Being Thankful In All Things

 

Recently I was asked "How can we give thanks for everything that happens to us?" My quick answer was, "We can't. And God doesn't expect us to. God said that we are to give thank in everything, not for everything."

So often the enemy changes one small word and our entire thinking goes wrong. God tells us that we are to be thankful in our circumstances not for them. 

How many times have we been in a place where we are faced with suffering, pain, or trials with the wrong view? We think that somehow we are to be thankful for whatever we are facing. In this life we can face some really hard things in life. Like, how can a mother watch her child die of cancer and be thankful? How can a wife be thankful that her husband is having an affair? How can we be thankful as we live and work in an environment that seems hostile to what we believe? How can anyone be thankful for being abused, beaten, abandoned, marginalized, forgotten or... the list could go on and on.

Oh dear one, God does not ask us to be thankful for these things. He wants us to have an attitude of thankfulness as we walk through them. When our circumstances threaten to overwhelm us we can still be thankful. We can be thankful as we look to God. But first we must take our eyes off the circumstance, die to what we thought would happen, and remember who He is and what He has done. We can be thankful for His continued Faithfulness to us.

We can give thanks because we know that God always acts in righteousness. "I will give thanks to the LORD according to His righteousness And will sing praise to the name of the LORD Most High". Ps 7:17 

We can give thanks because He is our God! "You are my God, and I give thanks to You; You are my God, I extol You". Ps 118:28

We can give thanks as a sacrifice of praise. "...The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; Blessed be the name of the Lord.” Job 1:21

God wants us to choose an attitude of thankfulness.  It’s choosing to live, walk, and believe in TRUTH regardless of emotions or circumstances. Living a life in thankfulness is beyond the ability of the flesh so we must rely on the Spirit. We must be in His word. "Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving." Col 4:2 

Will you choose to be thankful because of who God is? Will you choose to focus on God and His character instead of whatever current circumstances you find yourself in? Go to God in prayer and ask His Spirit to help you live a life being thankful reguardless of your circumstances.

Our Story of Love

(This was originally posted in 2007 I've updated it and am re-posting it. It continues to be my favorite love story.)

On November 26th my husband and I will celebrate 33 yrs of being married. So I want to take this day to be thankful for him and a God who knows just what I needed in a mate. I thought I'd share how we met. At least the short version, as it can be quite long. It's a story of a man's love for the woman he felt God gave him, but even more so, it's a story of God's faithfulness and redeeming love.

We met in June of 1981. I had just graduated from high school in Winchester Virginia and decided to go to Breakaway in Ocean City, NJ with Youth For Christ. Keith was from Pa and was on his way with the Pocono group of YFC as a leader. The conference was from Sunday to Friday. We met on Wednesday.

A friend dragged me down to the basketball courts to meet "this guy". When I saw him he was standing there with his clipboard, sunglasses on, a dark tan and girls hanging around him. So she introduced us and I thought "great another jock who is full of himself". Well that night I ended up with a group at dinner and "he" was there. We ended up talking most of the evening as we walked along the boardwalk after dinner and the evening session. By the end of the week Keith felt God had told him that I was the girl he would marry. God didn't tell me any such thing!I left that week thinking I'd never see him again and that was fine with me.

One week later I was at a YFC meeting in Winchester and in walked Keith for a surprise visit. I wanted to hide! I couldn't believe it! What was he thinking? He spent the weekend in town and we got to know one another better. My family thought he was great. I still wasn't so sure.

Over the course of the next 6 months he called me and wrote letters, and yes, I even wrote back. I even went to visit him!  I grew to like him, he was a great friend. In December of 1981 Keith came for a visit with a dozen roses and a ring! He proposed on Christmas Eve. I felt so bad to have to send him home with the ring. He was crushed. He couldn't understand. He just knew I was "the" one he was to marry.

We didn't communicate after that. In fact Keith wouldn't hear from me again until June of 1982. I knew that Keith would be at the YFC Breakaway again and there was something I needed to tell him. I felt would be better if he heard it from me, but I didn't have the courage to tell him in person, so I wrote a letter and sent it with a friend who was going.

Keith had heard that I might be there and was somewhat nervous and yet excited that he might see me. But when all the groups arrived there was only a message for him. A letter that was very difficult to write. After Keith proposed and we stopped talking, I met someone. I thought he was "the" one. He was the kind of guy I thought I deserved. You see Keith was good, from a Christian home, pure, kind, loving and the best guy I'd ever known. I did not think I had a right to expect love from someone like him.

I tried to explain as gentle as I could to Keith that not only did I meet someone but I was also pregnant. But how do you do that gently?  I am told that after Keith read the letter he just sat there and cried. He still believed I was the one God told him to marry, but now he began to wonder if maybe he was just being delusional. Perhaps he heard God all wrong.

When Keith got home he called me. We talk for a long time. He wanted to know what I was going to do since this guy wouldn't marry me, and he (the baby's father) wanted me to have an abortion. We talked about my options and he walked me through the pros and cons of adoption, but I was so undecided.

We continued to communicate throughout my pregnancy. Keith would listen when I called him to say that this guy and I were getting back together. He wanted to try and be a father. Keith listened a few weeks later as I cried into the phone with another broken heart. And all this time he still loved me. He prayed for me, He was my friend. He was always there for me, a real source of love, encouragement and friendship.

On December 18th 1982 my son was born. When we got home I called Keith to let him know. I also wanted him to know that we would be going to Children's hospital. My son had congestive heart failure due to a hole in his heart (VSD and ASD). Keith and I remained in contact. My son would be fine once they got him on the right kind of medication and the right dose. It would take several trips and several stays in Children's Hospital. Keith continued to be my source of encouragement during the hard times of  not knowing if my baby would be alright.

In May, when my son was 5 months old, Keith came to visit. We had been writing and talking for almost a year now and he told me that he wanted to see me. He came and spent the weekend with my family. Keith got to know my son. We talked a lot. When Keith returned home he called me the next day to tell me that he still loved me and that he also fell in love with my son.

 I got off the phone and talked to my mom. I didn't love him. He was absolutely my best friend and I didn't want to lose him as a friend. He loved me and but he wanted something more than just friendship. My mother said I was stupid to let someone like that get away. She told me that men like that came along once and if I didn't grab him I'd regret it.

"But mom! I don't know if I love him."
"Of course you do" she said, "you just haven't realized it."

Well I thought about that for a day or so. In my mind Keith just might be my last hope. I prayed and prayed. I wanted to see it in writing somewhere...anywhere! I just didn't know. Was he the one I was suppose to marry? How could someone so wonderful want me? After all I have done how could he still love me? I couldn't understand that kind of love. I didn't even know if I believed in that kind of love. And even if it did exist I am not so sure it existed for someone like me.

About a month after Keith's visit I called him to ask him if he still wanted to marry me. He told me he'd give me an answer when he returned the following week from vacation. Keith left that next morning with a group of his friends for a week at the beach. On the way he asked his friend to be his best man. He didn't have to think about it. He already knew what God had told him two years agao was still true.

That week was a killer for me.  What if he said no? What if I was too late? What if? What if? I was a confused young girl who had no clue who I was, or who God was for that matter. I had become a believer in 1978, but still didn't really understand Gods love or His character. I was too young to be a mother. Too young to be a wife. Yet God was in the process of working out the "all things" in my life so that He would recieve the glory.

 One week later Keith returned home, talked to his father, who thought he was crazy and to young to be a husband and father, but said if he thought this was what God wanted they would support him. So we got married 4 months later on Nov 26th 1983.

Yes I married a man I wasn't so sure I loved, but he was my best friend. I put him though so much in those two years of "dating". Yet God would use this man's love for me to begin to break down the walls that kept me from seeing and knowing God. For so long I had kept people and God at a distance. As Keith says, my walls were probably stronger than Fort Knox! He was the only one that I let my guard down with. I allowed him in, but it would take years before I would let him see all the dark places.

Through the years God has worked in my heart to bring light and freedom to all those dark and hidden places. There was so much healing that needed to be done in my life.  Through it all my husband has been there by my side loving me and walking with me. He has helped me go places that I didn't want to go. He has encouraged me, and challenged me in my walk with God. God knew the kind of man I would need, and even though I made it difficult, God made sure I had what I needed.

Through the years I have grown to love this man deeply. As I look back I realize that perhaps I have always loved him, even in my limited understanding of love. But I believe that when you choose to stay and fight, to work through the hard times of marriage, and life, that there is a growing understanding of what love really is.

When I tell our story my husband often feels that I make him out to be this great, wonderfully perfect husband. Well I do think he is pretty wonderful, but no, he is not perfect. He too has had to learn and grow. God has had to change and mold him, to soften some of the rough edges. No he isn't perfect, but he is perfect for me. And these last 33 yrs we've been married have been good and I mean wonderfully good. I didn't say perfect. :-)

Well I know this was long...and you even got the short version. Hope you enjoyed our story.

Today I am joining with the following link up! Feel free to check them out!  Wedded Wednesday and Wifey Wednesday. 

Being Anxious for Nothing

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving let your request be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Phil 4:6-7

I am a processor. I over think much of life. It can be a good quality as I think through things and look at the current circumstance from all angles. I want to be on the look out for potential problems when trying to decide on a course of action. I want to try understand all the players. The problem is that often I over process and it begins down a trail that leads to being filled with what if’s. If I am not careful it can lead down a path that causes my heart to be anxious. I will begin to worry and focus on all the potential problems. There are far too many times that I can convince myself that a really good thing is a bad thing, or that I am not capable of doing it and I am frozen in indecision or just give up.

Being a processor isn’t a bad thing, but over processing often leads to sin. The sin of worry which then causes a lack of peace. Ultimately is leads to disobedience in the very thing God is asking you to do.

So how can I find peace in the midst of a crazy world? How can I find peace in the midst of a mind that wants to think and over think everything? How can peace guard my heart and mind?

The promise in Phil 4:7 is that the peace of God will guard our hearts and mind in Christ Jesus. The peace of God guards my heart and mind. But how? In order to gain the answer we must begin in verse 6.

Be anxious for nothing instead trust God with everything.. To be anxious means to worry. To be troubled about something. God is clearly telling us in the passage that we should not worry about anything. We should not worry about our life. (Matt 6:25-34) When we find ourselves in a dangerous situation we should not worry. (Matt 10:16-23) We shouldn’t worry about what words to speak when ask to defend our faith. (Luke 12:11)

No, on the contrary we are called to trust God in all things.(Ps 9:10, 31:14) We are called to commit each day to Him and trust in His promises. (Ps 37:3-5) We can trust Him while we face our enemy. (Ps 55:23) When we are afraid we can trust Him. (Ps 56:3-4,11)

The answer to being troubled or worrying is to put our trust in God. Trust Him at all times. Pour your heart out to Him. He is your refuge. (Ps 62:8)

Practice prayer and supplication through each thought. Seek God, bring your anxious thoughts to God. Ask Him to reveal to you what His words says. Ask Him to handle the things that threaten to overwhelm and worry you.

Take every thought, every concern for your life and offer it up to God with a surrendered heart. Tell Him that He is free to do whatever His will is, and mean it. Then just leave it there. If you find yourself taking it up again, then again, in prayer take it to God. Give it to Him and leave it. Repeat as often as needed until you have completely surrendered whatever you are worrying about.

Give thanks always. This doesn’t mean we must be thankful for the cancer diagnosis (or whatever) we are facing, but we can find things to be thankful for. Give thanks for what God will do. That He heard your cries, answered your prayers. Give thanks for Him, His character and attributes.

When we begin to focus on God and who He is we find less room to worry about things we have no control over.

Peace in Jesus. And last but certainly not least we find another clue in verse 7 on how to find peace. It’s found in Christ Jesus. In other words, my thinking about it, over processing it will not help find peace. In fact there is nothing in me that can find peace. I can’t solve the crisis. I can’t control the situation. In fact I am pretty helpless in and of myself to find any peace at all. It’s only in Christ Jesus that peace is found.

It’s resting in Him that I find peace. It’s turning it all over and surrendering it all to Him. It’s knowing that He has got this. He is trustworthy. He is good. (Ps 34:12; 84:11; 107:9; Heb 9:11)

I am not saying or trying to make it sound easy, it is not. Especially for this processing mind of mine. What I am saying is that I am learning to stop over thinking and just give it over to God. I am learning that when I begin to dwell on, and over think an issue it can show a lack of trust in a God who promises to work out the good in all things. (Rom 8:28-29) It’s learning to surrender each and every thought to His will and trust Him.

30 Days of Blessings: Life is Good

Praise the LORD! Oh give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; For His lovingkindness is everlasting. Ps 106:1

As my 30 days of Blessings ends I am reminded that no matter what journey we are currently walking there is always a blessing to be found. There is always something to be thankful for.

It’s been a month of remembering that if I keep my focus on my Father and not on my circumstances then finding the blessings are easy. Even if my world is changing or falling apart God never changes. If God never changes then His character is always a blessing.

O taste and see that the LORD is good; How blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him! Ps 34:8

So what did I learn? What do I walk away with by purposefully looking for the blessings in each day? I see that my life is good.

Life is good because I am looking for the good. When we look for the blessings we will see the blessings.

For He has satisfied the thirsty soul, And the hungry soul He has filled with what is good. Ps 107:9

I could focus on the daily pain I live with, but if I choose to see the blessings of the day I begin to see that God is my strength. He is with me. He is my healer, my refuge and my sustainer.

I could focus on those places in my life where there is loss. But again focusing on God I begin to see that He is my comforter. I see He will never leave me or forsake me. He love for me is everlasting.

When we focus on God, who He and what He has done we can’t help but count the blessings of our life.

But as for me, the nearness of God is my good ; I have made the Lord GOD my refuge, That I may tell of all Your works. Ps 73:28

Bottom line is this, I have much more than I ever dreamed or imagined. I have more than I could ever possibly earn or deserve. Please understand I am not just talking material things. While my needs are always met the great blessings come in form of all that God has done for me.

He saved me. He loved me enough to send His Son to die. He watches over me, guides me, speaks to me and helps me understand His word.

Do you see it? Life is good because God is good. He is good all the time. He is good to me in all that He does and all He is.

You are good and do good; Teach me Your statutes. Ps 119:68

30 Days of Blessings: A Prayer

You thrill me, LORD, with all you have done for me! I sing for joy because of what you have done. Ps 92:4 NLT

Father God, hear my prayer; answer me.

I am in great need of You.

Protect me. Save me.

Help me to be completely devoted to you.

I desire to serve you.

I trust you for You are my God.

I daily cry out to you. Be merciful to me Your daughter.

Where is my happiness? My joy?

O Lord, my very breath depends on you.

In You alone is joy found.

I need You.

In my sadness I will praise you.

You are good. You are good to me.

You have forgiven me of all my sin.

I am blessed.

I know You hear me.

I know You will answer me.

In Your time. In Your way.

There is no other god like You.

You alone create the earth and sky.

You spoke the world into being.

You alone are God.

I am blessed.

Your name is worthy of praise.

You have rescued me from eternal torment.

Oh Father teach me. Show me Your ways that I may walk in them.

I desire to live according to Your word.

Give me a pure heart.

A heart that seeks You alone.

I am blessed.

With all I am and with all I have I will praise you.

You give me an abundance of mercy and grace.

You pour out Your loving kindness on me.

You are full of truth. You are Truth.

Oh Father, I am blessed for in my great need You are with me.

You are the answer to every need.

30 Days of Blessings: His Love

 

His love is relentless.

My love can give up. His love never gives up.

My love can be selfish. His love only wants my good.

My love can be fickle. His love is unchangeable.

My love can grow cold. His love is a consuming fire.

My love can remember wrong. His love always forgets.

His love is everlasting.

Today I want to remember His love.

Because of His love I am blessed.

Because of His great love -

I live.

I am free.

I am forgiven.

I am His.

I am blessed beyond measure.

Because of His love I receive His blessings.

Oh how I want to love as He loves.

30 Days of Blessings: Godly Pastors

     I have been very blessed when it comes to the pastors I have sat under. They have been godly men who have preached the Word of God.  I am grateful for these men who have loved the Lord, His word and the people they are called to shepherd.

     They have not been perfect but they have been men that desired to lead Christ’s church in a way that brings glory to God and help them become more like Christ.

     I am deeply grateful for the pastors who have taught me so much in the past, those who pursue a wayward teenager, brought healing and taught the importance of doctrine, love and grace with backbone.

     Today I sit under a pastor whose desire is to see whole, healed and free people in Christ. He desires to see people in God’s word for themselves, to know truth and be obedient to the truth of God’s word. Constantly he pushes, challenges and extorts those sitting in the pew to LIVE a LIFE obedient to Christ. It is nearly impossible to not be encouraged, convicted and challenged by him as he brings the Word of God. 

     He is not perfect. He openly admits his imperfections.His struggles. He is real. He will share the glorious moments in his life and those moments he has failed. He is vulnerable before his congregation. I’ve only known one other pastor as open and honest as him and that is the one before him. Our church has been blessed with Godly pastors. Godly men leading the flock of Christ.

     It is such a blessing to be apart of a body that has a leader who follows hard after Christ. My prayer for you, reader, is that you can say the same about your pastor.

Thank you Father for your faithfulness in my life and leading me to sit under such men of God. Thank you for my current pastor who shepherd’s Your people well. May You continue to do a work in him and through him as You ready Your Bride for the Groom to arrive. Father I pray for this man of God and others who are charged with feeding Your sheep. May they be strengthened in order to stand firm on the truth of Your Word. May they not turn to the left or right but follow hard after You keeping their eyes on that which You have called them to do. Father help me to be an encourager to my pastor. To pray for him and give him love, grace and mercy.

 

30 Days of Blessings: Family

This morning will be our first full day of power since Monday. We weathered Hurricane Sandy well. Loss of power and the loss of several trees is nothing in light of the devastation further east of us.

Families have lost their homes. They have lost lives. As I ponder all this it makes me even more thankful for my family. They are safe. They were spared.

This crisis showed us just how blessed we are. Family reaching out to help one another. It wasn’t just our blood family but our church family, and our neighbors. Seeing our church family who had power reach out to those who didn’t, offering a warm bed, hot showers and more was such a blessing. Having our neighbor walk over to offer their stove if we needed to cook something was a blessing.

It’s called community. It’s called family. It is what we are called to do. It is a reminder to me that it shouldn’t take a crisis to see this kind of reaching out. It should be a way of life.

Dear Father thank you for watching over my sons and their families. Thank you for the blessings they give. Thank you for our church family and neighbors who willingly help one another. Father I pray that this would be a reminder to me that I should be a blessing to others. I need to freely offer of myself and the gifts you have given to help those you place in my path. Father help me to be more compassionate and selfless.

How will you bless someone today?

It Felt Like Home

My memories of Loretta and Janet are few. They had a big impact on my life prior to my family moving away when I was 10.


Loretta: I remember days on the farm playing with her children, my second cousins. Jumping in the corn that had been harvested. Running around the barn, playing hide-n-seek.

It was a safe place. She was safe. I felt accepted and loved. It was a place of refuge. Warmth. Laughter. And for those moments in time I felt free. I could forget the pain of home.

I loved my time spent with her and her family. It felt like family. It was family.





Janet: Another special woman. Another family. Same time of my life with a similar impact on my life.

I remember spending a lot of time on their farm. Playing with the little piglets. Carefree days of playing with her children, laughing and being apart of farm life.

It was a place that, once again, I felt safe. If I sit, and close my eyes I can still feel the embrace of her mother’s arms around me. She had a lot of love to give out. I still can picture her smile.


We moved away when I was 10 and too many years would pass before seeing either of these women again. But their impact always stayed with me. Even during the hardest times of my childhood there would be times that the memory of their love would help me through.

I remember my first trip back as an adult. Now with children of my own. I was nervous. Sick to my stomach nervous. I was unsure, and questioned if I should really go. So much time had passed by.

Was love still there? Acceptance? Had I been forgotten?

But when I saw their faces. Their smiles. Felt their hugs. They still felt like family. They are family and I was home again.

Today I look back and realize how precious these two women were in my life. How precious they are today.

They were a constant in my life when there seemed to be so much uncertainty. Their love was a safe place to feel, at least for a time, everything was normal. It was good.

I am grateful that God provided these women at a time when this little girl needed nurturing and loved.

I am grateful that God has brought these memories back to remembrance. Thank you Father.

An Empty Nest Filled with Blessings

Today as I reflected on my family, my empty nest and what to share God brought to mind my blessings. I am a very blessed woman and mother.

Yes my little boys have grown into men and flown away. They don’t need their momma watching diligently over them any longer. Those two little precious boys once filled my heart with so much love and filled my life with dirt, Legos, cars, trucks, mud, snakes and so many more little boys things. Today they still fill my heart with so much love.

They fill my heart with love and grandbabies, grandpuppies, beautiful daughter in laws and so much more.

So today instead of focusing on the unknown future I want to focus on my many blessings. Instead of looking at my nest as empty I am choosing to look at it filled with blessings.

My nest is filled with two grown sons who love the Lord, their wives and children…and their puppy! It’s filled with young men who desire to pursue God’s will for their lives. It’s filled with daughter in laws who love the Lord and also desire to follow after Him. And it’s filled with three precious grandchildren and a puppy.

My encouragement to other Empty Nester’s today is to focus on the blessings God has given you during this season. I know for some that may be difficult for you are dealing with hard issues like prodigal children, or terminal illnesses. But even in the darkest of times I believe God can help us see even the smallest blessing, if we just look.

 

These are my blessings… 

  

 

Join me every Friday for Family Friday!

A Family Legacy of Prayer

A five year old stands by the graveside of her father. Tears flowing freely down her face. What happens now?

A woman standing beside the graveside of her husband. She is falling apart inside. What happens now?

Death comes so early to a father of three small children. He leaves his wife and the mother of his children. A mother that will be unable to care for herself let alone her children.

It will take years for her to become strong. To become healthy and able to care and love properly. In the meantime, the children grow up in a world of hurt, confusion and aloneness.

But they have not been forgotten. There are those that fight for them on their knees. They daily beseech God to care for these precious children.

For years they will pray, not seeing or hearing of any fruit for their labor. Some would die not knowing if their prayers were ever answered.

The faithful prayers of grandparents, Aunts and Uncles were taken daily before the throne. A family legacy of prayer being offered up on their behalf.

A God, who is faithful to answer prayers, would watch over and work in the lives of the children. The five year old that once wondered what now would meet her God at the age of sixteen.

At twenty she would fall before her God and surrender completely to His love. She would not know until years later of the faithful prayers of her family. A family that never gave up hope in their God.

To many there were times when this family may have have looked completely lost. What hope was there for such young ones in a world that seemed against them?

What hope? The only hope. The hope of Jesus Christ and the faithful prayers of a family who never gave up.

For the LORD is good; His lovingkindness is everlasting and His faithfulness to all generations. Ps 100:5

My encouragement to you today is to faithfully pray for your family. You may or may not live to see them answered, but God is faithful to answer the prayers of the saints. I am thankful beyond words to my grandparents who faithfully prayed, dying before they ever saw fruits of their prayers.

My Beloved First Born

 

Adam (first born) David (Beloved of God) was born December 18, 1982. I was only 20 years old, barely grown myself. I remember holding him and thinking “now what?”

His first couple of years were difficult. At 3 days old we found out he was born with a VSD– a hole in his heart and ASD- thickening of his heart valve. He slept most the time, and tired easily. We had to measure every ounce that he ate for fear that he wouldn’t eat enough. He was put on medication to slow down his heart rate.

At 6 weeks we rushed him to Winchester Memorial in Va, he was turning blue and finding it hard to breathe. We almost lost him. They sent him Children’s Hospital because he was in heart failure. He would spend 10 days in the hospital while they ran many tests. With more medication and adjusting medication we went back home.

Those first months were hard. A single mom trying to handle it alone. At least I felt alone. But God was always there, watching over my precious little boy. There would be more doctors, more medicines and more trips to Children’s Hospital. I didn’t always see it or understand, but God was always there working things out according to His purposes.

God would provide a husband and a father with that first year. God provided a man to be strong for me, that I could lean on and a father who would adore and love my son. Now his son.

At 2 1/2 Adam would have heart surgery to correct the VSD and ASD. From then on there would be no stopping this precious life! He was ALL boy and there was no slowing him down!

Today he will turn 29. It’s hard to believe that he is grown and now has a family of his own.

Wasn’t it just yesterday I held him in my arms praying over him? Wasn’t it just yesterday that I gave him over to God to watch and protect, to keep my little boy safe?

The last 29 years have taught me much. There have been moments of great joy and great pain. But through it all I have learned that God has a purpose for each of us and He can and does work out the “all things” in our lives according to our good.

Today the heart of my son is strong, and tender. Tender toward those he loves. Tender toward those in need and tender toward His God. He has a heart of gold, even though he often tries to cover it up with a “tough guy” attitude. Those who know him well knows that God has also done and is doing His own kind of “surgery” on his heart so that my son will have a the heart of God.

Isn’t that what we want for our children? A heart that pursues God? I find that my prayers haven’t changed too much since his birth. I still pray that God will watch over him and protect him. I pray that he would continue to grow toward hid Father in heaven.

I am so proud of the young man he is and the man he is growing into. He is an amazing son, husband, father and friend.

I love you Adam David!! I thank God for you!!

Celebrating a Friend

Today is a very special day. I get to celebrate the gift of my precious friend. She is not only a gift to me, but so many who meet her. So today I would like to share my friend with you.

She is a woman that gives others life. She has such a generous spirit which greets others with a smile, a kind word, or a hug. You are drawn to her as she touches your life with love. The precious love of Jesus.

She has an amazing capacity for spiritual mothering. Her heart for coming along side other women to encourage, love and grow is just what is described in Titus 2:3-5. Many women of various ages consider her their spiritual mother. She has helped women grow from girlhood to godly womanhood. She has helped many grow and even flourish in their relationship with Christ.

She is a beautiful model of a Christian woman. Through her life she demonstrates a life of godliness. A life that will point others to Christ not to herself. She is a picture of pouring grace and encouragement into the lives of others. Her love motivates toward a deeper relationship with Christ. Many have said of her, “I want to be like you when I grow up.”

She is a truth speaker. With grace and love she speaks truth into the lives of those around her. She willingly helps women understand the lies of the enemy and helps them to speak truth.

She is like many of us who are just ordinary women being changed and used by an extraordinary God. What I see in her life is a willingness to be humble, ask for forgiveness, to make things right. She is willing to listen, learn and grow. She relies on the faithfulness of God to change her, to strengthen her for the work He has called her to do. She follows hard after God to serve, love, obey and live for Him in a way that brings glory to His name.

I am thankful that I am able to call her my friend, sister, mother and sometimes daughter. But more than anything I am thankful that she has modeled before me the woman I want to be.

As I write this I am reminded that we all need to take the time to share the impact others have had on us. Not in order to lift them up, but so that they might be encouraged and God be glorified.

I am also reminded that their have been many women who have come into my life that have left parts of themselves in my heart. They have poured life into my heart, for that I am forever thankful.

What about you? Do you have that mentor or spiritual mother in your life that you are thankful for? Have you told them?

If you don’t have one, may I suggest that you begin to pray for one, or become one in the life of another?

Utterly Deadly Pecan Pie

One of my favorite pies is Pecan. I have wanted to post this since Thanksgiving but hadn’t taken the time to transfer the pictures to my computer. So Here is my recipe that several have asked for. Hope you enjoy it!

Ingredients

• 1cup Sugar
• 1 1/2 Cup corn syrup (I use 1/2 dark and 1/2 light)
• 4 eggs 1/4 cup butter
• 1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 1/2 - 2 cups pecans, coarsely broken
• 1 unbaked deep dish pie shell

Directions

 

1. In saucepan boil sugar and corn syrup together for 2 to 3 minutes'; set aside and allow to cool slightly. I usually wait about 30-45 minutes.

 

 

 

2. In large bowl beat eggs lightly and very slowing pour the syrup mixture into the eggs, stirring constantly.

3. Stir until mixture is smooth and lump free.

4. Stir in butter, vanilla, and pecans.

 

 

 

5. Pour mixture into pie crust.

 

 

6. Bake in a 350 degrees oven for about 45 to 60 minutes or until set.

Reflecting upon His Grace

Today has been one of those days that I needed to reflect on God's grace ...His Favor, kindness and friendship. His gift of Grace is freely bestowed on me.

There are SO many verse dealing with Grace...I can't possibly list them all....but here are a few that touched my heart.

His Grace reminds me that I have been redeemed.

This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. Romans 3:22 – 24

…made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions--it is by grace you have been saved.Ephesians 2:5

His Grace helps me when I feel as if I am failing and there is more on my mind than should be.

Unless the Lord had given me help, I would soon have dwelt in the silence of death.When I said, "My foot is slipping," your love, O Lord, supported me. When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought joy to my soul. Psalms 94:17 – 19

His Grace reminds me that I lack nothing to do that which He has called me to do. He will pour upon me all that is needed to do His will.

I always thank God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus.For in him you have been enriched in every way--in all your speaking and in all your knowledge--because our testimony about Christ was confirmed in you. Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed. He will keep you strong to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians 1:4 - 8

The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. 1 Timothy 1:14

...being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. Philippians 1:6

Today I am thankful for God’s grace that works daily in my life.

Thankful for 28 years

It seems impossible that I have been married for 28 years. If I am really honest I never imagined that I would stay married and be absolutely happy about it. Growing up I had no real role model of how a healthy marriage was suppose to be. Society often says that those coming from broken homes are less likely to have a healthy marriage.
Good thing I don’t listen to society! I listen to God and He has had a lot to say to me about marriage over the last 28 years. I am fully aware that apart from God working in me and my husband we could be just another statistic.
But God has shown us…
Marriage is a covenant. A covenant not to be broken except by death. It’s choosing to be committed to one another no matter what life may throw at you.
Love is a choice. You only fall out of love because you choose to. It gets too hard, we stop trying, but love choose to stay and work through the hard places.
You have to laugh. God gave me my husband because God knew I would need to laugh. Keith is the only one who can make me laugh even when I am upset with him.
Neither of us are perfect. We each have areas of our heart and life that God needs to expose and work through in order to mold us into the image of Christ.
Marriage is about growing. It’s a process of growth and maturity. A process that requires grace, patience and a willingness to walk in forgiveness. It’s growing in our relationship with God, with each other and within ourselves.
Marriage is about friendship. Be willing to work at the friendship. Spend time together.Talk about everything, share your hopes, dreams, joys and sorrow. Be life long friends.
There is so much we’ve learned after 28 years this is only a small list. How can one possibly list everything?
I stand amazed as I look over the last 28 years and see all God has done. Our marriage is a result of two people surrendering our wills to God and one another. Not perfectly, but it is a process.
I don’t want to sound as if it’s been easy, it hasn’t been. Anyone who has been married for any length of time knows it takes work, prayer and God. There is a book on my shelf that I have never read, it’s called Sacred Marriage by Gary Thomas. I am sure it’s an excellent book. When I first got it I opened it and read this sentence, “What if marriage is not to make you happy, but to make you holy?” I closed the book and put it on the shelf. It’s the best book I never read.
That sentence in many ways has totally changed my thoughts on marriage. What if God intended marriage to make us holy? What better way to life a life of “iron sharpens iron” than within the marriage relationship?  Maybe we come into marriage with the wrong expectations? Maybe it’s more about learning to know God together.  It’s just a thought.
We still have many more years ahead of us so I am sure there is so much more to learn. More to love and to grow. I have loved being married and I can’t wait for the next however many years God blesses us with.
I think we have an amazing story of how we met. If you haven’t read it you can read it here Thankful for my marriage. It’s a story of redeeming Love. 

Giving Thanks for all He has done!

Today Join others at Word Filled Wednesday to see how others are being filled with God’s precious word.

A Thankful Guest –Meet Mari

Different times of the year bring different things to mind.  In February we think about love, May brings the changing seasons and thoughts of outdoor fun, August reminds us the school is going to start soon, but November is special.  In November we are reminded to be thankful.  It's not about our plans or what we want, but a time to be reminded of how much we already have.

I remember seeing the old movie 'Pollyanna' in school.  If you haven't seen it, the story is about a little girl who chooses to see the good in everything.  That movie made a big impression on me, and I've always tried (but don't always succeed) to look for the positive.

I think being thankful is very similar.  It seems that no matter what the situation, there is always something you can find to be thankful about.

Do you know who is best at this?  It seems to be those who by outward appearances have the least to be thankful for.  I've been able to care for several young people who were dying.  They consistently thanked God for the way He worked in their life, thanking Him for each new day and the different ways He cared for them as they went through this process.  What a reminder to those of us who take so much for granted!

As this month comes to an end, and we start concentrating on the busyness that the Christmas season brings, remind yourself of the many ways God has blessed you and keep a thankful spirit through the year, not just for one season!

 

Mari is a mom and Grandma. She has been married for over 30 years and works as a nurse at a long term care center.

Every time I visit her she is such a blessing to me – even if I don’t always let her know! I encourage you to visit her too by clicking the link. My Little Corner of the World. While you are there you should check out her other blogs too. She has some delicious recipes to share, I have make quite a few of them and they are always delicious!

Thank you Mari for joining us!

Just Being Thankful

My life has never been my own, I do know this truth. So often I can have a momentary lapse of forgetfulness. I run ahead on the path set before me. Impatient. The walking seems too slow.

I am often just like a child on a path taking a stroll with his parents, I run ahead. “Hurry up I call back!” My Father gentle says, “My beloved you need to slow down. You are missing all I have to show you. And besides you’ve never walked this path before and don’t understand the dangers ahead.”

I know He is speaking truth. I have run ahead before and been hurt. I have found myself in places that seemed dark and scary because I have run so far ahead that I can’t see my Father any longer.

I turn and run back to the safety of His hand holding my hand. I allow my Father to set the pace for the journey I am on. After all He has been here before, He knows what is ahead.

Lead me Father in Your purposes for me.

I realize it’s been a few days since I have written. I hadn’t planned for it to be so long since my last post, but God has had other plans. I’ve had some health issues. Nothing serious at this point. Just a lot of testing. I have found myself thankful for know that my God is in control. I trust that He will give wisdom to those who will read the test, for the doctors and lab technicians.

I am thankful that God is sovereign and that nothing can touch me apart from Him. He watches over me and will never leave me. I am thankful He is ALWAYS here and nothing surprises Him, He is never caught off guard.

You will NEVER hear God saying, “Whoa, I didn’t see that coming!” (lol)

May we find something to be thankful in each moment of the day as we walk with a God who never surprised by life’s little “surprises”.

Cultivate a Heart of Thankfulness

I have noticed recently that my heart isn’t as thankful as I would like it to be. I have been recognizing a very familiar pattern that I had allowed to creep into my heart. AGAIN. It’s called the “It’s all about me” syndrome.

We are familiar with it, not one of us have lived in the world for long without needing to purge self from the altar of our hearts.

Our world is consumed with self. We hear messages all the time about how we deserve a bigger house, nicer cars, brand name items, luxury vacations, a beach house, massages and the list of things goes on and on.

We believe the lies that we deserve time for self. We should do things that make self happy, satisfied. Do what feels good, what is right to self is the message we hear over and over.

God’s word says that we are to deny self. We are to put others above ourselves. We are to rejoice in suffering.

We must cultivate a heart of thankfulness. But in order to cultivate a thankful heart one must take their eyes off themselves and look at the world around them. We must see through the eyes of the Spirit, not the eyes of the flesh.

When we begin to focus on what we have been given instead of what we think we need our heart will be less likely to focus on the flesh. Or when we begin to look around at others and see what God is doing in their lives, and being thankful for God’s work then we are less likely to focus on self.

My challenge today for myself and for you if you are willing is to try and find things I am thankful for today. Regardless of how hard my current circumstances might be I want to focus on being thankful.

Today I can be thankful for…

…an absolutely amazing husband, friend and covenant partner.

…God who continues to work and move in ways we do not see and do not understand so that His purposes are accomplished for His kingdom.

…God who does not give me what I deserve, which is eternal damnation, but has given me grace upon grace through the sacrifice of His Son Jesus so that I might live eternally with Him.

…another day to serve God.

…God’s grace and that He chooses to use me in His kingdom work.

…the privilege to suffer in order to be more like Jesus.

Oh you get the idea…there is always, always, always something to be thankful for. We must choose to intentionally cultivate a heart of thankfulness.

Don’t forget to enter my GIVEAWAY it ends tomorrow! Details on top of my page!!!

Cultivate a thankful heart today by visiting with others who are thankful.