uh oh... I got sidetracked..... by books...

 One of the authors I follow sent me an email on several of his books that are on sale.  I don't have all of them, and some I have, I have not read - yet.  Only because I haven't gotten up to get the book - or I don't have it.  My access to books is in various ways - my kindle, my nook, my computer, and all the books I have in our 'library'... and of course there are other bookstores and libraries....  anyway.... as I am rambling on here... I got caught up in the email, pursuing which books were on sale and trying to remember which I have and which do I actually want to read in the near future.  As I realized what time I was spending on that, I glanced at the clock and ... oops... I haven't written in here yet.  But that wouldn't bother you now, would it?  I mean, if I should miss a day. A week. or whatever?  Alas, I could not let you go that long without hearing my silly ramblings.  I know you look forward to them - right? 😏  I just love my books, what can I say.  They are a great distraction.

Huh.  I had noticed a space on this table beside me earlier, but it didn't register why.  It did just now.  I had forgotten to put my watch on charge when I came in here, and as I did so, I realized my phone is nowhere to be seen around the table - which means, I did not charge it last night and it probably is still laying on the couch where I left it last.  Oh well.  I work from home so can plug it in when I get up and get out of here.  Not a biggie.  

This morning hubby has his Bible study and his brunch with his friend so he will be gone until about noon.  I enjoy the no interruptions, as you know.... and the quietness ... even though I have to work.  I'm pretty well caught up - but I do have a lot to complete over the next few days - extending meetings into 2024, etc.  Oh, I still need to type out the board meeting minutes from August... ooops - need to do that today, I think.  Our next one is in November.  I usually don't go this long - but I just put it off with vacations and all.  Maybe I can get it done today.  

Tonight is 'girls night out' but I will be late as I finally decided to get my hair trimmed of split ends.  I know hubby has been hinting to get it cut short again - as he has for the past several years... and I did cut a lot off during the past year, but am letting it grow out again.  Why?  Because I want to.  And, because he wants me to cut it.  For years he 'made' me keep it short... and I have rebelled.  Is that wrong?  It's my hair!  Even one of our pastors told him that a woman's hair is her glory (it says so in the Bible!).  So split ends only for this time.  

A few of my knuckles are swollen and sore this morning, as they have been the past few weeks.  My arthritis is starting to settle in, I think.  I just rub cream on them and that helps.  Probably from 50 years of typing and the past few years of crocheting - you think?   I just deal with it.  You know, 'suck it up, buttercup!'  Maybe it is this weird atmosphere in the mornings that causes me to wake up with a headache as well.  Hmmm

Ecclesiastes 3:14-15 (NKJV):  "I know that whatever God does, it shall be forever. Nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it, that men should fear before Him. That which is has already been, and what is to be has already been; and God requires an account of what is past."

What sort of account would you be able to give God when you die?  You know we all are going to be taken to His throne and our life laid out before us.  I admit I do have some - ok, perhaps many - areas of my life I do not want to see again... many things I wish God would sweep under the rug and forget about.  But, I will be shown these things again... and yet, even though I don't want to see them, I have sought forgiveness as I confessed those things to Him and He has forgiven me... so they will be wiped from my past.  Have you asked Him to forgive you yet?

It's such a simple - and yet profound - thing to ask Almighty God to forgive you of your sins.  We all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.  We all have, you are not an exception.  But when we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (I John 1:9).

I prefer to confess my sins and let God deal with me and help me to do better.  It gets the guilt off and I can look ahead to doing better next time.  What about you?  Are you wallowing in your sin?  Why not confess it to God and let Him wash you anew and you will feel His peace and love flow over you?

Blessings!

Finished Revelations...

 I finished my study on Revelations this morning and I am more than confident that following Jesus and living for Him is the only way to live.  I want to be ready when Jesus returns to call us Home.  Oh that I will quit letting the worries of this world distract me from the Glory of the Lord!  

Distractions.  We all have them.  We all are them.  Distractions come in many forms - children, the things they do; spouses, the things they do; us, the things we do; and the list goes on and on.  Life distractus us at times from the One who is the most important.  When do we think about Jesus?  When we are distracted and in trouble.  When do we think we might need to ask Him for His help?  When we are distracted and in trouble.  But you know what?  Jesus is always there, ready and waiting, for us to turn to Him and seek His face.  Sometimes we have to deal with the consequences of our decisions, and sometimes we don't understand why certain circumstances are 'allowed' to befall us.  But it is through these trials and through these temptations and through all these troubles, that we can see God's hand upon our lives.  Sit back and think about your life.

What have been the steps that have brought you to where you are now?  Do you see trials and struggles throughout your life?  What has that taught you?  Does it not show you that you can get through these things when you set your mind to it?  You don't have to wallow in your trial, your frustration, your struggle.  There is One who is waiting for you to look up and grab His hand and He will walk you through it, no matter what it is.

Disagreement with your spouse?  Oh trust me on this one!  If I did not have Jesus to lean into, to cry out to, to grab hold of His hand, I shutter to think where I would be right now.  Times of depression and discouragement can quickly overcome you; but when you have Jesus, you can grab hold of Him and He will walk you through any trial, any struggle.  

Sleeping good last night I was awakened this morning to thinking about my Schwan's delivery man, Troy.  I have no idea why I was thinking of him as he only delivers on Wednesdays and this is only Tuesday.  I know I want to get a catalog for my neighbor for she really liked their mashed potatoes and mahi mahi and green beans I left for them when they returned from Hawaii so that they wouldn't have to go to the store right away.  Anyway, when God brings people to my mind, I know that I am to pray for them, so I did pray for Troy.  I like Troy; he is personable and friendly.  I will have to ask him tomorrow if everything is well with him, and with his truck.  I read recently Schwans is changing their name to 'Yelloh'.  Yeah - sounds (I want to say stupid) unusual, right?  I guess because their trucks are 'yellow'.  But my mind keeps asking the question of 'Why?'.  

Who has come to your mind recently, especially in the wee hours of the morning and you just feel the urge you need to check on them?  That you need to ask God to watch over them,, to protect them, no matter what they are going through, and you may not even know!  Or will ever know!  I've learned over the years that sometimes not knowing is fine. But God doesn't always awaken me or stir me to think about people who are in trouble.  I often wonder about that, but I know that someone, somewhere, has been impressed to pray.  And sometimes I feel impressed to pray about things I know nothing about.  Or pray about something..... and it doesn't happen.  I love those times because I feel that God has caused the enemy's plans to fail.

And sometimes God allows difficulties and times of struggle and trouble... it is in those times that He is waiting for you to turn to Him and seek His face for your life.  We tend to wallow in our lives at times because they are not what we want them to be.  But paradise will be in Heaven.  Life here on earth is hard sometimes.  We have our times of joy, for sure, but people will not always be nice to us.  People will not always agree with us.  People the closest to us will absolutely drive us crazy at times.  And how we react is a reflection of who we are.  And sometimes I know I have a lot of work to do in me.  I need to relinquish control of what I want and seek Jesus for what He wants in me.

Did you know that there is no greater than Jesus?  He is our Refuge and our Strength.  He is our Healer and our Source of all things.  Jesus is truly all we need for He will provide all that we need.  He works in us as well as through us, and we are to be alert to His drawing us to help others.  We often say that 'things don't happen without a reason'.  And maybe they don't.  But do we seek the reason?  Not usually.

People hurt people.  What do we learn from it?  Sometimes it is just that they need love and aren't feeling loved, so they strike out at others.  With words, with actions.  I've been on the receiving end, and I probably have been on the giving end too.  I really don't like being on the end that has to go back and apologize.  But it is something one must do.  Right the wrong.  Sometimes forgiveness is given freely, as it should be.  Jesus freely gives us His forgiveness all the time.  But sometimes we need to ask for it so that we can forgive ourselves.  That is the hard part, forgiving ourselves.

My thoughts are all over the place this morning, aren't they?!   One thing is true, one thing is sure.

I John 1:9 (NIV) "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness."

John 3:16 (NIV) "For God so loved the world, that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life."

The time is getting shorter until Jesus returns.  We are in the end times.  Are you ready to stand before the great white throne of God and hear your judgement?  

Come, Lord Jesus, come!

Exhausted Rest....I guess I needed it

 I went to bed at 8PM last night.  I had sat there for a good half hour yawning every five minutes or so...and listening to hubby laugh at me occasionally because of it.  I don't know why I felt so tired; could have been the morning rain?  The work of my day? Just life itself?  Yes, it could have been any of those things.  I don't know, but decided rather than sit there and yawn, I would go to bed.  Hubby stayed up, for which I was grateful.  AND, he didn't flip and flop on the bed when he did come to bed (probably after the basketball game that he was watching) like he usually does, so didn't wake me.  I slept sound until about 1:30AM, looked at the clock and decided 'nope, going back to sleep!'  And I did.  

I feel rested this morning, as I should, with having 6 hrs and 44 minutes of sleep.  Now this is interesting.  My Fitbit analyzes my sleep every night.  Monday night I slept 6 hr and 16 minutes and my sleep score was 81.  My sleep last night was 6 hrs 44 minutes and my sleep score is 71.  I think my usual average sleep is 5 hours 55 minutes with a sleep score in the 80's -  it breaks it down into awake hours, REM, light sleep, and deep sleep.  Usually my deep sleep is 1 hour or less.  But I do feel I rested last night, even with a 71 sleep score.  I think hubby says his is usually in the 60's while mine is mostly in the high 70's and 80's.  I guess I just sleep better, as a rule.

Hubby commented yesterday that he is missing his Friday morning study/breakfast with his friends.  He still has Tuesday nights (dinner), Wednesday mornings (breakfast)..... but Fridays have been put on hold since his friend is in Overgaard for the summer.  But he does come down on occasion and they will meet up for breakfast or lunch while he's here.  In fact, I think he was here Tuesday morning and they had breakfast together.  Hubby sure does love eating out.  I'm missing his Friday morning studies too, for I have time alone.  It's really hard being with someone 24x7 - even though I'm stuck in the back room working and he comes by frequently with a question or two.  Yesterday it was things with his computer.  I can't do this, or it won't do that.... and I'd have to go see what he was talking about and show him what to do.  He'll come by and ask again when it doesn't work the way he wants it to.  I realize I work on the computers much more than he has... and he is getting used to two screens (laptop and monitor) whereas I've used two screens for years now.  I think he gets distracted too easily by the 2nd screen.

Obviously I don't have much to share today because I seem to be rambling and looking for things to write about.  I just don't have much of a life anymore.  Today is Thursday and nothing is on the agenda. Do you ever feel that sometimes LIFE is sucked out of you and there is nothing?  

This too shall pass..... my mama always said that.  I think it is more the purpose or the joy in life sometimes gets distorted.  Where is my mind focusing right now?  That must be my problem - it isn't focusing.  It is like I'm running on empty.  I can't think of anything to write about.... so I will close this off before I bore you completely...... with this.....

Let every day be a new beginning.  God's mercies are new every morning. Each day is a fresh start.  Do you believe it?  Will you reach out with faith and receive it?  Let Him wash you with His presence and infuse you with His grace.  This is the day that He has made for you!

Set your heart on Him this morning.  Don't allow your thoughts to drift back to the things that stole your peace, your joy.  Release all the cares of yesterday.  The enemy wants to invade your thoughts and hijack your peace and your joy today.  Don't let him!  Set your heart and thoughts on Jesus.  Let Him be your holy obsession today.  Thoughts of Jesus have a way of wiping away the slimy weight of disappointment.  His glory is alive - ready to hold you near Him.  He is the Lover of your soul, the Healer of your tattered heart.  Look for Him, and you will find Him - in these moments before the busyness of the day steals you away, seek Him.  Face the day in joyful anticipation of what He can and will do through you and those you love.

Psalm 5:3  (TPT)  "At each and every sunrise you will hear my voice as I prepare my sacrifice of prayer to you.  Every morning I lay out the pieces of my life on the altar and wait for your fire to fall upon my heart."

Let Your fire fall upon us, O Lord, and burn away the chaff.  Create within us a clean heart, one that gives You all the glory.

Blessings!