Thirty Days of Thanksgiving

November is here... the time of year when every Facebook post and Twitter tweet is about what we are - or should be - thankful for. And it's already the THIRD, which means I'm late - again. Punctuality is obviously not a virtue that I was blessed with at birth. It takes a lot of effort so, sad to say, I reserve being punctual for church, family functions, and work (of course). Ah-hem, enough about my innate flaws and back to being thankful.

#1 - First of all, I'm thankful to God for giving me life (and, uh, my parents who helped a little). Every day I wake up - even though I really, really, dislike early mornings - means that God has a plan for me, my day, and my family.

#2 - My husband. He is my best friend. He is by my side every morning I wake up and every evening when I close my eyes to sleep. Always honest, faithful, and the best father I could dream up for my children.

#3 - My children. Parenthood is a constant challenge and just when you think you have it under control, something happens to make you wonder how on Earth these two small humanoid aliens are even related to you... regardless, I love them with all my heart and all my soul. I'm thankful that God has blessed me with these two precious gifts, I simply cannot imagine life without them.

There you have it - three things that I'm thankful for and now I'm caught up! Ta-da!

"Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!" (2 Cor 9:15) 

Scintillating September

scintillating |ˈsin(t)lˌātiNG|adjectivesparkling or shining brightly: the scintillating sun.• brilliantly and excitingly clever or skillful: the audience loved his scintillating wit | the team produced a scintillating second-half performance.

James 2:17, 21-22, 24

17 So you see, faith by itself isn’t enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless. 
 

21 Don’t you remember that our ancestor Abraham was shown to be right with God by his actions when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? 22 You see, his faith and his actions worked together. His actions made his faith complete.  

24 So you see, we are shown to be right with God by what we do, not by faith alone.

Do good deeds. This devotional reading makes me wonder if I do enough for others? Can they see Jesus living through me? Would I do something for a complete stranger that I would do for my own family? Most importantly, am I a good Christian example for my children to follow?


I often pray for God to open my heart and give me the courage to live and love others like Jesus loved us.

Praying & Believing

Genesis 22:1-14
Samuel 1:7-20

 Sometimes it's hard to trust God's plan for us. As humans we want to believe that we can control everything but that is just not the case. When you want one thing to happen and God pushes you in the other direction it is hard to follow him without question.

Abraham's faith is amazing. Can you imagine what he must have been feeling and thinking all the way up that mountain? It brings to heart the saying, "You can never really know a man unless you walk a mile in his shoes."

 Do we pray like Hannah? Do we bring everything to God? More than that, do we leave everything at the altar?

As I read these passages I realize that faith is work.

1. A constant effort to follow God's lead even if it's not down the path we choose for ourselves. 
2. A constant effort to pray earnestly and meaningfully and purposely... 
3. And then to leave it in God's hands and not carry it around as needless baggage as we try to live our lives. 

 I pray for courage to follow God's lead and strength to overcome my need to feel in control of this journey...

Luke 5:15-16

15 But so much the more went there a fame abroad of him: and great multitudes came together to hear, and to be healed by him of their infirmities.16 And he withdrew himself into the wilderness, and prayed.


Love this devotional reading for tonight. This message totally resonates with me as I'm sitting here way past my bedtime to get a few minutes of "Me Time" in, knowing I'll pay for it when the alarm clock goes off in the morning. There doesn't seem like enough time in the day to put in a full day's work, come home and give all I have left to my family, and then find some time for me. Don't get me wrong, I realize I am extremely blessed and I love my life. I wouldn't trade it for anything! 


.........How do you "recharge your batteries"?


Parenting puts tremendous demands on our time and energy. These demands can start before our kids get up in the morning and last long after they've fallen asleep. In addition we often find ourselves meeting the needs of others in our family, people at work, and friends.

Jesus knows the extent of your weariness. Many people besieged Him when they discovered He could heal the sick and perform miracles. There was no end to the ingenious ways they devised just to touch Him or get His attention (see Luke 5:18-19). He recognized the huge demand for His time.

But, Jesus also knew the only way He could deal with the demand for His time was to spend time alone with His Father to rest, pray, and recharge His batteries. It wasn't selfish; it was the most loving thing He could do for His children. It gave Him the energy and strength to deal with their many issues.

Sometimes saying "no" to your kids so you can spend quality time with your Heavenly Father is the most loving thing you can do.

http://www.youversion.com/reading-plans/parenting-by-design-daily-devotional/9

Glimpses of Heaven...

I've discovered these amazing YouTube videos from various Facebook friends' statuses. If you haven't watched them, you are missing out.

Our God is an Awesome God!

Be Still and Wait

I'm sitting here wondering what the heck to write about and I'm totally drawing a blank... I know it's supposed to be positive but everything that comes to mind is negative. Everything from...

...the coffee maker overflowing

...the doggie accidents that could've been avoided

...my poor husband ready to pull out all his cute spiky hair

...our hyper active Tasmanian devil trying her darnedest to drive us all crazy 

(you know the one from the Bugs Bunny cartoons? Yep, that's her!)

Think...
My head sounds like an empty jar with two pennies rattling around inside of it.
Think some more... Echo?..... Echo?.....
Totally empty.

WAIT!

Rain! I'm thankful for rain...
Not the gloomy all-day-gray without sunshine part...
Or the drizzly, misty, humid part that makes your hair flop or frizz...
Not the loud booming, leaves thrashing, waking up in the middle of the night part...

...but what comes after... 

The clean smell in the air and the plants who seem thankful for the drink. God's gift for the Earth as he gives life to the sea and to the land. God is glorious.

So even today, when everything seems to go wrong, traffic is horrible, and bad things happen to great people... Even when it feels like everything is working against you and it's just hard to just breathe...

God is there, holding us close, listening to our sorrows, and guiding the way. All we have to do is be still and wait... so I will be thankful and I will trust that tomorrow will be a better day. I will have faith that life is playing out according to God's master plan. I will relinquish control to Him. I will wait for Him to lead me.

The gloomy clouds will pack up and roll away...
The sun will push it's way out and it's rays will flood the sky...