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.

Correction...

In my last post I had a link to the Proverbs 31 site and it was incorrect.  Here is the correct link to that site:  http://www.proverbs31.org/. 

Hope that one works!!

Thursday Thoughts

I have been up since 6 a.m. when it is one of the few days I could have slept it...what is up with that!!

So since I got up earlier than I wanted to I thought I could get a lot of things done today since I work tomorrow and have a very busy week ahead.  I feel the next "free" day I have will be a week from tomorrow--Oct. 29th.

Here I am sitting at my computer just after noon and if feels like it should be around 4 or 5 but hey I am glad it is still "early" in the day.

You are probably thinking what in the world is the post about?  Well it is just my thoughts and they may not really have much order to them but I wanted to share so if you are bored then stop here if you are curious than keep reading.

I actually have done quite a bit this morning but you wouldn't know it by looking around my house--still working on that.  I do know that it is a beautiful day with the sun shining in and for some reason I keep thinking it is Friday but that is what happens when your schedule is not normal.

Lately I have felt like I have been dealing with brain fog.  Not fun thinking it is because I am getting older but it really started as my stress built over the last few months working a new job.  So I do believe that it is the stress more than my age BUT I am sure there is some of that in there also but I am going to remain in denial over that part.

OK about my job--I love it but there have been things that have really stressed me out and I have not dealt with that stress so well.  One is I am a planner and this is a job that the schedule changes ALL the time.  The only consistent thing is working every 3rd weekend.  Which brings me to the next stress--working every 3rd weekend.  I actually like working on weekends and it does give my husband a chance to go and do things without worrying about me and what I think BUT it means that I am missing church every 3rd Sunday--this I don't like.

When I was offered the job I was given a PRN or as needed position meaning I only had to work 1 day every 2 weeks or just 2 times a month.  I wanted more...or so I thought.  I do like being there more BUT I don't think it is what is best for me or my family right now.  I have been out of the work force for a long time and have gotten used to one way of doing things (my way) so it is a BIG adjustment.  I did get more just shortly after I started.  There was a part time (2 days a week) position open and I took it. 

So I went from training which was full time (3 days a week) to part time and now I have asked to go back to PRN but I can't get that until Nov. 21st.  I feel like all I do is go from work day to work day and I am not catching up.  I feel like I have lost focus a bit and that is why I am struggling.  The thing with PRN is I can pick up more hours if I want.  A wise woman told me that I tried what I thought I wanted but realized it is not what I really want, at least not right now in my life and thankfully I am able to go back without having to quit something I love doing.  Makes sense.

One thing is clear and that no matter how stressed I have been or how off track I get from doing my own thing God is ALWAYS right there with me.  Thankfully I have kept up with my daily devotions because I do believe that is the only reason I have not lost my mind at this point (I still have just over 4 weeks of working part time plus other things to get through so I could still lose it).

Last Sunday when I was working I had some time to read.  It happens, not often but it does and it is good when it does.  I get some online devotions from Proverbs 31 Ministries.  Here is the site if you are interested:  www.proverbs31.org/devotional.  I print them out and take them with me in case I do get some time it gives me something good to read and they are short so that helps.  I was reading one titled Hold That Thought! which really hit home to me.  She is talking about being busy which I have blogged about before but the point is spending time with Jesus.  Putting everything and I mean EVERYTHING aside to just sit alone with Jesus.  He should be our "first" part everyday.  Jesus says "Follow me" and not after we read emails or deal with the kids or do dishes or...I could go on and on but I think you get the point.

"But seek first the kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well."  Matthew 6:33

I think that is clear.  What do you think? 

Another one I read yesterday was on dealing with "hard" times.  Boy could I relate.  She was talking about Job--I can't relate that well and don't ever want to.  But we all face hard times the thing is how do we deal with them.  How do we handle life during trials.  Do we turn to others, medications (and I am not condemning the use of medicine here), drugs, alcohol, sex, internet, TV, etc...OR do we turn to Jesus!  I know I don't always turn to Jesus first but I usually find my way there eventually I just wish I would turn to Him first and maybe the pain or suffering would not be as bad.  Not that it would change but I would change in how I handle it.  **I love the prayers at the end of these devotions and the application steps.

OK if you are still with me then WOOHOO!!  AND THANKS!!  Don't know if any of this helps anyone but just a few things on my mind and believe me I could go on but I think I have bored you enough for today.

Now to just remind myself to take one day at a time and continue to put Jesus FIRST in my life EVERY DAY!!

God Bless and have a GREAT weekend!!

Working to get back up again

I know that sounds like an odd title but maybe it will make sense as I write and maybe it won't.  I am not that good with words I just know what is in my mind and in my heart.

Lately life has been getting to me.  I tend to stress over just about anything.  I do not have a laid back personality which is both a gift and a curse.  Right now more a curse but I do it to myself and I know it.

I know others care and how I know is what I am going to tell you now.

To make a LONG story a bit shorter I will not go into great detail.  I recently got myself really worked up over something and I would talk (well complain) to my husband about it.  This was going on for a time and I did not like who I was dealing with this issue.  Yesterday it kind of came to a head so to speak and I went back and forth from being OK to being really upset.

When I was first really upset I called my husband who was very busy and could not talk so I then called a friend of mine who is an angel and talked me through my options.  I made a call I needed to make and then called her back.  After talking & crying some more she suggested we get together today and she would go with me to take care of something I needed to take care of.

So I went and picked her up and we went on our way.  I had a wonderful day with her and even got to have lunch with my husband and her--FUN!!  After I dropped her off is when I started really thinking.  OK I think ALL the time so this is nothing new but I was thinking of how blessed I am to have the people in my life that I have.

This is where I went down my list of friends and the ones that have really been there for me.  I had to stop and think to make sure "am I being there for them".  I do hope and pray that is the case because I don't want a one-sided friendship.  Those don't usually last a long time anyway.  It is very hard for someone to always be the giver in a relationship.  I have been there.

I don't have a lot of friends but the ones I do have I truly love with all my heart.  I don't need a lot of friends that are deep as the ones I am thinking of right now.

I think about how I love and feel so very blessed to have these friends in my life and then I thought of how much they have given to me and must love me or they would not do the things they do for me.

I know that my family loves me and I love them and here I am talking about people in our lives that really choose to love us and we choose to love them.  As much as I love my parents and children they are not who I am talking about although I would give my life in a second for any of them.  I will say that my husband is my very best friend.  He does choose to love me and I him and believe me that man is awesome to know ALL about me and still love me--WOW!!  I am truly blessed there.

So I just want to thank my friend that helped me out the last couple days.  Thank my friends that have been there for me when I needed them.  You are ALL awesome and I thank God for blessing me with your friendship.

"A friend loves at all times"  Proverbs 17:17a

OK maybe I should have titled this "FRIENDS"!!

"I'm Busy"

My husband uses Our Daily Bread devotional and I do at times but not recently.  He will usually tell me when he reads one that he knows I would want to read and yesterdays was one that really hit home with me so I would like to share it with you.

This is from Our Daily Bread on Oct. 4th.  You can find all their devotions on their website at http://odb.org/.

Keeping Busy?

October 4, 2010 — by Julie Ackerman Link

But does God determine our value by how busy we are? Does He calculate our worth by how much we accomplish? Does He reward us for living on the edge of exhaustion and not taking care of ourselves?

One of the first verses I learned as a child was Matthew 11:28, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” It didn’t mean much to me at the time because I didn’t understand weariness. But now that I’m older, I feel the temptation to keep pace with the world so I won’t be left behind.

But followers of Jesus don’t have to live like that. Not only has He released us from slavery to sin but also from the bondage of having to prove our worth.

Accomplishing a lot for God may make us feel important, but what makes us important to God is what we allow Him to accomplish in us—conforming us into the image of His Son (Rom. 8:28-30).

Christ never asks of us such busy labor

As leaves no time for resting at His feet;

The waiting attitude of expectation

He often counts as service most complete. —Anon.

Our value is not measured by what we do for God but by what He has done in us.

I got so much out of that. I am that "busy" person. I feel I need to make sure others know that I have a "full" plate and if I am not "busy" then I feel like I am not "good enough" as a woman. Now that I am working I find it even more difficult to just relax and sit at the feet of Jesus. Between work days I have things to get done AND I am exhausted all the time.


Recently I realized just how much I was NOT taking care of myself and started making some changes. Some of the changes are slow in coming but it will happen.

I love my job but I don't want to neglect the most important things in my life and those are:
*Spending time with my Lord everyday
*Taking care of myself (exercise/rest/eating right)
*Spending time & taking care of my family
*Spending time with friends

So how "busy" are you? Just something to think about...

Insanity

I LOVE this quote!!  I know that may seem weird but it is so true.  How many times do we continue to do the same things over and over hoping the end result will be different?

I will give you an example (not exact but close) of something I was doing.

Several years ago I wanted my husband to change something about himself (it is my job right since I am his wife).  So instead of praying about it I kept saying the same thing over and over to him hoping that he would get a clue and change.  GUESS WHAT??  It did NOT work!!  I realized WHAT I was saying was more demeaning than helpful so why would a guy want to change if he felt like he couldn't do better.  I know it is NOT my place to change him (which I have known this all my life but I think it is kind of human nature to try and change others).  Also nagging doesn't help--and I have been married long enough to know this but again I am hard-headed and stubborn.

So I try and remember this when I am trying to change something about myself (I know I can't change others but I sure can keep working on me).  No I am not insane--although I am sure there are plenty out there that would say I am.  I am just strong-willed, hard-headed and sometimes it takes a 2 by 4 across my head for God to get me to understand what He is trying to teach me.  I don't like that and wish I would just learn the first time and not have to go through the craziness.  I am a work in progress....