It was another good day

 We went to church yesterday and heard a great message from Pastor John.  We do love these pastors at our new church!  As Pastor John was walking out, he stopped at our row and hugged hubby and talked with him a few seconds then reached in and gave me a big hug before he headed on out the door.  As we were leaving the building, Pastor Lindsey was standing by the door, she saw me and grabbed me and gave a big hug and said 'we need to get together for lunch again soon'!  And for me to send her a text to remind her that we need to get it set up.  I mentioned in passing that I wanted to chat with her and Pastor John and was thinking of sending an email.... and she goes "Oh, you want to start a life group?"  I laughed and told her that was something we needed to talk about... but that I had an 'experience' last week that I wanted to share with them.  

I kid you not.  Hubby and I went on to Cracker Barrel for brunch and before our meal even arrived, I had a text from Pastor Lindsey asking what happened and that she didn't want time to elapse on something unsolved if they needed to address it, that groups had been formed while they were on sabbatical, and although they appreciated the 'go ahead' of the staff, there was not training and instructions before they were formed.  I shot back a quick email that nothing was unresolved, I just didn't feel welcomed to join a group and no one seemed to know what another group was planning to do.  She sent a text right back again that she was sorry that happened to me, that they would like to talk with me further, and we will get together soon.  

Someone actually cares what I/we think and feel and experience.  Now that is being a true pastor - one who cares about their people - even though who are new and they don't really know very well!  I can't wait to meet them for lunch - I hope their schedule (and mine) allows for it soon.  Next week we are gone so doubt it will be this week - but will see! 

I don't remember what is on my calendar for work this week, but I know my personal calendar is somewhat 'busy' with two doctor appointments and of course 'work'.  I do have a meeting with my favorite boss today.  We'll catch up on what we did over the weekend, then will talk about work.  It's my 'ARC Review' which means we'll discuss any projects I've done, and what do I plan to do in the remaining of the year.  I've already decided to increase my knowledge in PowerPoint.  Glanced through the book a few times, but that's as far as I've gotten.  She always words it to where I 'walk on water'.  She has been so very good to me.

I heard some snarling outside so opened the shutters. LOL This little tiny dog is snarling at this huge dog walking (with his master) down the street.  It was kind of funny... the man with the big dog just looked back at the woman with the little dog - that, I kid you not, she pushes in a baby carriage like a princess and shook his head.  And it played out in front of our house. I imagine the woman wants to walk, and the dog can't walk, so she pushes in the baby carriage.  It's a hoot.

James 4:6 (NKJV):  But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: "God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble."

I am so grateful for God's grace to me.  Some days it is all I can hang on it, when I go through some very trying circumstances.  What about you?  Have you learned about how precious His grace is?  Have you asked for His grace to sustain you?  Why not spend a little time talking with Him and seek His face and let go of what is troubling you?  When you surrender your life to Jesus, He gives you all the grace you could ever want or need.  Living in grace is much more powerful and peaceful, than living in self and sin.

As I sit here and wonder what to write next, these words come to my attention:

Reimagine what's possible. Rediscover your spark.

What am I reading those words from?  The back of my Virta Health booklet.  I know that it is applying those words to health - and we should imagine in our mind us having good health and rediscover who we can be if we get our health in order and live and move and breathe..... 

But what if we applied those words to all of life?  What if....(by the way, have you ever watched that movie?  I love it and wish I had gone to the theater to see it last week, but did not.) what IF... we chose differently in life.... what would our lives be like now?

But even more so, what IF, we decided that today was going to be the day we took our health seriously and started making wiser choices on what we eat?  I am not one to tell anyone what to eat because I can't remain consistent it seems.  I do good for a few hours and then will sneak chocolate or a cookie or something.  Which is why I can't drop this weight, I'm sure.  It's why I avoid photos for I'm ashamed of what I look like.  My daughter posted a photo of us a few years ago and the current photoshoot one of us... I look like a blimp in the second photo... but as much as I do not like the photo, that is obviously what I look like to others so just sucked it up and let it go.  

If I want to change, I have to make the change. 

And it's like following Jesus.  If I want to change, I need to make different choices.  I love this saying in the movie The Chosen.... Matthew is talking to Gaius, the Roman soldier.  I forget what Gaius asks him, but Matthew looks at him and says (something like).... 

"I have only one thing to do today.  Follow Him."

And that is the one choice each of us have to make today.  What will be your one choice?   I'm choosing 'Follow Him."

Blessings!

Where did Monday come from?

 As I sat here this morning - it really was weird - I was thinking it was Tuesday.  But yet, I remember seeing Ms. Amy yesterday, and I couldn't do that during the day.  And I remember going to church, and yet, is today Tuesday already?  Then it dawned on me that it is 'only' Monday.  Why did I think it was Tuesday?  Is it going to be 'one of those weeks'?  I don't think I've done that before - leaving Monday out of the week.  Really weird.

And yesterday wasn't so different than a normal Sunday except Ms. Amy's son brought her 'home' for a few hours.  That was an odd and awkward situation.  Long story short, I did eventually get to go over and visit Ms. Amy for about 20 minutes before he said he had to get her back to the assisted living and I needed to leave.  He was like a protective hen... which wasn't necessary.  He is an odd one, for sure.  He seemed to resent Ms. Amy wanting to see me.  Interesting.

I seem to be having trouble writing in here today.  What's up with that?  I've written several paragraphs, and then stop and erase them.  It seems that I have nothing to share.... so let's go to the devotion I read today.  It actually was really cool, and made me think.

It is about a former basketball player who made a mistake play, and the team lost the game.  He beat himself up over it for awhile; even lost his desire to play, because he had made a mistakes and they lost. A friend told him "You made one bad play in a game filled with good plays.  Even great players blow it from time to time.  You're good, but last time I checked, you were still human"!   

Aren't we glad that in spite of our mistakes, that God doesn't forget we are human.  Or as I heard in Jentezen Franklin's message yesterday - we are only dirt.  

Psalm 103:12-14  "He has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west.  The Lord is like a father to his children, tender and compassionate to those who fear him.  For he knows how weak we are; he remembers we are only dust."

Been beating yourself up lately?  Maybe you need to cut yourself some slack.  Perhaps you had a day recently when you were the worst version of yourself.  Maybe you've said or done some things lately that you are not proud of.  Maybe you've been wallowing in your shame as we often do we we flub up.  Maybe you have been thinking you may as well quit trying, and just give up.

Don't.  I know it hurts when you let yourself down, but don't rob yourself of being the person God has created you to be, and you know you can be.  So you messed up, and said something you shouldn't have, or did something you shouldn't have.  Even the best of us have bad days from time to time.  You know I have!  No matter how mature we think we are, or even how spiritual we think we are, we are only human, and just made of dust.

Genesis 2:7 (NKJV):  "And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being."

Let your Father wrap His Arms of Grace around you.  Let Him lift you up and dust you off, and help you get going again.  He's never given up on you.  Don't you give up on yourself either!

Trust me, all the self-torture you can muster won't change that failure that is holding you captive.  You can't live backward.  You can only live forward.  So cut yourself some slack and give yourself a bit of that grace that our Heavenly Father freely gives you and me.  It's only when we can let go of yesterday's failures that we are able to give ourselves fully to tomorrow's victories.  

Quit hanging on to what you can't change.  Start living today in the grace of God.

Blessings!

Sharing your witness, your testimony.

 Yesterday's message was really good, based on Acts 1:8.  It was about sharing your testimony of what you 'were' to how your life was changed when you surrendered your life to Jesus.  I've shared my testimony a few times, but I always feel awkward doing so.  Why?  Because you share personal things and some things I just don't like to share.  I don't like who I was then, because I did a lot of things that I really didn't understand what was wrong.  Although I was raised in the church, what I lived at home was totally different and I thought that was a normal family.  We were far from normal.  It wasn't until I divorced, remarried, and moved out here, that my life changed.  It took someone teaching me, through discipleship, helping me understand how I should live as a Christian.  It took a good preacher, under whom I learned more about living for Jesus, and not for the world.  There are four preachers who made a big impact on my life.

Pastor Dave - our three-piece suit pastor - brought me back to Jesus.  He taught the Bible and what it meant in such a way that I understood.  Pastor Don - our sport coat pastor - he taught me that it was ok to be 'casual' for church.  I had been brought up that men wore suits and women wore dresses or skirts/blouses - all dressed up.  Pastor Don showed me that God loves us no matter what we wear to church.  Pastor Gerald - our worship pastor - taught me how to worship.  Singing hymns was easy; that is what I was raised with.  But when they switched to comtempory and choruses - I really struggled.  But through it all, Pastor Gerald brought me into the presence of God and taught me how to worship.  Pastor Steve - my dearest friend and mentor - he taught me about grace.  I didn't understand what grace was; I had heard the word used, but never really understood it.  Until I received grace.  I didn't deserve it.  But when he asked me "haven't you ever heard about grace"?, I never knew what it was, but I joyfully received it and understood what it was.  I will be forever indebted to him for that.  Ah, but there is also a fifth pastor who made a difference in my life,.  Pastor Lori.  She taught discipleship and I sat under her teaching for a year, and I learned so much on how to live for Jesus.  I learned what it meant to tithe; how to have a personal relationship with Him, and how to pray.  I taught discipleship myself for a few years for it changed my life.  I would encourage everyone to take a discipleship class for it will definitely change your life and give you knowledge of how to live for Jesus.

Acts 1:8 (NKJV):  "But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth."

We are to share our testimony of what Jesus did for us.  Without going into details, I would say, I was raised in the church, backslid, lived my own life the way I wanted to, found Jesus, received forgiveness, and from then on have walked with Him.  Yes, I still make mistakes; but His grace is sufficient and helps me to find my way to forgiveness and grace through Him.  Hallelujah!  I'm still a mess most of the time, but God, in His great mercy, holds me in the palm of His hand and helps me through each day.  

Ephesians 2:2-10 (NKJV):  "And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince ofthe power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, jast as the others.  But God, who is rich in percy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved) and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.  For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.  For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them."

Four points Pastor Pat shared as he challenged us to share our testimony this week - Be Honest.  Be Open.  Be Transparent.  Be Kind.

I thank God that what I WAS iswhat I am NO MORE.  By His grace, I was rescued from that life and daily walk with Him.  He makes all the difference in my life.  When I think of what my life could have been like had I continued in the downward spiral as I was, I know that only by God's grace could I be forgiven, and set free from the bondage of sin I was living in.

God had so much more for me than what I had.  All I had to do was surrender, and let God take over.  Best decision I ever made.  God has blessed me beyond measure - perhaps not in financial ways, but in family and friends.  The best part?  He welcomed me with open arms, like a Shepherd finding His lost sheep, and gathered me into His arms.

God's grace.  There is nothing like it.  All you have to do is ask for it.

Blessings!

Where did the weekend go?

 Shouldn't today just be Saturday?  And it's Tuesday already?  Where did my holiday weekend go?  It certainly did fly by!  I've shared much of what we did over the weekend.  Yesteday I didn't get done the things I had mentioend, and thought about.  Hubby and I sat out in the front courtyard for a short while while we had a cool breeze, then about 9AM I took a short walk - less than two miles - but I did walk.  It was nice being by myself and walking and talking and singing to God.  It's one of my favorite things to do.  

After preparing the deviled eggs and beans, we headed over to our new Bible study group.  We immediately felt welcomed by everyone and right at home.  All the food was delicious and we had a great time of listening and talking and finding out about others.  I hadn't planned on sharing much about myself, but when asked direct questions, one needs to answer.  It was all a good time and I learned things about each one.  There were 11 of us last night - 4 couples and 3 singles. After eating there was a discussion of what we would study.  We had been told Job, but I guess the couple who pushed on Job wont' be attending for awhile, so they said we didn't have to study Job.  I think it was decided we'd study Proverbs.  That should be interesting as that is one book I haven't studied in its entirety.

Today I am back to work - oh joy - and from jumping online for a brief time yesterday - see that I don't have much to do.  Gives me time to work on mandatory training everyone in the company has to have completed by July 11th.  My goal is to be totally done by June 30th.  I think I have about 6 trainings yet to do - ranging about 30 - 60 minutes each.  Trying to do at least one a day... but if I have the time and can get through it, may just keep going utnil I'm done.

Got started on week 5 of my Seeking Him book.  I took a few days off from it to get back in sync.  I really meant to do it yesterday and forgot about it as I was engrossed in reading my books.  This is the chapter that really spoke to me when I first went through the book (before the revised one).  It is on Grace.  I am often reminded how much grace God has already given me, and how much more grace that I need.  And He gives His grace freely, when we ask for it.

Romans 6:14 NKJV):  "For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law, but under grace."

Ephesians 2:8 (NKJV):  "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God."

Hebrews 4:16 (NKJV):  "Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need."

There is so much of God's grace in the Bible.  Scripture after scripture will show you how grace is given - freely.  Sit back and think about all the grace that has been given you.  Perhaps in times of struggle you cried out to the Lord for clarificiation, for help - and He answered and gave you what you did not deserve - His grace.

None of us deserve His grace, me the least of them.  But when we seek Him first in our lives, He freely gives and supplies that grace that we need for that moment in time.  Hallelujah!   I am so grateful for the grace of God that helps me in all I do. His grace supplies my every need.  And His grace supplies yours as well.

Have you ever thanked God for His grace?  The times He kept you or a family member from serious harm?  The time when you needed to find something and couldn't and finally just asked 'God, please help me find it' - and your eyes were opened to where it was.  What about when you were overwhelmed and you didn't see a  way out - God's grace sustained you, whether you recognized it at the time or not.  And many times we don't - until we think about how things could have turned out differently - but didn't.  We didn't get what we deserved, but received the mercy and grace of a faithful God.

I could not live without God's grace in my life - nor would I want to.  There is nothing better than resting in my Savior and knowing I have received His grace for all things.

Sit back, close your eyes, and think about all that God has done for you and for your family.  That is grace.

Blessings!

still struggling, somewhat better....

 First, because I want to share how God is healing me, it's all about me.  The sneezing has stopped.  The headache is still gone.  The sore throat is gone.  But, alas, the runny nose and coughing are still here.  In fact, both kept me awake most of the night.  I got up around 3:30AM and came in here to my chair and tried to sleep some more.  Still not feeling physically up to par.  I've heard hubby coughing some too - he was in the room breathing all the disinfectants as well, but it doesn't seem to have affected him as bad as me.  I still don't understand how it has affected me so badly - we tried to air out the room, but I think we became used to the odor and stayed in the room from about noon on Saturday until we left on Sunday - me sleeping; hubby just being quiet (and sleeping some) so that I could rest.  With not sleeping well last night I may be taking a nap or two.  I didn't take naps yesterday and my mind would not shut off last night - I was wide awake for the majority of the night.

I am signed up to go on a 'road trip' with some girl friends to a yarn shop in Wickenberg and Tempe on Saturday - with lunch in between.  I'm debating on whether or not to go.  Part of me wants to go so that I can be out with other women, but part of me feels guilty about leaving hubby home alone for the entire day when I will be gone 4 days next week.  He still wants me to go.  I'm still praying and thinking about it.  With my continued coughing, I may make others uncomfortable.  Since we do have COVID tests here at home, I may just take one to be sure it is the disinfectants that I have breathe in and not the virus itself.  It should come back negative, and then I'd feel better and can tell them I took the test, just to be sure, for their sake.

Hosea 10:12 (NKJV) "Sow for yourselves righteousness; Reap in mercy; Break up your fallow ground, For it is time to seek the Lord, till he comes and rains righteousness on you."

That is the scripture I am to remember as I begin this new study on 'Seeking Him'.   I actually remember it from when I did this study before.  A lot has changed in this study and thus far it is going well.  I like that it is a daily thing and only takes 5-10 minutes to read and complete what is there.  Just enough to cause the mind to ponder some things.  I need to stay involved in these studies for it keeps my mind active - not that work doesn't - but this is something that I enjoy, and trust me, I need this more than I need my job!

What does 'break up your fallow ground' mean?  It means to break up the hardness of your heart, seek the Lord and His righteousness, and He will rain His righteousness upon you.  The 'break up your fallow ground' really spoke to me the first time I did this study.  I remember researching it all to understand what does that really mean.  Of course the other versions of the Bible say it a different way, but I love the way the NKJV says it.  Break up the hardness of your heart, turn to Jesus, and He will bless you in ways you cannot imagine.  How awesome is that!

UGH.  My Fosamax, my daily pills, and my coffee are not mixing well this morning on my empty stomach - which is really nothing unusual as I always take my pills on an empty stomach.  I waited the half hour after the Fosamax as I should, stayed upright as I should, but now my tummy is giving me the queasy feeling.  Hmmm.  Hope I don't have to make a run for it.

I think I will leave you with this today.... taken from my daily cards....

2 Timothy 4:22:  "The Lord be with your spirit.  Grace be with you."  How I love being a recipient of God's Grace.  He has been so good to me, so faithful, throughout my life.  Yes, I had to endure some things, but He has never left me, even when I didn't know Him, even when I rejected Him to follow my own path.  He has been my Sustainer, my Protector, my Hope, my Redeemer, my Friend.  And most of all, my favorite for Him - my Nail in a Sure Place.  His grace has given me a new life every day.  Until you recognize His grace in Your life, which is NOT getting what you deserve, you can never be truly grateful.

Ever watch The War Room?  You should, and by the end, you will understand what grace is.  I cry every time I watch it.  Why?  Because I know what God's grace has done for me in my life.  I am here today only becasue of God's grace towards me.  And I can contribute that to the prayers of my mother and my real father, my grandparents, who I know prayed for me, even before I was born.  God's Redeeming Grace.  There is nothing like it, and until you look back over your life and see the times He has rescued you, the times His hand has been upon you, and recognize His grace for you, you will never find the joy you can have in knowing Him.

Life is beautiful!  Enjoy every minute of today!  His Grace will always sustain you.

Blessings!