I have said over the last couple weeks "I just want my life back" but what did I mean by that...I want to be where I was last spring before I started my job.  I want to be growing daily in the Truth and not be who I have become (a tired grumpy woman) which I don't like.  So that is my plan and I do hope, pray and believe it is God's plan for me as well.