blog is a many splendored thing

1 Corinthians 10:31b (KJV) ...whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God. Please  Help Me  Brand  My New  Business! Dear Praying Friends and Family, I have had several great job interviews lately and I am trying to wait patiently for the job that God has for me.  But, while I wait, I have been encouraged to consider what else God may have in mind for me. Jeremiah 33:3 (KJV) -- Call unto me,  and I will answer thee,  and shew thee great and mighty things,  which thou knowest not. To that end, I am thinking and praying about starting my own my own business.  I have had years of experience in accounting, consulting and tax services.  I love working with others, to help them achieve success, and I think I could be of service to our Lord Jesus Christ in this venture. Initially, I would like to headquarter my business at home.  With today's transportation and technology options, I could easily tra...

Dear God, Use Me! Galations 6:10 - As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith. I know I am not everything God intends me to be; I may never be ALL that He wants me to be.  But, abiding in His grace, love, and mercy, each day that I wake up gives me an opportunity to get closer to living as He desires. Satan always attacks in those areas where I am weakest.  Follow through is NOT one of my strong points.  I am great at starting projects but not so great at finishing them.  I am quickly engaged, easily distracted, and sometimes lose focus. When I started this blog, almost a year ago, it was my intention to sit down and write every single day.  I started out with great enthusiasm, I was motivated to tell MY story, I was on fire for God, and I was on fire for Life.  I wanted to share that with everyone I knew. Sadly, I let people and circumstances alter my f...

Proverbs 18:24  A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly: and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother. friends are the chocolate chips in the cookie of life Last night was our Secret Pal Christmas Fellowship at church.  We are Baptist, and Baptists like to eat, so there is always a fine selection of food at our fellowships, hahaha!  We Baptists have some great cooks! Our Secret Pal Christmas Fellowship serves several purposes. As mentioned earlier, it is an opportunity to indulge in some good food and fellowship around the tables. Our Pastor’s Wife, a lovely woman with a great sense of humor, always has a great devotional prepared for us. We reveal to ourselves to our Secret Pal, hoping that we haven’t done anything to tip her off to our real identity, and we give her our final gift of the year. We complete new Secret Pal forms, and turn them in to a wonderful loving lady, who collects the forms through the middle of Dece...

At a Crossroad in Life Grace, God's Grace, is always sufficient.  The problem lies in my definition of sufficiency.  Sometimes I mistake my wants for needs and that causes me to doubt God's sufficiency.  It is not that God has failed to meet my needs; but that I have mistakenly categorized my wants as needs!   2 Corinthians 2:9 (KJV)  -  And he [Jesus] said unto me [Paul], My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness . Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.  Today my husband has been out of work for over seven months, I lost my job last Wednesday.  We are totally dependent upon God, and upon God's Grace, for whatever comes our way.  Please pray for us that we can trust God to provide for us as we look for work. Thanks! Mary  ;-)

Written by Carisa Stahl Set a watch , O LORD, before my mouth; keep the door of my lips.   Psalm 141:3   In days gone by a lot of communication was done with the mouth. In the days we are living in much of our communication is done with our fingers on our phones or computers.   Out of the five ways listed above I have texting and email, and Mary allows me to blog on her blog. Do I always watch what I say with my fingers? I'm sure I do not.  Once we say something via the above ways of communication it's out there forever, able to be found in ways we could never dream of.  Not only do we need to make sure what we say is true, helpful, inspiring, necessary, and kind but if it is all of those is it really something we want the whole world to know?   I've seen Facebook used for written sparring with very nasty, hurtful stuff said. Would the involved people act that way if they were face to face? I feel that v...

Meadow of grasses and wild flowers  © Copyright  Duncan Lilly  and licensed for reuse under this  Creative Commons Licence By Mary Carol Poggemann We live in a rural community and I drive about 15 miles through farm land (and new housing developments) to get to work and to church.  This morning’s drive was a little foggie, a light mist permeated the area, but it didn’t really hinder visibility.  The mist, and the light rains of the last few days, has greened everything up.  The grass is growing like crazy and little wildflowers dot the country side; it is just lovely! I pass a couple of farms where they have horses out in the yard and I noticed something today that I’ve never thought about much; but, today it struck me and I need to share it.  That’s what blogs are all about right???

Written by Amy Stahl- a devotion given at a ladies meeting in July 2013. Psalm 46:10 “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.” When Mrs. Woodfield asked me to speak she asked me to speak on the first part of this verse,   "BE STILL AND KNOW THAT I AM GOD." Without going into a lot of details these last few months have been a time in my life when this verse has had a lot of meaning for me. I turned 30 in May. When I was in my early 20’s I thought I would be married and have a few kids by the time I was 30. Well meaning people often say things like,   “You don’t’ have a boyfriend?” “Such a sweet girl like you, we’ll have to find someone for you.” My reply is, “I would rather be single the rest of my life than marry the wrong one.” To me being “be still” means being content where God has me now. Everyone’s life is different. Everyone is in a different season of their life. My season is being single. Eccles...

Mathew 4:4 (KJV)  - But he [Jesus] answered [Satan] and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. I’ve come to have great respect for those that blog daily and do it successfully.  It takes quite a bit of effort to come up with something honest, useful, witty, and entertaining to share on a regular basis.

Sunshine or Raindrops A Matter of Perspective Matthew 5: 45 - (KJV) - That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. Do we ever get tired of talking about the weather?  One person loves it, another hates it, and one person just doesn’t have an opinion.  God gave me some inspiration in today's weather.   Please join me to see what God shared today...

Showers of Blessing Ezekiel 34:26 (KJV) – And I will make them and the places round about my hill a blessing; and I will cause the shower to come down in his season; there shall be showers of blessing. I was tempted to complain about the rain this morning.  I say tempted because God quickly reminded me that, even in this rain, I have plenty to be thankful for.  Check out some of the reasons I am grateful for the rain on my blog!  I am grateful for the rain because...

Proverbs 15:1 – (KJV) – 15 A soft answer turneth away wrath: but A Stressed Tongue Must be Tamed! grievous words stir up anger. Stress can be a killer.  It will eventually kill you and/or your relationships.  Stress contributes to health problems, mental and emotional problems, and relationship problems. I need to be especially aware of some of the symptoms and side effects of stress.  Stress can manifest itself in many ways.  Sometimes I experience pain; stress grabs me in my neck and shoulders and sometimes in my jaw (because I clench my teeth).  Sometimes, stress affects my stomach and bowels and rears its ugly head causing digestive issues.  Stress can do wicked things to our minds, our bodies, and our soul.  Not to mention our ears, and our mouths.  Yes, I said our ears and our mouths! One of the first places I notice stress is in my ears; when I’m stressed out I hear everything with a critical ear.  I hear criticism, ...