It's A Different Season

It's a different season and I'm okay with that.

I was noticing today that on the first blog that I had, the list of 'Must Reads' were pretty much all ladies that scrapbooked and then there were a few random ones from family and friends. This time the majority of the 'Must Reads' are Christian women and a couple of family and friends.

What a good place to be, where what I read the most is encouraging, positive and uplifting, but also thought provoking and challenging.

It is a good season to be in. I am thankful God has brought me here.

God is Good

Have I mentioned lately just how good god is?!? No? Well I should!

Sunday morning my husband went to church with me...not because I whined and cried and begged and pleaded, but because he chose to go. Granted, he says he is only going 'for me' and Sunday morning I believe he slept through the majority of the message, but it has been two years since my husband has stepped foot in church. I'll take a sleeping husband in church for now. I know that God is big enough and powerful enough to open his ears, even while he sleeps. Of course he didn't sleep through the entire message because he misunderstood something that was said and was pretty riled up over it. It was ironic how passionate he was about something 'he doesn't care about'.
Monday I asked him for his overall impression, giving it a day or so to sink in. He said it wasn't that bad. He did ask for ear plugs so he wouldn't have to listen to the music. I almost laughed when he said it was too loud. (This coming from the guy who listens to Pantera and the like at decibels that could make your ears bleed) But other then that he said it was OK.
And he's coming again next week. God is good!!!!

Praise & Prayer

I just realized that it's been almost a month since I've posted anything here. Not on purpose mind you, I have actually been working on two posts about Living and Giving Generously, but I can't seem to put my rambling thoughts about the subjects into coherent sentences. It irritates me when that happens.

So what else have I been up to? Well, the last (almost) two weeks, I've been having gall bladder (or peptic ulcer) issues. I went to the doctor yesterday and have an ultrasound and upper GI scheduled for the 19th (that was the earliest I could get in). So I won't know anything conclusive until after that.
The way I figure, by the time the radiologist gets around to looking at my films and making a determination that it is indeed my gall bladder and then writes up his/her report to send to my new wonderful doctor and she gets a chance to look at it and have the front office staff call me to arrange for surgery or a follow-up appointment or whatever comes next, it'll be mid-May. Actually I am hoping that maybe they can have the results and set the surgery up for May 11th. I have plans for the weekend before (the symphony & a women's luncheon) so I'd hate to miss out on those and I don't have any big plans for Mother's Day. We'll see. Maybe I'll be surprised and it won't be my gall bladder at all.

I have great news! My husband is going to come with me to church on Sunday!!! I am absolutely estatic! He says he is only going because he knows it'll make me happy and he is not going to listen or be 'brainwashed', but I know that we serve a great, big God who can do mighty and miraculous things! Including opening the ears and heart of a man who has taken the first step but is stubbornly refusing to go farther.
Pray! Pray for him; that his ears be opened and his heart be softened. Pray! Pray for me; that I get out of the way and let God work and trust that He is, even if I can not see it.
Did I mention how absolutely, positively excited I am that my husband is coming to church?!?
God is doing great things in and through the ladies in the Bible study on Sunday nights. I truly had no idea why God placed the burden on my heart to lead it. Leading the study terrified me, truly scared me out of my socks, but I am so glad that I listened to that still small Voice of Truth instead of the hollering shouts of doubt! I know that relationships have been formed and friendships have been developed and strengthed. I have seen prayers answered and that is awesome! Absolutely awesome! The ladies have been angels of strength to me when I needed it most. How thankful I am for each of them. How thankful I am that God has blessed my life with them. So thankful in fact, that we are going to do another study once this one is over. Continue to pray for me, that I listen closely to the still small Voice of Truth and shut my ears to the hollering shouts of doubt.

I will try to catch up more later...today or tomorrow. Hopefully, sooner then another month.

Have an awesome day!

There is a time for everything

Tuesday night a six-year-old boy from my church was crushed under an iron gate that fell off of the rollers. He is in critical condition with chest and head injuries and the doctor's have been saying that it will take a miracle for him to survive.

I know that God is a God of Miracles and I have no doubt of that. I also know that God is the Great Physician and could heal him in ways that far surpass the advances of modern medicine and technology.
I also know that God is the Giver and Taker of Life and it is a very real possibility that Our Maker is calling His child home. It is hard to think about that, since he is such a baby, only six years old. And we prepare to grieve for that loss, our loss; not his. If God takes him, then that little boy is going to be in a far better place then any of us can ever imagine. He is going to Heaven!
However, we are praying for a miracle. We have seen God's work already; the little boy has moved his fingers and has survived a successful surgery to remove a blood clot from his brain and reduce the swelling. They are draining blood from his lungs and this of course is what the doctor's are working on.
I am asking for prayer. Pray that our Great and Awesome God be glorified in this situation, that His will be done, that He comfort those that are hurting, and give strength to those that are weary.

Wednesday afternoon I found out that my husband's hours are being cut to 32-35 hours a week. Mine have been cut back to 32 for a couple of weeks now. I thank God that we both still have our jobs, but I believe that God is moving us into a new season.
We have been very comfortable, perhaps too comfortable, with our financial situation. We have wanted for very little and we have spent friviously. We have enjoyed the 'freedom' of being able to financially meet our needs and some of our wants. We were living with a false security that our income would remain as it had been.
It has come to a time where we need to seriously prioritize our budget. We need to eliminate unneccesary 'needs' from our life. I am glad for it, as I know that if I trust Him, God will do great things through this time.
It sounds almost silly to be talking about where God is financially leading us at just a cut of a few hours. I realize that it pales in perspective to those that have been laid off and have no jobs at all. I know that those people will face hardships far greater then what I am being asked to face right now.
However, I realize that this is an area that needs refining in my life. I need to handle the money that I have more responsibly. I have been careless and irresponsible. I need to realize that money is not the answer or the solution to life's problems. I need to stop relying on what it can do for me.
I am certain that God will reveal many more things that He wants me to learn during this season and I am praying that I stay willing to hear and open to learning them.

There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven:

a time to be born and a time to die,

a time to plant and a time to uproot,

a time to kill and a time to heal,

a time to tear down and a time to build,

a time to weep and a time to laugh,

a time to mourn and a time to dance,

a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,

a time to embrace and a time to refrain,

a time to search and a time to give up,

a time to keep and a time to throw away,

a time to tear and a time to mend,

a time to be silent and a time to speak,

a time to love and a time to hate,

a time for war and a time for peace.(Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 NIV)

Thursday's Thought

Men are not against you; they are merely for themselves.

- Gene Fowler

Majoring in "Me" with a minor in "False Humility"

Selfishness vs. Servanthood... When the war is waged in our lives, we side with selfishness. We major in "me." We have this me, my, mine attitude in our lives and forget about others. We want someone else to serve us, to give us the massage, the pedicure, or the shoulder rub. We don't want to serve anyone else because we think of servants as weaker than, less than, or below us.

Ed Young http://www.crosswalk.com/devotionals/edyoung/

This Sunday I will be teaching about the Lord's Supper in Sunday school. The main focus of the lesson for the preschoolers is about how Jesus washes the feet of the disciples. I'll admit, as I prepared to write the lesson, I thought, 'Jesus is clearly preforming a job that is below Him to prove a point'. And then it hit me. The point I thought He was proving, was not the point at all; at least not for me.

Why did the thought even cross my mind that there was a job 'below' Him? Am I saying that Jesus was too good to wash dirty feet, but that scrubbing caked on dust and mud was a job fitting for someone else? Who? Who was I thinking was worthy or unworthy, as the case may be, of having that job?

How I have fallen short! I thought I was doing good at not assuming that there was any job that was 'below' anyone, but obviously that is not the case. My words express one thing, but my heart expresses quite another.

Are there jobs that I believe that I am above doing? Do I have a servant's heart? A heart that is willing to scrub dirt and dust from another's feet?

It's time I take a serious look into the type of servant I have become. I have spent enough time seeking a major in "me" and a minor in "false humility". It is time that I sincerely seek out what type of servant that God is calling me to be.

50 years young is far better then 30 years old!

May you enjoy today more then yesterday, but not nearly as much as you will enjoy tomorrow.

May the days you experience gut wrenching laughter far out number the days you experience heart breaking sorrow.

May you always be reminded of the beautiful person that you are.

May your family and your friends never be far

May you have more then an abundance of blessings come your way.

May you have a wonderful, absolutely fabulous 50th birthday!

Happy Birthday Mom!

I Love You!!