blog is a many splendored thing

If someone doesn’t love, honor, or respect my belief in, and dependence upon, the one and only true God, the Maker and Creator of the universe can I expect him or her to guide me in the direction I should go?  No!  I don’t think so.  Therefore, I have some important decisions to make for my life. Exodus Chapter 20   (Paraphrased) The Bible speaks directly to many situations we encounter every day; consider The Ten Commandments, they are pretty specific.  And, in those instances where the Bible doesn’t speak directly to a specific situation, it provides the right principles and guidelines for our Christian walk.  But, we must read the Bible, meditate upon it, and figure out how to apply it to our daily lives. Do you have a problem that is bothering you today?  May I recommend that you stop, and pray, and ask God to help you find the answer to your question?  Then listen for His answer!  Sometimes we stop at telling God the problem...

Decisions...                   Decisions...                     Decisions... What should I do??? When we are born again, and we become Christians, many of our daily decisions can seem like we are at war.  We are at odds with Satan, and the world, and the things of the world.  Sometimes, it is hard for us as Christians to know exactly how to behave.  We want to fit in with our co-workers and our neighbors, we want to keep up with the Joneses, and we want people to like us.  There is a war going on inside us.  We know that we are to live  different from the world, but we have to live in the world, and sometimes it’s so hard to be the one that’s different. Proverbs 20:18 (KJV ) – Every purpose is established by counsel: and with good advice make war. There are times in every life when we realize we have more questions than answers.  And, when I...

Gospel Tract The Fellowship Tract League I am a Child of The King, born again into the family of God through the blood sacrifice of Jesus Christ my Lord and Savior.  He is my strength and my power, my savior and my best friend.  He cares for me like no other; and it is my strong desire to serve Him, to honor Him, and to glorify Him in all that I think, say, or do.  My actions speak louder than my words; and I may be the only Bible that some of my friends and family will ever read... 1 Corinthians 10:31 (KJV) - Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God. I am the recipient of God’s many blessings and He loves me as no other ever has, or ever will.  He has saved me out of sin and debauchery to a life with purpose and reason.  No, I am not perfect, but He is!  It is my responsibility and my privilege to share the gospel, the good news, of Jesus Christ my Lord and Savior with others.  That is pa...

As you may recall, one of the goals I set a couple weeks back is to lose weight, get healthy, and stay motivated!   In order to track my progress, I determined to weigh myself on Saturday mornings.   The first week I was so happy, I lost 1.6 pounds!   I didn’t make many changes to my diet, I didn’t feel deprived, and I added some exercise to my day to help with my energy levels. The second week my scale said I didn’t lose any weight at all.  Arrggghhh!  I started out to be a little discouraged; then I thought about it a little while and chose NOT to be discouraged.  I hadn’t lost any weight; but I didn’t gain any either!  I decided that was a good thing and that I would count that as a success!  We have to take our battles one at a time and I am content this week with NOT GAINING weight!  That made me happy. As I thought about what changed from week 1 to week 2 I realized that I probably hadn’t eaten a lot more calories in week two t...

Technology is wonderful, except when it isn’t.  I have a bunch of photos on my cell phone that I want to get onto my computer, so I can share them with others, and I am having a dreadful time getting it right.  I took lots of pictures at my friend’s birthday party and lots of people asked me to share them.  Either I have copied one set of photos over, and over, and over again; or I fear that I have deleted some pictures I promised to friends.  Yes, technology IS wonderful, except when it isn’t. I’m not always a technical goofball.  But, lately it seems that I’m more goofball than technical.  Suggestions would be greatly appreciated!  I also have before and after photos of the clear-the-clutter project that Amy and I embarked upon last Saturday!  You guessed it, I haven’t figured out how to share those pictures either, but thankfully, no one is asking about them, hahaha.  So, I’ll tell you about our progress…  And, then, when I get t...

Today was bittersweet.  A lovely woman, a member of our church family, lost the battle with cancer - and passed on victoriously to be with our Lord - the other day.  Today we attended her funeral; a memorial to the way she lived her life.  It was a lovely service.  Yes, we were saddened at the loss of our friend; but joyous in the fact that she is with Our Lord! There were hundreds of people in attendance to show their love and support for her family.  We – as a congregation – sang some of her favorite hymns; some of her loved ones read a few of her favorite Bible passages; and one of her closest friends – who is also fighting cancer – played her guitar and sang a beautiful hymn. She sang a hymn that speaks of the Christian hope.  As human beings, we tend to worry; so, it is reassuring that we, as born again believers, don’t have to worry about tomorrow.  There isn’t any fear about where we’ll go when we pass out of this world; we will move on...

Another huge winter storm, with bitter cold and piles of snow settled in on Delaware this week.  It isn’t pretty out there.  The polar vortex hit us again on Wednesday brining temperatures in the single digits and it was very windy; the wind chill factor was in the double digits below zero and it was extremely dangerous outside.  I remember such winters being common when I was growing up in the Midwest; but, thankfully, they are a rarity here on the East Coast.  We just aren’t prepared for these temperatures and we don’t have the equipment to deal with the big snows quickly and efficiently.  So the State of Delaware pronounced a state-of-emergency and asked us to stay off the streets. Reluctantly, my employer notified all of us that we would close all of our offices on Wednesday.  We were given enough notice about the storm that I came home prepared.  I brought a pile of work home with me so I wouldn’t get too far behind.  I also have do...

The farmer doesn’t plant the field, or endure the dog days of summer, because it is fun or because he needs some excitement in his life.  He makes his plans, plants the fields, and does his daily chores because he desires the harvest.  He desires the good part of farming…  Likewise, the good part of life, the abundance of God, is only available to us when we make our plans, do the work, and develop the good habits that lead to the desired result. Jesus Christ himself was the best teacher in The Word, and in the world, on finishing what He started.  Jesus’ example was to honor and glorify God; that was His lifes work; and He did it in all that He said and did.  John 17:4 (KJV) - I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do. I would like to follow Jesus’ example. I want to honor and glorify God with my thoughts, words, and deeds.  That means that one day at a time, chore by chore, I must make the right...

For those of you who pay attention to the dates; I fell asleep last night before finishing my post and getting it published…  So, today, you get two for the price of one.  I also have tomorrow’s post ready so I can rest on the Lords day! God really has a special place in his heart for farmers.  God placed the very first man he created on His farm to tend to it.  Genesis 2:8 (KJV) - And the LORD God planted a garden [or farm] eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed. Jesus loved farmers.  He told His disciples that His Father was a farmer.   John 15:1 (KJV) - I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. Farmers must be the best people in The Word, and the world, at keeping at a thing until the finish.  By the way, some of my favorite people are farmers, and they are a wonderful example of sticking to it.  The hardest part, (and the most expensive, I would guess) comes at planting time and at harves...

I suppose it is in all human nature – ok, I am human and it is my nature – to start something new with gusto and zeal and then I get tired, or run down, and I start slipping into my old ways.  It is so easy to make plans, to set goals, to gather supplies, and to get started.  It’s not in getting started I have a problem; it’s in sticking to that which I start. So it is with books, crafts, sewing, and other projects I’ve started…  I look around and I see dozens of projects started; but the finishing is nowhere in sight.  That isn’t good for me, it isn’t good for my sense of accomplishment, and it isn’t good for the clutter levels in our home. It’s not uncommon for me to have several books going all at the same time because I have started one, saw another with an interesting title, and others were recommended to me; unfortunately I may not make it back to the first book to ever get to “the good part”.   You know, life can be that way too!  If we don’...

It's been a really, really, long day. It started at five this morning, and its almost nine at night here on the east coast.  But, the day goes on.  I was planning to stop by and let you know that I'm too pooped to pop and too beat to blog. But, as soon as I started writing I found some energy that I didn't know I had.  It's amazing how great you  feel when you're doing something you really love. It's getting close to the weekend, and I'm getting excited about the fact that Amy, my organizer, will be here on Saturday to help me get started. It is not everyday that one starts ridding herself of the accumulation of a lifetime. I have been dragging some of these things around with me since I was a kid. I still have the broken jewelry at my parents gave me when I graduated from 8th grade! It's not that its worth anything monetarily but I look at it and I remember that once upon a time, a very long time ago, they loved me.   I have been a saver, a stuffer...

It has been a long day; but a really really good day!  Yes, I am tired; but it’s that good kind of tired that happens when you’ve done the right thing, the right way, for the right reason.  It doesn’t happen every day; but today feels like a success! A couple of years ago I was in a bad car accident, and I have had some major fear when driving at night, especially when it is raining.  Well, it is winter on the east coast, and it rains quite a bit, so I’ve been skipping a lot of night time activities, including church services.  Just getting back and forth to work has been a challenge since the time change! You could say that I have let fear and anxiety drive me into my home.  Fear reminds me that I am vulnerable and keeps me from doing the things I want to do.  Tonight, with lots of help from God, and some encouragement from a friend, I was able to face my fears and get to church. This week I deliberately made plans get to Wednesday Night Praye...

Last night I had the opportunity to hear a remarkable young lady speak on goal setting.  She shared with me after she spoke that she had been reluctant to discuss goal setting in a group of “mature Christian Ladies” because she thought we were probably more experienced at life, and at setting goal setting, than she.  But, God kept urging her toward the subject and she did a beautiful job. Her presentation was well thought out and timely since many of us are working on our goals for the upcoming year.  As she was speaking, I felt Gods presence in the room.  I’m sure from the conversations that followed many of us felt convicted.  I wonder if they thought God had urged her to speak on goal setting just for them, I did! She touched on several areas that I myself have been considering in the process of setting some of my own goals.  Her focus was not however just on setting goals, or how to achieve them, but also on the matters of the heart that should...

Hello friends and family!  So glad to see that you were able to make it by today!  I want to thank you for your continued interest and support.  Today I want to talk about gratitude.  Maintaining an “attitude of gratitude” means a world of difference in how I approach my day and the way I treat the people I encounter.  When I get up feeling sorry for myself because I didn’t get enough sleep, or I don’t feel good, or I have a dozen things to do today, you can be sure I’m going to have a bad day.  Poor me!  On the other hand, if I take the time to thank God first thing in the morning for all His blessings, I can get up tired, put on my best blue dress, and head off to work with my box of tissues.  Gratitude will see me through a really busy day, help me to encourage my husband and my co-workers, and will show me how to be contented with too little sleep! One of the things I try to do when I am feeling a little down is to pick a hymn for the...