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!

Grateful

 When something happens and you need one word to sum it up, the one word that comes to my mind most often is 'Grateful'.  I received a call yesterday from the oldest son and he informed me of an accident he was in Saturday evening and that his car was totaled, being flipped onto its side.  He was able to get out with just lacerations.  Grateful he got checked out at the hospital.  Grateful he walked away.  Grateful he was protected by the angels I ask God to stand guard around him.  And I'm grateful to God that He heard and answered my prayers.

I had to smile at my daughter-in-law's comment when she sent a photo of the accident after the phone call.  "Now that he has called his mother... I can show you this".   I'm so grateful he walked away.  This morning I'm thinking, though, how did he get out of the car?  He's a big boy!  LOL   Thank You, Lord, for hearing this mother's prayers for her child, and sending your angels to keep guard.

Our Sunday was pretty quiet.  We went to church; still have not made the final decision.  We have decided to go to the earlier service.  The second service that we have been attending is longer because they don't have a time constraint with another service right after, as they do the 9AM service.  The preacher elaborated on scripture and that was good.  But there was something about the worship .... I'm a worshipper, I love to worship.  BUT, repeating the same versus 20 times is not my thing in worship... and the 11AM service is more expressive.  One of the band read some scripture and didn't finish for 20 minutes because she'd pause and get people expressive before she'd continue.  She could have accomplished much more in 5 minutes than she did in the 20-25 minutes she took.  I began to wonder who was preaching the service.  My worship after awhile took a pause for it seemed it was more of a performance versus worship.  So hubby and I discussed we will try the 9AM service as it is on a time constraint so extending worship like they did cannot happen if the pastor is going to preach.  A friend of mine always says it is 'letting the holy spirit go', but, either I missed the Holy Spirit, or it was just a performance and the more reaction the person got, the more she acted it out.  Maybe I just missed it.  

Next week is Easter and I'm sure it will be full of different things so we are thinking we may need to go an additional week at 9AM to get a regular 9AM service.  That's the plan right now.  And we will move our watching Jentezen Franklin to YouTube in the afternoon.  One thing we did hear while we watched his son-in-law preach (awesome message, by the way), Ben Prescott, yesterday.  Jentezen Franklin is starring in the movie "Mulligan" that will be shown in theaters April 18 and 19th.  I'm hoping we can get tickets to go see it.

Back to work today and I'm hoping I can get through the day.  Hubby slept on my side of the bed last night with his hand in my back.  Every time I moved it, so that I could turn and not fall off the bed, he put it right back.  Could not get him to move.  Needless to say, from about 11:45PM - 1:45PM I struggled to sleep and finally got up to come into this room to get some sleep; which I did.  I'm still sleepy this morning but will plug through the day.  I do have a massage scheduled at 1PM today; hopefully I don't fall asleep - which has happened! Iwake myself up embarrassed from snoring.  I think I have a 7:30AM call with my boss, but we are meeting for our breakfast on Wednesday so not sure if we need to talk today.  We generally just catch up on the weekend and go over any thing I need to be aware of.

Psalm 91:9-16 (NIV)  "If you say, The Lord is my refuge," and you make the Most High your dwelling, no harm will overtake you, no disaster will come near your tent.  For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways; they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone. You will tread on the lion and the cobra; you will trample the great lion and the serpent.  "Because he loves me," says the Lord, "I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name. He will call on me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him.  With long life I will satisfy him and show him my salvation."

1

Too much fresh air?

 I do not know what is going on with me this morning as I cannot wake up!  I woke up at 4AM and told myself "Nope!  It's Sunday!" So I went back to sleep until 5AM and then forced myself to get up out of bed (afraid I'd start tossing and turning and waken hubby).  So I come in here and try to read... and I managed to get done my reading this morning that I wanted to do, albeit my eyes kept closing and I had to reread a few things.  After my reading I sat here for a few moments and I think I just 'lost' a half hour.  And what is funny is that I imagined in my mind that I was typing here.  I didn't even have the computer on my lap.  We were in bed by 10PM; granted a little later than usual, but not too bad.  UGH.  I don't like it when I can't wake up.  Maybe by the time I finish this by making myself focus I can awaken.

The only thing I can think of, other than not sleeping well all week, is that we were outside some with a lot of wind yesterday; well, a lot more than usual.  The granddaughter's gender reveal was yesterday and we were outside for about an hour and a half.  The wind was blowing pretty hard.  I don't know; I only know I need to move about to stay awake.  

Yesterday we went over to check on our neighbors as we have seen him, but not her, for the past week since they got back from Hawaii.  About an hour later, we were back in our home.  She is quite the talker but oh my!  She is a children's book author, she's a minister's daughter, she's a social worker, she's a school teacher, ok - maybe those are she was versus she is, but she is getting settled in here and whatever classes she is taking, she said she had one more book to write and then she will be finished with that course.  I get amused when she pronounces Hawaii differently than any way I've heard.  But, of course, she has lived there several years so would think she would have the better pronounication.  She shared some things about their life there, and it isn't anything like I imagined in my own mind.  The big island isn't like a big metropolis/city like in which we live; she described it as poor and very difficult to get people to work there.  I would never have thought!  What took so long for them to get back here was they had difficulty in hiring people to come work and help load up the 40 ft pod in which they were putting their belongings to ship to the States.  She also said they wanted to get back here 'on the mainland' in case something happened and they would be more protected.  I'm looking forward to being friends with them.  Her husband is very nice, somewhat quiet.  Perhaps he has gotten used to not talking much?  We also found that we like a lot of the same things - she is also an avid reader of Christian books, as I am.  She says she has 1200 books.... I don't have near that many as I've given several boxes of books away the past few years, (and wish I still had them!)  and they are being shipped here.  We had a great conversation and I'm looking forward to getting better acquainted.

Church is on the agenda for this morning.  At 8AM I'll have to set up hubby's computer so we can watch Jentezen Franklin and after that we'll get ready to go to the church we are trying to make a decision on.  There are a lot of churches around us and trying to find one we both like has proven difficult.  We do both agree that we want a church that preaches the Bible and not one that wants to make us feel good about life.  I do enjoy preaching that reveals the scripture and then shares what it would look like today.  Sometimes scripture is hard to place in today's world. 

Reminds me of a movie we watched just before we went to bed.  We've seen it several times before and I enjoy watching it.  It's called Joshua.  I especially love the end when he meets with the pope.  I know that I have shared this movie a few times over the years, but that part always gets me.  Joshua is talking with the pope and he says "Peter, don't you know me?"  And then Joshua tells him that this world is lonely, they are hurting (can't remember the exact words), and they have a missing piece in their hearts and that missing piece is Him.  When the pope asks what he can do, Joshua replies, "Tell them that I love them."  I could watch that one part over and over and it grabs my heart every time.

"Tell them that I love them".

Jesus loves you with an undying love.  He loves you so much that He went to the cross for you.  If you were the only person left on this earth, He loves you so much that He still would have died for you.  There is no greater love than the love that Jesus has for you.  

How can we turn that love away and go our own way?  How can we reject such a love?  But yet, we do by the way the live, the way we do things our own way.  I'm just as guilty.  How many times do we even think about Jesus throughout the day?  We should always be praising Him and praying without ceasing.  

Praying without ceasing?  Sometimes it isn't verbal prayers, but even in our thoughts.  Taking a sip of good coffee and just thinking, "thank You, Lord, for making good coffee so that I can drink it this morning."  Sound silly?  Aren't you thankful for caffeine?  This morning I definitely am! (finally feel like I'm starting to wake up!)  God loves you so much He provides all that you need.  

You have a job?  You have food on your table?  Family doing well?  You have a roof over your head?  All these things we can tell God 'Thank you' for.  You still breathing?  Yeah, I can be thankful for that too.  There are so many people without a job, without food on a table - without the table even!  Sickness, heartache, so much of that in this world.  And what are we doing about it?  Maybe we can't physically be involved in people's lives, but we can pray.  Even just saying "Lord, please provide for those in need; grant them food to eat, water to drink, and shelter to keep them safe."

I John 5:14-15 (NIV):  "This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.  And if we know tht he hears us - whatever we ask - we know that we have what we asked of him."

Sometimes we have a hard time believing that when we pray for healing for someone and they aren't healed, that there is a God who loves us.  But what if God wanted to do something through that; perhaps you can't see it in your pain and sorrow, but even through the death of a loved one, God works for the good of us.  We can embrace His love for us even though our pain is great; or we can reject Him.  I choose to love.

Blessings!

I had a thought....but it's gone now...

 When i came in here this morning I had a thought of what I wanted to write about.  But now, the thought is gone.  Maybe I need more coffee.  It sure is tasting good this morning.  I even slept until 5AM!  Not sure what time it was when we went to bed as we watched - or rather I watched; hubby slept some - through two movies last night.  Both were pretty good movies.  Don't remember at the top of my head what the first one was, but the second one is called God's Compass.  It really is a good movie.  It's a story about a widow retiring, and that very night her life changes.  Her daughter in law goes into labor on her way home from the celebration, her son is a doctor who didn't make it to the retirement gathering but is still at work in the ER and then in surgery.  And a young man tries to steal the very car that the daughter-in-law is in - going through labor pains and unable to drive and had pulled into a parking garage.  It just escalates from there.  He takes her to the hospital; he gets arrested, he has a young sister he is taking care of.... well, you should watch it.  It's a good story.  One that it was ok to go to sleep on thinking about, and I slept well last night, or I think I did.

Yesterday we had a minor catastrophe happen.... Sometime between 2:30-3PM I was on the phone talking with my little sister.  We hung up a little after 3PM and I could hear water running.  Thinking it was our neighbor out watering her courtyard flowers, I peaked out the window, but didn't see her.  Then I noticed.  Water was standing in our courtyard all around the bushes and trees.  I go out the front door to see what is going on and see that all of our sprinklers within the courtyard are on, and the neighbor's courtyard is flooding as she also has one sprinkler that is on, shooting right into the courtyard area.  I come back inside and tell hubby.  I must have wakened him for he was confused for a few minutes as to what I was telling him.  He finally comes out and starts to panic.  He had no clue what to do.  He walked over to two of our neighbors who probably would know, and both were not at home.  Water was flooding over into the front yard and had already made it's way down the side of the street nearly a whole block or more.  Hubby calls the main office and gets the telephone number of our landscaper and calls them.  Left a message.  A bit later, (and hubby is really panicking by now) the manager calls back and isn't sure where it's located but told hubby to find a pipe that is above ground.  We both walked the side of the garage where he told us, but not there.  Then he told us to check the front - and hubby found it, turned the lever, and the water shut off.  Explanation?  We were told when the pipe/lever goes out, it can automatically kick itself on and will run continuously until someone discovers it and shuts it off.  Someone is to come out to fix it and put a new lever on.  In the meantime, my courtyard plants (roses, poinsettias, lemon tree, rosebushes, etc. are watered very deeply.  What is interesting, within a 15 minutes all the standing water had soaked into the ground and it was about 4 inches deep!   What if I hadn't heard the water running?  What if it had happened at night?  This is one of those things that I believe God alerted us to before it could damage something.

We actually have some plans for this morning and it isn't going to the store.  My oldest son invited us to breakfast and I am looking forward to seeing him.  Where we are going has great breakfasts and I am looking forward to it.  Decent coffee too, I think.  It's been awhile since we were there for breakfast.  The last couple times we have been there was for dinner - and that was good too.  They have a bacon cheeseburger salad that is really good.

I'm skipping out of Needles of Hope this morning to have breakfast with my son - and that's ok.  It's not our usual Saturday and I'm still needing to go through these blankets and see which ones I need to add an inch or two on - still, they can be used for premies.  I guess measuring the blanket across my lap isn't always accurate.  Regular baby blankets should be a minimum of 30 inches.... and for some reason I stop at 28" or 29"... but my tape said 30" when measuring across my lap.  Guess I need to lay it flat out and measure... but that means I'd have to get up out of my chair and I am usually in the middle of a movie when I finish something.  Oh well.   Ihave several projects going right now, several blankets and something else I want to give to someone for Christmas.  I just keep crocheting and stacking up.  I'll take the majority of these blankets to Needles of Hope next month, which will be back to the first Saturday.

I am drawing a blank so will close this off... hope that you have a blessed day - I plan to!

Blessings!

All my life....He has been faithful...

 It was a tough night.  Between hubby keeping me awake with tossing and turning, snoring, I was also kept awake my my own tossing and turning - and had a horrible nightmare.  I don't want to recall the nightmare, and even prayed afterwards that God block my mind from remembering it, and He has.  Whatever it was, I was totally scared to death.  And when I finally slept some, I woke up with the song...

"All my life you have been faithful.  All my life you have been good, so good.  With every breath that I am able, I will sing, of the goodness of God."

Over and over again those words keep running through my mind this morning and scenes flash through my mind of His faithfulness to me.  Things which could have changed my life drastically.  Scenes through which His hand protected me, when my stupidity and carelessness could have killed me or destroyed me. Oh how good God has been to me!  How can I not sing of the goodness of God?!  He has been so faithful to me!

It was a somewhat boring day at work yesterday as both bosses were at the corporate office most of the day in meetings.  I had a few meetings to schedule and got that done.   Mid afternoon I decided to do a course I had signed up for about 3 weeks ago.  I hadn't started it yet.  What course and where?  Dallas Theological Seminary had posted on facebook, and has done so a few times lately, a free online course on different books of the Bible.  I finally signed up for the book of James.  It is a tough book to get through, but I love the book of James for it gives me great insight on how I am to live for Jesus.  

James 1:2-4 (NIV):  "Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.  Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything."

The first four words is enough to confuse you!  Consider it pure joy when you face trials of many kinds?  Why should we consider our trials and troubles - many brought on by ourselves - a joy?  It's no fun to have trials.  It's no fun to be tested.  But when we look at it rightly, those trials and testings draw us closer to Jesus and He helps us see what to do.  So, yes, we can consider it pure joy, when we see what we have learned from it.  Where we can look back on our lives and see how we have matured beyond what we did at that time.

This first session I took on James was only on the first 4 verses of chapter 1.  There is about a 45 minute video with it and it was interesting.  It recommended a commentary by Charles Swindoll - and I love his books - so I ordered it and it should be here Sunday.  I'm looking forward to reading what he says.  We don't have any commentaries that I'm aware of.  We have some study guides... but have never had commentaries.  And, at this stage of our life, don't need them.  Perhaps if I continue to take a few courses I can purchase a commentary (there are so many good ones out there!) to go with what I'm reading.    

It felt good to be studying again, although it was because I didn't have anything for work to do.  I had been putting off starting it... but now that I have, can't wait to start on the next one, which I already have in my emails.  Oh, and I forgot to tell you - there was a six question test at the end of the session - and we had to submit the answers.  Oh it has been a long time since I have taken a test!  I changed my answers many times, I tell you, but I finally hit that submit button - and I got 100% on the test!  Woot!  That made me feel good and ready to take the next session.  

There is much to learn from the book of James.  Grab your Bible and take some time to read it. It's not that many chapters and they aren't that long.  You can read it in one sitting if you set your mind to it.  

So glad today is Friday and it's another not so busy day.  I hope.  With both bosses at Corporate yesterday, I may get hit even more today to schedule meetings!  Oh well, it sometimes makes the time go by faster.   Nothing is planned for tonight; hubby wanted to go out to dinner last night so we won't tonight.  

Tomorrow morning we will have breakfast with my oldest son, and a gender reveal party for a granddaughter later in the afternoon.  I am not sure what I will take as a gift.  Thought about newborn diapers as they will always need them.  It's got to be neutral since I don't know what the sex is of the baby yet.  I have made several baby blankets I was going to donate to Needles of Hope, but have one that has both pink and blue in it so will perhaps wrap that one up.  This little girl has no idea of what her life is going to be like once this baby arrives.  I wish she had waited to grow up first.   After this weekend, I plan to have her stay with us one weekend and I'll take her to Savers to pick up baby clothes.  Newborn clothes are never worn out; they aren't in them long enough!  Need to get some for the one up north too; at least I know that one is a boy.

Consider it pure joy.... what trials are you going through right now that you can not find any joy in it?  Maybe we all need to step back from the trial and think about what we can learn from it.  Will we learn enough not to get in that trial again?  Will we mature and realize we need to put some things behind us?  Think about it.  Be joyful in what lessons you have learned.

Blessings!

 

I think I hear the wind blowing this morning....

 cause the neighbor's wind chimes have occasionally been making noises.  I enjoy hearing the wind chimes on occasion.  I think sometimes that I'll buy one, but never do. Sometimes the noise can be annoying - remember when the metal flag was against the house and some times when the wind would be blowing hard it would bang against the house and keep me awake?  Naw, I think I'm find without the wind chimes.  I moved the flag to another wall and it doesn't bump against the house now.  

Today my Lenten study told me to read Matthew 23 and think about how it applies to my life.  Ouch.  Well, not OUCH, but only ouch.  At least in my eyes it is only ouch.  I try hard to live the way I say to live.  I depend on God to help me do things the right way.  Sometimes it feels much easier to say one thing and do another, but in my walk with Christ, I must do the right thing.  My little sister accused me of being a hypocrit many years ago and it nearly wiped me out.  But it wasn't me that she was really condemning, it was herself, and I see that now, but at that time I was devastated and it really messed me up.  I hit bottom, although not many people know that.  Her words had cut me deep and to the core.  But that is in the past and since that time I have tried to regain the fervor I lost in her condemnation.  And I choose not to dwell there... not sure why it all came back to me just now.  Oh yes I do.  The enemy is trying to knock me down again, and he isn't going to!  Why?

I John 4:4 (NIV):  "You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one in you is greater than the one who is in the world."

I couldn't find the version that says it the way that I like to say it - "Greater is He who lives in me, than he who is in the world."

Romans 8:1 (NIV): "Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus."

Sometimes I have to say that a few times, especially when temptations come and trials come and I am confused and uncertain about what to do.  Jesus is always Greater, and He lives in me.  Satan is the destroyer who lives in the world.  Jesus always wins over Satan.  No matter what we have done, when we confess our sins, Jesus is faithful and just and will cleanse us of all our sins.  The Bible says so.

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

I've read the end of the Book (Bible) - Jesus wins!  and because Jesus wins, we win!  Think about that!  If you have Jesus living inside of you, you win!  Doesn't mean it is going to be easy.  Doesn't mean there won't be trials and temptations.  Doesn't mean that people will not cut you down and accuse you unjustly.  It just means our Hope is in Jesus and He is the author and perfector of our faith.

In fact, I've been reading about the end times.... kind of weaning myself off of it some.  My little sister is all caught up in the end times, as I've mentioned before.  I've read Revelations, and I am currently going through a study on it (will be done in about a week).  Those are things that are to come - and we are currently in some of these things, we are in the end times.  I love the position and words that a former pastor once said - "The end of the world will come and Jesus will come again. My job is to be ready for when Jesus comes so that I will be raptured to Heaven with Him."  I've kind of held on to that statement.  I am to be ready when Jesus comes, when the Rapture comes and the dead in Christ rise again.  I actually hope I die before the tribulation comes for it will be dreadful.  But I must be ready when I die to meet Jesus for when I am judged, I want to stay in Heaven and not cast down to the abyss and Hell as many others will be who don't know Him.  

Perhaps I am harder on myself than I should be.  I know of people who I may question in my mind if what they say or do is Christ-like and they think they are just fine.  But I hold myself to a standard - and I admit I often fail at it and have to ask forgiveness - I don't want to 'just get by'.  I want to be so in tuned to Jesus that if He should come back right now, I will rise with Him.

Will you be ready?  We will never be perfect in our walk.  Only Jesus was perfect.  But are we ready to face Jesus?  What will that day be like - have you ever thought about that?  Do you shun any report of Him or any thing that has to do with Jesus?  Or do you dig deeper because you want to know the truth of this Man called Jesus?  Oh that we all would seek Jesus and seek His face!  Life is so much better when we belong to Him.

What is Jesus to you?  When you hear His Holy Name, what do you think about?  Anything?  Do you think about when He was born in the stable?  Do you remember Jesus in the temple at age 12 discussing theology with the religious leaders?  Do you think about the healings he did, raising Lazarus from the dead?  And now with what we call Easter just 9 days away, do you think of the crucifixion, when Jesus was placed on a cross and died, for you and for me?  What do you think about when you hear the name Jesus?

Perhaps now is the time to begin preparing your heart for what is ahead.  Turn your eyes towards Jesus, who is truly the author and perfector of your life.  He makes all things new, and He can make you new as well.  The world changed when Jesus was born.  It changed again when He was crucified.  There was never One like Jesus.  And there never will be again.

Choose Jesus.  He will rock your world.  It's all about Jesus.

Blessings!

God sometimes answers before I ask...

 In regards to the sister situations of which I spoke about yesterday, it's all good.  No, the younger sister is still not going to take care of the older sister (of which I can't blame her), but things will work out.  The younger is going to work for resolution of her own issues, and the older sister, well, she just doesn't realize how bad her apartment is with these pets that belong to her son.  I'm staying out of that.  The last time I was back to visit, I called the older sister 3 times and each time she refused for me to come over.  She told me later she was too embarrassed for me to see what she is living in (the dog is never let outside, so you know what that means).  But God has answered in that the younger sister isn't quite so angry and upset as she was the night before.  But then too, she had a migraine, had sat in the ER all day, and had not eaten all day. By the time she got home, she was throwing up.  I had told her to go to the cafeteria and get something to eat, but she didn't.  So glad I live out of state.

Drama, always drama.  Sigh. I got a phone call from the youngest son last night and he told me of an incident that happened over the weekend at his house.  I have prayed so much for this son, and I know that God is working on him, and he knows it too.  He just continually fights against it.  All I could say throughout the discourse was 'wow'.  How can someone live like that?  I just told him he gave me more 'ammunition' to pray for him about.  Lord, hear my prayers!

And, come to think about it, I had contact of some sort with all three of my children yesterday!  It was our 'girls night out' so I had dinner with my daughter and we had some crochet time.  On the way home my youngest called me with his latest escapade, and after I got home my oldest son text'd me (after his brother had called him about it all).  I think we both were just shaking our heads over 'what was he thinking?'  Invited out for breakfast on Saturday and looking forward to that.  Tried to think of some inbetween places last night; hubby suggested Black Bear Diner.  

Needles of Hope was postponed to this Saturday and I can go late if need be.  Not worried about it by any means.  I need to get baby blankets out and measure them; they should be a minimum of 30 inches and I think I stopped a bit short on some so need to add a row or two before turning some in.  I'll keep a couple out for a 'gender reveal' on Saturday night of the granddaughter's.  I need to send a couple up northeast to another grandchild who has a baby on the way.  At least I know that one is a male.  It could prove to be a busy weekend, which could be a good thing.

I cancelled my endocrinologist appointment for Friday morning.  I've thought about it for some time and prayed about it, wondering if I should check into reclast or prolia.  I have lots of information about both that my brother had sent me.  He took Fosamax for about 5 years, then switched to Reclast for about 5 years and is now on Prolia.  With walking every day and working out, his bones are back to normal (no osteoporosis).  But he wishes he hadn't switched to Prolia, but never said why.  My Fosamax was causing bone pain and extreme tiredness in the beginning, but since I've been on it now weekly for about 6-7 months, I've either become accustomed to the tiredness or it just doesn't bother me anymore.  I don't have the bone pain anymore, just at the beginning.  So, I decided I will just stay on the Fosamax for awhile.  I don't go back to my doctor until August so will see how I am then.  I can always call and reschedule my appointment with the endo if I need to.  But for now, I'm not going to change.  Besides, I looked up prices (after I canceled my appointment).... Reclast would cost me about $70/month (with my insurance) and it is a 15-minute infusion into my veins every month, I think it said.  Prolia is nearly $300 a month (with my insurance-without insurance it's $1500 + or -) and it is an injection I think every six months.  Naw, I'll stick to Fosamax.  With my insurance, I get a 90 day supply of pills for $1.48 with my insurance.  I can easily afford that. :-)  But I didn't check costs until after I cancelled.

This Sunday is Palm Sunday.  It's hard to believe how fast this year is flying by.  My daughter and I counted up last night - we have 29 days until Jailbreak Getaway!  We've rented an airbnb this year in Star Valley and are looking forward to getting away for 4 days.  Before that, though, I have reserved a room up north for hubby's birthday weekend.  I had enough points to get one night free and only have to pay for one night.  So looking forward to that one too.  That getaway won't be as active as Jailbreak.  Still, I'm looking forward to a day off work and getting out of town.  

As I sit here and think about how good God has been to me, and how He answers my prayers (no, not always in the time frame I want them to be, nor exactly as I want them to be answered), I am often reminded that everything is done in His timing.

2 Corinthians 9:8 (NIV):  "And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work."

God has blessed me abundantly, and continues to do so.  I have three wonderful children, and although they are not following the Lord now, I believe that they will believe, and will choose to be a follower of Jesus before I die.  I'm trusting the Lord for that.  The Lord has always provided for all that was needed.  I can remember weeks of having no money even for food, and yet, the Lord provided a way to make what we had stretch and meet our needs.  He has always left us to our own choices, but that is how we have learned to do better with those choices.  And when we put Jesus first, we know that when we make Him Lord of all our lives, He provides all that we need.  

Have you ever sat back and thought back over your life and seen God's hand over you and your family?  Things perhaps like provision when there was no job.  Or a good job when there was a need.  Or healing when there was a sickness.  Restoration of relationships when they were strained.  Provision when there was none.  I can see God's hand all over my life.  He has taught me so much, and I know I have yet so much to learn from Him.

And that is where my dependency comes in.  When I seek and depend on God to provide even a friend's call when I am struggling, when a crisis happens and I don't know what to do and He provides exactly what is needed, I know that I know that I know - God is watching over me and taking care of me.

And He is watching over you and your loved ones as well.  His eyes never look away; He always knows what you need.  He is a good, good, Father.   Stop and tell Him thank you.  Just say the words.  You may not know what else to say, but 'Thank you, Lord', says it all..

Blessings!