Beginning a New Study

About a year ago, while on a family vacation, I bought a book titled, Created to be His Help Meet. It is written by Debi Pearl.



This book is totally about being a submissive, Biblical wife and I would highly recommend that you purchase this book.

You can find it at most Christian bookstores or you can order it direct from the Pearls at their website www.nogreaterjoy.org

When I bought it, I read it from cover to cover and found that I agree with almost 100% of the book.

I'm not getting any kind of commission or anything to promote this book, I just believe in it and want to share it with all of you.

It's laid on a shelf for some time now, and I've felt the need to re-read it as a refresher course of sorts for me. So I've decided to share it with my bloggy friends as well.

With that, I'm going to start posting on Fridays about what I've read and studied in this book throughout the week.

As most of you know, being a Biblical, submissive wife is very important to me. It's something that I am fully convinced that is mandated by God for our lives.

I truly find myself shocked at how many women, Christian women, who do not intend to try to the best of their ability to be the Biblical wife God has called them to be.

What is even more shocking to me, is how many of them think I'm nuts!!! Or they will make comments to the effect of they think it's great but it ain't happenin' with them.. I don't get it.....

So, if your desire is to be a more submissive, Biblical wife and you would like to walk through this book with me, you can just follow along with me each Friday, or you can purchase the book and we'll work through it together!

Hope you'll join along with me as we put into practice being a submissive wife and strengthening our marriages!!!!

Thankful Thursday

Happy Thursday morning!! It's once again time to join Sonya over at Truth 4 the Journey for Thankful Thursday.

Let me encourage you to visit Sonya and share in other's blessings for the week and maybe even share some of your own.

Here we go with this week's thankfuls:

1) I am thankful for a hubby who is so talented. He can---literally---fix just about anything! Sunday night our fan motor on our air unit went out. For some reason (I'm sure it was a God thing) he had another motor in his shop. Anyone who lives in the south knows how important it is to have a working air unit in July!! He just got that other motor and within an hour, we had a cool house once again.

2) I am thankful to be a stay at home mom. With our economy and so many people around us losing their jobs, God has been very faithful in allowing me to still be at home with our finances safe for now.

3) I am thankful for the opportunity my little sis has to go back to school to get her nursing degree. She was layed off almost a year ago and the way has been opened for her to get her degree. This is a great thing for a single mom of two. I'm really proud of her!

4) I am thankful my teens clean bedrooms. I'm serious!!! The last two mornings I've been able to get right next to their beds to wake them up instead of stubbing a toe and falling on them to wake them up! It's been great!!!

5) I am thankful that my sweet friend Britney will be home next week. She has spent her summer as a missionary in Peru and while I am so thankful that she has got to serve, I'm selfish enough to be ready for her to be home!!

"But as for me, how good it is to be near to God! I have made the Sovereign Lord my shelter, and I will tell everyone about the wonderful things You do." Psalm 73:28, NLT

Family Favorites

This week's family favorite is a ground beef dish. Actually, I use whatever is on sale, be it ground beef or ground turkey. Either is delicious!!

DS is a very picky eater when it comes to meat and he will devour this!

Hope you give this a try and enjoy it!

If you do decide to give it a try, let me know what you think!



Brown Sugar Glazed Meatloaf

½ cup packed brown sugar
½ cup ketchup
1½ pounds ground beef (or turkey)
3/4 cup milk
2 eggs
1½ teaspoons salt
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
1 small onion, chopped
¼ teaspoon ground ginger
3/4 cup crushed saltine cracker crumbs


Preheat oven to 350º F. Lightly grease a 5x9-inch loaf pan. Press the brown sugar in the bottom of the prepared loaf pan and spread the ketchup over the sugar.

In a mixing bowl, combine all remaining ingredients thoroughly and shape into a loaf. Place on top of the ketchup mixture. Bake in preheated oven for 1 hour or until juices are clear.

** I will also stick some potatoes in the oven to bake while the meatloaf is baking. Add a salad and some fresh bread...YUMM!!!

Thankful for Change

I haven't shared on my blog yet, but a little over a month ago, God led us to a different church.

Even though we loved our home church, God began dealing with all four of us about being in His will...He was busy revealing things to all of us so that we were united as a family when the decision to leave was made. He closed the doors on certain ministries and time after time let us know that He wanted us somewhere else.

All of us ignored that prompting of the Spirit almost 4 months. Finally God dealt with His stubborn children and put it before us in such a way that even folks around us knew what the Spirit was asking of us.

It was time to move on.

Where? We didn't know and frankly it didn't matter. All we knew was that wherever we went, our one request was a church that was alive. Filled with the Spirit. Not afraid to clap and raise their hands, shout hallelujah or weep openly. Living in a valley of dry bones anymore was not optional.

So began our quest for God to show us His will. Our plan was to visit a church for each service..Sunday morning, evening and Wednesday night..then move on to another church until God said, "This is the one."

We made it to one church and we're still there.

Walking into the sanctuary, the Spirit greets you and it just gets better from there!

I have to admit the first couple of services I just sat there like an over sized sponge soaking everything up. My starving soul had sat down at the Table and it was ravenous!! I could not get enough of being spoon fed by my Master and feeling His joy at being able to finally hand that blessing to me.

Last night we sang this chorus over and over:

"I want to sit at Your feet
Drink from the cup in Your hand
Lean back against You and breathe,
Feel Your heart beat.
This love is so deep
It's more than I can stand
I melt in Your peace,
It's overwhelming."

As I sang those words to my Savior, I just closed my eyes and worshiped. I thought about and sang every word to my Father. I offered this up as a prayer to Him.

All I want is to sit as His feet and bask in His perfectness.

I want to drink from the overflowing cup of His blessings.

I want to just lean back against Him and rest...breathe..feel His heart beat.

His love is so much deeper than I could ever imagine.

I want His peace...the peace that passes understanding and overwhelms every sense I have.
Change is never easy. Being obedient is seldom easy, but, as I've said before, being in the will of my Father is always worth it.

You may not know the tune, but let me encourage you to just read...pray...offer the words of that chorus as an offering to the One Who wants to hold you and love you and bless you.

Worship Him

"If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by confessing with your mouth that you are saved."

Romans 10: 9-10, NLT

Psalm Saturday

I am joining my friend Collette over at Jesus Loves Mums again this Saturday for Psalm Saturday.

Like Collette, I really love the book of Psalms. There is so much to be gleaned from this book, so many instances of cries being poured out to God and God, being God, coming to the rescue and holding tightly to His children.

One of my favorite verses is Psalms 19:14,

"May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing to You, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer." (NLT)

I have committed this to memory simply because it is a daily prayer of mine.

The words of my mouth are not always pleasing to God. Oh how I can get caught up in the moment, feeling like I'm being stretched in 12 different directions and then one unsuspecting person can ask a simple question and there I go....belting out frustration and anger on someone who is innocent.

Then there is the prayer request gossip...you know what I mean..."Oh, by the way, remember Sister So & So when you pray. Her son, Brother By & By, is having marital problems....."

And of course there is just the plain idol words that I speak that will in no way encourage or grow the Kingdom of God.

Worse than the words of my mouth is the meditations of my heart.

Oh boy......we have a saying in our house, "Garbage in, garbage out". Plain enough. What is in my heart? Is it the things of God? Things that are pure and holy or things that would make make my Father want to vomit?? I'm figuring if I can turn over the meditations of my heart to God, then the words of my mouth will be cleaned up as well..remember..garbage in, garbage out.

All I want is to be pleasing to the One Who sacrificed His everything for my filthy soul. How about you? Let me encourage you to adopt Psalm 19:14 as one of your daily prayers.....then join me in committing to allow God to annoint our meditations and words.

Thankful Thursday

Time to link up with Sonya over at Truth 4 the Journey for Thankful Thursday.

This time of the week is such a blessing to me. It causes me to pause and reflect on the blessings God has given me.

Sometimes the blessings are big, sometimes small, but one thing is for certain...I deserve none of them.

I want to encourage you to join Sonya as well and share how God has blessed you this past week.

1) I am thankful for the cooler temperatures. Anyone living in the south knows that July is the time for hot, muggy, "eewwww it's so hot!" days. Since last Friday the temps have been in the low 80's with minimal humidity---actually that would be a thankful inside a thankful. We haven't even ran the air conditioning!!!! Now that is truly something to be thankful for!!

2) I am thankful for the rain that we have gotten this summer. Usually by this time of year, the creek that runs through our property has dried up. Because of the rain we've gotten, I've been able to listen to that creek run every time I go outside to hang out my laundry. It's gentle, rippling sound is very relaxing to me.

3) I am thankful for my children's ability to respect and honor their boss, even when they disagree with her. Each had to meet with her this week because of an episode that happened (basically, little brother defended big sis). They were able to admit that each handled the situation in the wrong manner and keep a good work relationship with their boss.

4) I am thankful for the tomatoes I've been able to can this week. Our cucumbers have finally slowed down producing (thankfully!!!!!!) and the tomatoes are coming in. We love chili and homemade veggie soup in the winter and these tomatoes will be delicious!!!

5) I am thankful for my family. With our busy schedules and DH, DD and DS seemingly going in different directions all of the time with their jobs, they are very aware and try very hard to keep at least one evening a week for the four of us just to watch movies, play games or swim in our pool....just taking the time to spend time together. It means the world to me.

"O Lord, I will honor and praise Your name, for You are my God. You do such wonderful things!..."
Isaiah 25: 1a

Family Favorites

I think I may have tried this once before, but let it fall by the wayside for one reason or another. So...here it goes again.

On Wednesdays, I usually try to add another chapter to Our Story.

Time doesn't always permit me to do that. So, during those times that I just don't have the time to write an Our Story post, I will be sharing a family favorite recipe.

Today's recipe is Grape Salad.

This is a wonderful summertime, cool desert that is absolutely delicious!! Even DS, who isn't a big fruit fan, will devour this if given the chance.

Hope you enjoy!!!

Grape Salad

4 Cups White Seedless Grapes
4 Cups Red Seedless Grapes
8 oz. Cream Cheese, softened
8 oz. Sour Cream
½ Cup Sugar
1 tsp Vanilla
¼ Brown Sugar
1 Cup Chopped Walnuts or Pecans

Combine cream cheese, sour cream ½ cup sugar and vanilla in a large bowl. Add grapes and mix well. In a small bowl mix brown sugar and nuts. Sprinkle on top of grapes. Chill well before serving.

Beautiful Weekend, Beautiful Hands

What a great weekend I've had!!

We have been blessed with temps in the mid 80's for 3 days now!!! This is awesome because it's mid July in the great state of Alabama!!...We usually throw a party if the humidity drops below 90%!!

The wind has been gently blowing out of the north which just adds to the beauty of the day.
I've thrown the windows open and it just relaxes me so much to watch the curtains gently blowing and to listen to the wings of the hummingbirds as they drink their nectar.

Our kids were very busy this weekend--in other words, we didn't get to see them very much--DH and I were able to do some things outside together and just sit on the porch and enjoy each other's company. It was a great time for us to catch up and talk about the future.

Then yesterday morning the Spirit showed up at church and I haven't walked away from the Table so full in such a very long time. It was so awesome to be totally released into His presence...I've missed that....

Now to share something with you that brought me to tears while I sat at my computer.

Look carefully at the picture below.




Notice the hands. A beautiful white hand and a beautiful brown hand. That beautiful white hand belongs to my sweet friend Britney who handed over her summer to the Lord to be a missionary in Peru. The beautiful brown hand belongs to a beautiful child whose home is in Peru.

Britney will be coming home in 2 weeks and while I can't wait to see her, I'm asking the Father to slow down time that she can fully do everything He wants her to while she's there.

She has been so blessed while there and I am so thankful that she was obedient to the Father even though it was tough on her to leave home for 10 weeks.

Please drop by Britney's site and catch up on her missionary journey. Also please lift her and her entire team along with the people of Peru up in prayer that the seeds that have been planted will grow and bear fruit for the Kingdom.

Our hands are created to work, yes, but I believe they were created to comfort. They were created to touch someone and just by that touch, reassure them that they are not alone...that someone is there for them and will hold their hand and be beside them through whatever comes their way.

But I believe even more than that, hands were created to praise.

"I will praise You as long as I live, lifting up my hands to you in prayer."
Psalm 63: 4, NLT

"In every place of worship, I want men to pray with holy hands lifted up to God, free from anger and controversy."
1 Timothy 2:8, NLT

And let's be careful to not forget the ultimate picture of the most beautiful hands...

"Then He said to Thomas, 'Put you finger here, and look at my hands. Put your hand into the wound in My side. Don't be faithless any longer. Believe!' "
John 20: 27, NLT

The most beautiful hands belong to the One Who died for us...all of us. He endured what none of us could endure and paid a debt we could never repay.

Look again at the picture of Britney and the child's hand...




Remember these two Scriptures as you look at that tiny, brown hand....

"....Let the children come to me. Don't stop them! For the Kingdom of God belongs to those who are like these children. I tell you the truth, anyone who doesn't receive the Kingdom of God like a child will never enter it."
Mark 10: 14a-15, NLT

"Jesus came and told His disciples, ' I have been given all authority in Heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.' "
Matthew 28: 18-20, NLT

"Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world.
Red and yellow, black and white, they are precious in His sight.
Jesus loves the little children of the world."

Worship Him

"For God is Spirit, so those who worship Him must worship in spirit and in truth."

John 4:24, NLT

Psalm Saturday

My friend Collette over at Jesus Loves Mums has decided that on Saturday's she will be posting on one of the Psalms..or a portion of...and what it has said to her.

I thought that would be an awesome way for us to study and share God's Word.

I asked if she minded if I joined in and she warmly said no and has invited anyone who would like to join her as well.

I love the Psalms. David, one of the men who wrote Psalms, was called a 'Man after God's own heart', yet he struggled just as we do.

Solomon, Moses, other writers of Psalms, struggled just as much and these were strong men of God!! How encouraging to those of us who seem to continually beat ourselves up when we stumble!!

I chose Psalms 128 this Saturday....specifically verse 1:

"How joyfull are those who fear the Lord-all who follow His ways! You will enjoy the fruit of your labor. How joyful and prosperous you will be! Your wife will be like a fruitful grapevine, flourishing within your home. Your children will be like vigorous young olive trees as they sit around your table. That is the Lord's blessings for those who fear Him. May the Lord continually bless you from Zion. May you see Jerusalem prosper as long as you live. May you live to enjoy your grandcildren. May Israel have peace!" NLT

Have you noticed that all of God's promises come with a condition? He will always keep His promises to us, but we have to do our part. Don't we do that with our own children?

"If you'll get your room cleaned up, we'll go to the park!"

"If you'll eat all your veggies, you can have some ice cream!"

Here is the condition...our part, if you will.." How joyful are those who fear the Lord-all who follow His ways!


If we follow His ways, we will be joyful (v1), we will enjoy the fruit of our labor (v2), wives will flourish within the home (v3), children will be vigorous (v3).

What tremendous blessings if we are just obedient to the One Who has breathed life into us!

How about joining Collette? What Psalm from God's Word has spoken to you this week?

My Husband Rocks!!

It has been several weeks since I've joined Katy Lin over at The Great Adventure for My Husband Rocks! Not because DH doesn't rock anymore, but because I have either been so busy I haven't had time to do a post on Friday, or because God has led me in another direction with posting.

I'm trying to get much better about scheduling my posts...but still.......

Anyway, let me share with you today why My Husband Rocks!!....

Most of you know that we have been having major issues with algae in our swimming pool.

Summer is almost half over and we haven't spent hardly any time in the pool. (Talk about some upset teenagers!!!...)

DH and I both are on the same page when it comes to doing things frugally and as efficiently as we can. The last 2 years with the pool, we've had no problems...but this year..green..hazy..green..hazy...green...hazy.....aaarrrrrgggghhhh!!!!!!--but I digress......

We can see our pool from our bathroom window, so every time I am in the bathroom I look out the window. I love to look at the clear, blue water, swirling and rippling. AHHHH...it is so relaxing----except this year I look out and see green...hazy...green...hazy...green....sorry...

This week, my sweet hubby decided his bride was going to have crystal clear water no matter what the cost....and it has cost!!

He has spent quite a large amount, but this morning as I look out the window, I see clear water....and it's beautiful!!!!!!

Is it beautiful because it's clear? Of course! But what makes it even more beautiful is the fact that the water is clear because my DH sacrificed and did what he had to do to make me smile.


Folks, my husband ROCKS!!!!!!

Thankful Thursday

Today I join Sonya over at Truth 4 the Journey for Thankful Thursday.

I was hanging laundry out the other day, just enjoying the sunshine and listening to the birds and at that moment I knew what my list of thankfuls would be.

So here goes...

1) I am thankful for my sense of sight. Because I can see, I can enjoy the blue of the sky, the bright red of the cardinals enjoying the bird bath. Because I can see, I can enjoy watching an older, white-haired couple walking through the mall hand in hand. Because I can see, I can enjoy the smiles on the faces of DH, DD and DS.

2) I am thankful for my sense of hearing. Because I can hear, I can enjoy the birds singing and the crashing of the waves at the ocean. Because I can hear, I can enjoy the music that sends praise up to my Father. Because I can hear, I can enjoy the beautiful laughter that comes from DH, DD and DS.

3) I am thankful for my sense of smell. Because I can smell, I can enjoy the smell of fresh cut grass and puppy breath. Because I can smell, I can enjoy the smell of rain and the flowers that DH brings in for me to enjoy. Because I can smell, I can enjoy the smell of perfume and cologne on DH, DD and DS.

4) I am thankful for my sense of taste. Because I can taste, I can enjoy the taste of fresh baked cookies and straight from the oven bread. Because I can taste, I can enjoy sour candy and rich fudge. Because I can taste, I can enjoy the taste of raindrops as I twirl around outside in the rain, with mouth open wide, with DH, DD and DS.

5) I am thankful for my sense of touch. Because I can touch, I can enjoy the feeling of coldness from throwing snowballs, the softness of a kitten's fur. Because I can touch, I can enjoy the feeling of a football being tossed about with DS or a new fuzzy scarf chosen while shopping with DD. Because I can touch, I can enjoy the feeling of walking hand in hand with the ones I love most...Philip, Beth and Zack.

For more Thankful Thursday click here.

"I give You thanks, O Lord, with all my heart..." Psalm 138:1a, NLT

Our Story

It's been several weeks since I've added a chapter to Our Story. If you'd like to read past posts of our story, click on the Our Story link under the Labels button on the left side of my blog!! :o)

His memories are so sporadic. It's one of the things that saddens him. She can recall so many things..he..only a few.

The one thing that makes him smile though, is the fact that he can recall many things since meeting her. His prayer...that God will bless him that he will always be able to do so.

One childhood memory he remembers well though........

It had been snowing for days. No school, couldn't go outside and play because the snow had gotten so deep..he was bored. It was so hard being couped up inside when you're 9 years old and there were so many adventures just waiting outside....

Mark lived next door. He was his best friend and they did everything together. Including getting in deep trouble.

And this time....deep was literal.

After several days of snowing you couldn't even see out of the window in the basement. It was just white. Snow was everywhere. The drifts were taller than his dad and people had given up shoveling more than a tiny path out their front door.

Bummed. He was just plain bummed.

Tired of TV and books, he was wandering around the house when the phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Hey Philip! Mark. Whatcha doin'?"

"Nuthin'. I'm bored. Wish you could come over."

"Me too. I can't get out of the house though. Mom's watchin' me like crazy!"

"Yeah. Mine too."

"Hey, Philip...I got an idea."

"What?"

"When I open my basement door, there's a whole wall of snow starin' back at me. How 'bout you?"

"Haven't tried. Why?"

"Well, we could dig tunnels and try to meet in the middle, between each other's houses. Then we could hang out in the tunnels and play!! Wouldn't that be cool?!"

"Sure! But do you really think our folks will let us do that?"

"Well..........they don't have to know do they"?

Wow! He liked this idea.

"Okay. Let's get started. See ya later!"

Hanging up, he yelled and told his mom he was going to hang out in the basement and play for a while. Glad to have him busy, Mom gave him the okay.

Downstairs he opened the basement door and just like Mark, he, too, was looking at a wall of snow.

Looking around he found a shovel and began to dig.

Man this snow was packed!! What to do with the snow in the shovel???
Got it!! Put it in the bathroom sink.

Shovelful after shovelful he slowly began to see a dent in the snow. By evening he was exhausted, but he had a tunnel dug that was several feet deep. He wondered how far Mark had gotten.

Days later while inside the tunnel, he finally heard Mark yell his name!! He couldn't believe it!! All of this work had finally paid off. A little while later they finally connected their tunnels. The fact that this snow could collapse on them never entered the 9 year old minds..they had built a tunnel and to these young little minds if you could build one tunnel, you could build several.

And they did.

By the time they were able to go back to school they had quite the little underground mine going on...and it was awesome!!!!

Soon the temperatures warmed and the tunnel was but a fun memory.

The story of the snow tunnels would be shared with friends and family for years to come--always with a warning to his own children that crawling around in those snow tunnels was probably one of the most stupid things he'd ever done....but to this man who has few precious memories of his childhood---he was glad he'd taken the chance.....

Sharin' a Smile

Just wanted to share a smile with you today......

What's the difference between bird flu and swine flu??









For bird flu you need tweetment and for swine flu you need oinkment.


Have a happy day!!!

"We were filled with laughter...." Psalm 126:2a, NLT

Jesus, Bring the Rain!!!!

This past Saturday afternoon found me busy washing and hanging out laundry. I truly love to hang out my laundry. It's a peaceful time for me and I usually use that time to just listen to God and all of the sounds He's put around me.

During this time, the phone rang and it was my friend R wanting to know if me and DH would like to go out to dinner with her and her hubby. Sure! Sounds like fun!

I took in a few more loads of laundry and decided that even though it was close to dark, I would hang out another couple of loads. They would dry Sunday afternoon and I could take in that laundry before evening service. It was all good.

Fast forward...

We had a great Sunday morning service, went to get a bite to eat, off to buy some (more) pool chemicals..yes, we are still battling our pool water issues..aarrgghh!!!.....and home.

I saw the laundry on the line as we pulled into the driveway, but for whatever reason, it didn't register in my mind, "Hey! The laundry's dry Deb. You need to get it off the line."

I came in the house, got in some comfy clothes and read the Sunday paper.

Before I knew it, it was time to get ready for evening service and head back to church.

Getting back in the car, I looked at the laundry still hanging on the line and said, "Oh man!! I forgot to get the laundry in."

DH: "Want me to grab it for you?"...he is soooo awesome!!!

Me: "Nah, I'll get it as soon as we get home from church."

Holy Spirit: "Deb, you're not going to be late, just grab the laundry....it's going to rain before you get home."

Me: "Nah. It won't rain..hasn't rained in over a week, I'll get it when I get home."

Holy Spirit: "Okay........."

"Those too lazy to plow in the right season will have no food at the harvest." Proverbs 20: 4, NLT

Or in this situation, Deb, being too lazy to take her laundry in will have wet laundry when she returns home.

And she did.

About halfway through service, I hear a noise. "Hmmmm..what's that I hear...no!!...it couldn't be....oh no!!!! It is!!! It's raining!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Holy Spirit: "You know, Deb, I did tell you that you needed to get your laundry in."

BOOM!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Big rounds of thunder...oh, how I wanted to jump up and yell, "NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Ahh...but it was too late. I had ignored DH, I had ignored the Holy Spirit and now I was going to have to redo all that laundry.

In my procrastination..my laziness...I didn't save any money because that laundry is going to have to be put back in the washer to be wrung out and then dried in the dryer. All because I was lazy and deaf to the prompting of the Holy Spirit.

"Good planning and hard work lead to prosperity, but hasty shortcuts lead to poverty." Proverbs 21: 5, NLT

Or in my case, wasting my time, our money and adding a lot more work to my day.

I went to bed, wet laundry on the line. Why didn't I go ahead and bring the laundry in you ask?? Well, my thinking was, "Hey! It will be sunny tomorrow and even though it may take all day, it will still dry."

About 1 a.m and again about 3:30 a.m, I was woken up by my perfect Savior to the sound of more thunder crashing and rain falling.

Did I get upset or angry?? No...I just smiled and went back to sleep.

Why did I smile you ask?

Because I serve an awesome God. One Who doesn't give up on trying to teach me a lesson. One Who loves me enough to drive home the fact that He doesn't want me to ignore Him when He tells me something.

He reminded me that if I ignore Him in small stuff...that I'll probably ignore Him in the big stuff and that's not acceptable.

"Listen to My instruction and be wise. Don't ignore it." Proverbs 8:33, NLT

So...if this is what it takes to get my attention.....Jesus bring the rain!!!

Please Check Out DD's Latest Post!!

As most of you know, I don't usually do posts on the weekend. For me, this is time to spend with my family and catching up on those projects that DH and I enjoy doing together.

However......

Those of you that have been with me for any length of time, know that our children have both went through very tough battles in the wilderness in the last year. There were times when I truly did not recognize these kids.

But, as in everything, God is faithful. Through our prayers and the prayers of many friends, family and my bloggy buddies...through fasting and praying Scripture over them, they came through the wilderness victorious for Christ!!!!

So, with that being said, I would love for each of you to head over to DD's blog and read her most recent post. Added to her wilderness wanderings, bear in mind that the young man that had planned on marrying her in the fall, decided about a month ago to call everything off, break up with her and begin dating a girl 4 years younger than he.....in other words, someone barely 16...

Anyway.............

Please, for me, go over to DD's site and celebrate with us what God has done in the life of our daughter!!!

Thank you my friends!!!

Yet, Another Question....

Got a question.....yes, again....

I've been on several blogs and have noticed that several of you have the buttons of other blogs on this little rotating, live action thingy...yes, my Blogger/computer lingo is astounding.....

Anyway, I'd love to show more buttons of the blogs I love to read, but those columns can get mighty long. How do I get the buttons to be live (?) and rotate??

I would love any help on that! :o)

Thankful Thursday

It's that time again! Time to join Sonya over at Truth 4 the Journey for Thankful Thursday. I've said many times before and I'll say it again, I look forward to doing Thankful Thursday because it causes me to pause and look at how blessed I have been this week.

So...here we go!!

1) I am thankful that a good friend of mine went back for a cancer scan and she is still cancer free!!!! It's has been a tough ride for her at times, but God is faithful and we are all blessed!!!

2) I am thankful for humming birds!! Yes, I know, just call me the bird lady...but I really do think these are my favorite birds. I have a feeder in front of my kitchen window and one on my front porch and I just love to watch these tiny creatures. They constantly remind me how awesome God is and how He is so perfect down to the tiniest detail.

3) I am thankful for the peace that comes when we are obedient to God..even when we don't understand the why behind what He's asking us to do.

4) I am thankful for the beautiful fireworks show that we enjoyed as a family with friends this past Saturday night. We got there early and played some frisbee and threw the football around. It was great fun!!!! and with that.........

5) I am thankful for the men and women who have fought to give us the freedom that we have in this country. I have family and friends who were in the military during both war and peace times and it's because of them that we can--most importantly--proclaim the Word of God without fear.

Click here for more Thankful Thursday.

"Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good!!
His faithful love endures forever."
Psalm 136:1, NLT

Cleaning House

I have been really busy this week trying to clean my house. I'm not talking about the general stuff, I'm talking about the wipe down the walls, take down the curtains, vacuum under the cushions type of cleaning.

Our lives have been so busy the last 2 or 3 weeks that I've done good just to keep things picked up.

I can only stand that so long and then I go off the deep end. I have got to get things clean.....really clean.

I've already attacked the main bathroom and hallway as well as the living room. Today looks like the day of the dining room and tomorrow---well I'll figure that out once the dining room is done.

This has gotten me to thinking about my spiritual house.

Satan can keep me so busy that I just do enough to get by....reading my Bible a little here, praying a little there...just enough to keep me going. Just enough to keep me from feeling guilty. Before I know it...like my house...I'm under layers of filth and clutter and things just keep piling up and I finally reach a crossroads:

Do I go to the left and just keep doing what I'm doing, or do I go to the right and clean this mess up?

Oh satan's good~~I'll hand him that. A call here, a visit there, crisis in the lives of my teens, friends in and out (mine and the kids)...even VBS--you know....3 or more hours at church every night for a week...just let things keep piling up..you can catch up this weekend...even though this weekend is packed as well.

The fact is though, that I can't keep doing what I'm doing. I can't keep running full force down the path of doing just enough. I have to stop, do an about face and get down to business--God's business.

If I don't keep my spiritual house clean, then before I know it, the clutter of everyday will take over. Before I know it, I will have spent so little time alone with my Father, that I can't even remember what He sounded like. I won't be able to remember what it's like to feel His presence.

Sadly I've been there before.

Even though I've been deep cleaning my earthly house this week, I've made sure to make my spiritual house my first priority. It hasn't always been easy.

DH leaves for work, and my time with my Father is usually the first thing I do, but satan has made sure to remind me that the day will pass quickly and my earthly house is a wreck.

I admit that a couple of times I have allowed myself to get busy on my earthly house only to hear God gently whisper that I haven't chosen the wisest thing~~thankfully I can still hear Him in my busy mind!!

So I've stopped right away and sat down with Jesus and spent some time with Him.
It never ceases to amaze me that when I stop and spend time with my Father, that He'll make sure I get done all I intended to and most of the time, even more!

Let me encourage you to ask yourself how's your spiritual house looking?? If, like mine, it's dusty and cluttered with the worldly things, stop, grab the hand of Jesus and clean that up first. I promise that after that, God will give you the time to get the earthly things in order.

"Don't store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. Store your treasures in Heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. Wherever your treasure is, the desires of your heart will also be." Matthew 6: 19-21, NLT

Worshipping the king

I want my blog to be uplifting and encouraging. I want my blog to make you smile or make you dig deeper...self-examine. But every now and then, I've just got to use it to get something off my chest.

This is one of those times.

First let me begin by saying that my heart goes out to this particular family. No parent should have to bury a child, no matter how old that child is.

Today a son, a brother, a dad is being laid to rest....and a family is hurting.

BUT......

Michael Jackson was just a man.

A talented man, yes..but just a man, and the media is making a circus out of this man's death.

The public is showing us what idol worship truly looks like.

For a week now, I cannot tell you how many times I have seen clips of the covered body of Michael Jackson being loaded up. I've watched people sobbing, dancing, screaming and laughing.

Then I read in the paper yesterday that over 1.6 million people are waiting with baited breath to see if they are one of the "lucky" winners to get one of the 17,000 (or there about) tickets to the memorial service of Michael Jackson.

Hold up.

Again I say, this was a man. Just a man.

I find myself asking the question: If, when we turned on the news this evening, or read our paper and saw this headline, what would the reaction be?

Meet Jesus!! Only 17,000 lucky winners!! Register for your chance now!!

I have to wonder if the media would be showing people out of their minds trying to acquire one of these tickets. Would people be dancing in the street because they were going to get to be a part of this once in a lifetime opportunity? Would people be crying and screaming and losing control of all their emotions?

Would the media make this a top priority story?

Would Hollywood entertainers be doing tributes on stage to Jesus and the life He lived and gave up for us?

Haven't seen it happen yet.

Here's the problem.

Over 2,000 years ago a Man gave His life for me, you and every single human that ever was or ever will be. He did this willingly, selflessly.

Meeting Him is as easy as confessing our sins, repenting of those sins and committing our lives to Him.

And the thing of it is...there can be far more than "17,000 lucky winners".

And yet....a mere human gets more applause and more recognition. Today every local news station is going to be covering this service and all across the world those that weren't one of the lucky winners will be glued to their tv sets to watch the final goodbyes to the "king of pop".

Yet our churches, who are trying to share the news of a Man who gave up His own life so we could live forever, can't even fill up the pews in their buildings on any given Sunday morning.

Folks, something is wrong here.

I, for one, won't have the tv on today. I won't be stopping my life to watch people idolize a man that wouldn't give most of them the time of day.

A day of celebration?? No...I don't think so.

A day of sadness?? Yes...sadness at the fact that those who are idolizing Michael Jackson may never realize Who the true King is.....

"You must not have any other god but me. You must not make for yourself and idol of any kind or an image of anything in the heavens or on the earth or in the sea. You must not bow down to them or worship them, for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God Who will not tolerate your affection for any other gods."
Exodus 20: 3-5a, NLT

Visiting at The Well!!

Today's topic over at The Well is, Am I Showing Love?

Since that's my post, I'd love it if you head on over to The Well and visit then take a few minutes to comment or do a post on your own blog about showing love!!

Learning to be Content

I'm trying to get in a pattern of doing tomorrow's post, today. That way I'm not trying to put a post out first thing in the morning when I'm half asleep and not thinking clearly.

For a couple of weeks, I've done pretty good at accomplishing that, but not this week. This week has been crazy busy and I've found myself having to go somewhere everyday. I'm usually just getting home in time to cook (barely) a bite for supper and in the evenings when DH is home, I try to stay off the computer and spend my time with him.

But that's not what this post is about...

I'm reading my devotions this morning and just having some one on One time with God and I'm taken to this scripture..

"Not that I was ever in need, for I have learned how to be content with whatever I have. I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little." Philippians 4: 11-12, NLT (emphasis mine)

It's easy, or so it seems, for me to find myself not being content. It's not in the "big" things....my marriage is awesome, my teens are awesome. I love our old, always in need of something being fixed house. My car is beautiful and paid for. I'm quite content with those things.

But it's those little things I find myself getting hung up on.....If I could only find curtains to match the bedspread...if I could get the pool water a little clearer...if I could grill chicken without burning the edges...if I could decorate my house as cool as ________ does.....

Don't roll your eyes or laugh..think about it.

Contentment.

It doesn't always come easy to me. But apparently, it didn't come easy to Paul either because in the above verses he said that he learned to be content.

To learn something means you are a student, you have to be taught. It means you don't know how to do something. So, Paul didn't know how to be content, he had to learn it....his words.

So if a great a man as Paul had to learn contentment, maybe I shouldn't be so hard on myself, maybe I should just become a better student.

How to learn contentment?

Look out of my box. Get away from the tunnel vision that satan would love to keep me bound in.

The pool water isn't crystal clear?? At least we have a pool to jump in and cool off in these 100º days!

Curtains don't perfectly match the bedspread?? At least I have a house to hang curtains in!

Stop complaining about burnt chicken edges and thank God that I have chicken to eat.....and a ton of other stuff!

Decorating my house?? Again, thank God I have a house to decorate.

Does being discontent go hand in hand with self-pity?

I think so.

Self-pity has us so bound in the poor me mind frame that we can't be content....and that's just how Satan would like it.

So...with this morning's devotion I have decided that with God's help, I'm going to fight satan's little plan of keeping me discontent and dissatisfied.

"But the Lord is faithful; He will strengthen you and guard you from the evil one." 1 Thessalonians 3:3, NLT

Thankful Thursday

It's time once again to join Sonya at Truth 4 the Journey for Thankful Thursday.

I'd love to know what you're thankful for this week, so how about linking up with Sonya and sharing your list of thankfuls with us!

Here's my list for this week....

1) I am thankful that DH can still be very unpredictable. After 25+ years of marriage, I know this man of mine very well. I often tease him that I know him better than he knows himself. But this past Sunday, he showed his entire family that an impromptu trip to Tennessee would make wonderful memories we will never forget.

2) I am thankful that DD is holding on so tightly to God. She was victorious coming out of those wilderness wanderings that had so held her captive for so long...but as we well know, satan isn't going to remain quiet. She has been incredibly attacked the last month for her stand in Christ, and even though some of the things that has transpired against her has shaken her and made her bend, she hasn't broken and two nights ago she was crying tears of victory over the enemy.

3) I am thankful that I've found enough people to give cucumbers to!! I'm down to only the cucumbers that are in the drawer in the fridge and I couldn't be happier!!! Yes, the garden is still producing cucumbers that I'm going to need to find a home for...but I am most thankful that God keeps putting people in my path that enjoy and could use what He has blessed us with.

4) I am thankful that two nights ago while his sister was in a true battle with God against satan, that I found DS in his bedroom, Bible open, eyes closed, tears streaming down his face in fervent prayer over his sister. It was such a huge blessing from my Father to see my son broken for his sister and joining her in prayer to defeat the enemy.

5) I am thankful that God has given my entire family the ability to be united in a very hard decision we had to make this week. It is something that we've been praying about for almost 4 months now, and as hard as it was to make the right decision, because there were other people involved, God was faithful in showing us this past Sunday that it was more important to be faithful to Him.

"Your unfailing love, O Lord, is as vast as the heavens, Your faithfulness reaches beyond the clouds."

Psalm 36:5, NLT

Happy Birthday Momma!!

(This is my most recent pic of Momma. It was taken at DD's graduation. She is on the left, Daddy is in the middle and DH is on the right)


Today is my Momma's birthday. She is 60 years old.

She will probably never read this post because she doesn't own a computer. Unless me or my sister were to print it off for her, she just won't get to read it.

But...

That's not going to stop me from telling you a little about my Momma.

My Momma is only 15 years older than me. She was a very young bride...married at 13 and a very young Momma.

She stayed home with me until my first day of kindergarten, when she went to work, and except for a couple of layoffs and the 2 years she took off when my little sister was born, she's been working ever since.

She has been married to my Daddy for 46 years. Sometimes he can be a hard man to live with, but she has stood by his side through thick and thin..I hope he knows what a very blessed man he is to have a wife like her.

Momma has lived a rough life and it's easy to see that she's tired, but she is a strong woman.

She doesn't quit, never gives up. There have been so many times that, had I been dealing with what she's had to deal with, I would have just sat down and refused to get up again.

She's had many surgeries--one very serious one on her kidneys. She was stung very badly once and almost died right before my very eyes--that's when we found out she was allergic to bee stings...both of her parents have died, as has her older brother...and yet, she still gets up every day, trusting that it's going to be a good day, better than yesterday.

In my eyes, she's a very strong, amazing woman and I love her very much.

So...

Happy Birthday Momma!!! Love you muches!!