Puzzle, rambles, grandchildren and Glory to God!

Puzzle for you....
1 + 1 = 2  right?
how bout this.
1+ 1 = 6
6 + 3 = 17
17 + 1  = 19
19 + 1/2 = 19.5

Now I will admit I have a strange mind.  Tell me your thoughts on what you think this may be.  

I'm not sure where this is going tonight. I seem to be blank, but thought maybe if I just start it will come together.  

It's been a really great weekend.  Lily turned 1 this week and we celebrated her birthday Saturday.  Chris and Ashley just closed on their new house Friday, so we were able to have her party in her new home.  Worked out great cuz it rained all day.  New house is nice and big to hold all of us.  

Sarah and the kids came up to visit and go to the party.  That is always wonderful!  I love having them at my house.  I got to spend time playing with Abigail, Benjamin and Catherine. It makes this granny's heart overflow!   I missed Sean, but he had to work.  Hope for next visit for him to get to come too.  

I could sit here and type away for hours about my fantastic grandchildren.  But you may get bored as I tell you about how proud I am of the father Chris has become, and how awesome it is to watch Brandon follow the path God has put on his heart for him.  How beautiful, but getting waaayyy too grown up Kayleigh is.  And Layla is adorable.  (She likes that word!)  Ayden is my Bible study buddy.  Abigail is so pretty and such a fun helpful little girl. Benjamin is so handsome.  Looks just like his daddy.   And I love joining in his world.  Catherine is joy.  So happy and smiling all the time.  Ashley is a great mom, I'm so glad Chris chose her! (Ashley is in here because she married Chris and is now counted a grandchild!)  And little Lily is just cute cute cute.  


So there they are.  My joy, my blessing from God.  I love each of these special people God has chosen to put in my life.  They each have something very special about them. I don't know of a blessing God can give on this earth that means more to me than these grandchildren.  And first great grandchild!  

I guess you can see where my mind and heart are tonight.  Sarah and the kids went home, and I miss them.  My house gets very quiet after the kids are here and then leave.  But that's the way it is supposed to be.  They have their own lives and Bob and I have ours, it just means it is more special when they come again.  

How many of you have grown children?  Grandchildren?  Isn't it amazing to watch them?  To see them change and grow.  To watch my own boys with their children makes me so proud to be their mom.  They are all awesome fathers.  And they have all chosen beautiful smart wives to be great mom's to their children. I love them all!  

Where is this going?  I'm just rambling tonight.  Thinking about life and family and God.  How God has brought us all together.  We learned in BSF last week that God chose each one of us for the family He put us in. We were not born into our families just by chance.  Isn't that amazing.  God chose the country we were born in.  He chose the circumstances we were born in.  He knew us before we were born and loves us unconditionally.  You ever wonder why God chose to put you in your family?  

We all have a purpose.  In our family and our life.  What is the purpose of my life?  And yours?  The purpose of my life is to know God, to love God, to enjoy God and to glorify Him. How am I going to do that?  One way for me is to love my children, grandchildren, daughters in law and every other person He chooses to put in our family. 

Going to end tonight with just saying God is great.  God is beautiful. His face is what I seek.
When His eyes are on this child, His grace abounds to me.  He is the love of my life.  All the  glory belongs to Him.  Each grandchild I have is an amazing beautiful example of God's love.  
Thank you my Lord and Savior!  

Grandchildren, blessings and obedience

Well,  I am finally saying yes, to God's voice that has been urging me to get back to writing.  I can say it has been a very busy hectic summer,  and it has.  I can say, I'm not a writer, and it's true.  I can say it's very difficult to find a time to sit and do this, and that is true too. But, ultimately, it comes down to ignoring that voice that is inside me telling me to get back to it.  He has even given me ideas of what to post...but, I ignored them.  

So I have asked God's forgiveness and am going to try to get back to posting more regularly.  I know that voice and I know this is what He is telling me to do.  I don't know why.  Hopefully someone will be blessed by what I ramble on about.  

Thank you to those of you who have asked about my blog in the last few months.  It is very encouraging to hear that someone missed it!   I am sorry I also ignored you!  Please forgive me. 

I added new pictures of my grandkids in case you didn't notice.  :)   I have had the amazing blessing this summer of being able to spend time with all of them.  They truly are amazing children. (And I know....all grandparents say that, right?!)   What is actually so amazing is that my sons and daughter in laws trust me with their children!   I don't deserve that trust and am so grateful that God has allowed me that blessing. 

Are you a grandparent?  If so, you know that love that fills your heart to overflowing for these precious children God chose to place in our families.  We have an awesome responsibility to love them, play with them, listen to them, hug them and be the very best grandparent we could be.  God has chosen us to be their grandparent!  That little life, from the tiniest newborn all the way up to the adult is so special!   

I love to watch each one of them as they play and just soak in their differences.  Each one has a special gift from God. Each one is a joy to be with.  And I miss each one when I don't see them for a while!  One of my joys, is to sit nearby while they play  and snap pictures of them when they don't know.  I love the expressions on their faces and the innocence that is there.  They do know I'm there though and will tell me to put the camera away!  I can hear them now....... GRANNY!!!!!!!    NOT AGAIN!!!      Makes me smile to think of it.   

I know this time in my life is a God given gift.  I cherish every moment I have with these children.  (Yes, Kayleigh, even when I'm tired and get grumpy!)   I thank God for them and pray that He will always watch over them, lead and guide their lives and that each one will know Him personally.  I'm thinking you are going to hear alot about my grandchildren as this blog continues.  I learn so much about God as I watch and listen to them.  

It amazes me that God uses everything in life to teach us, to guide us and to lead us closer to Him.  My heart is full.  I am blessed!  Praise the Lord!  

Mark 10:14   When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these....."

Love you all!  

What is the desire of your heart? 

Have you ever stopped and thought about that?  We all have desires, all kinds of desires.  For money, homes, cars, even animals, children, friends. It can go on and on.  It seems there is always something more we want. Stuff... flowers if you are a gardener...collectibles..  

If we are parents we want things for our children.  We want things for our grandchildren. We want things for our parents.  

We take these desires/wants to God in prayer. We ask Him for healing, we ask Him to repair relationships, for financial help. Anything we need/want we can take to Him. He is that kind of God. He loves us and cares about our lives on this earth. He answers our prayers. How awesome is that!!??  The God who created the universe, who knows every star in that huge night sky by name, answers our prayers! 

I was thinking the other day about my own prayer life, the people I pray for, the things I ask God for.  And He reminded me of:

Mat 6:33  But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 

Mat 7:7  "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 

Mat 7:8  For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. 

1Chronicles 28:9  "And you, my son Solomon, acknowledge the God of your father, and serve him with wholehearted devotion and with a willing mind, for the LORD searches every heart and understands every desire and every thought. If you seek him, he will be found by you; but if you forsake him, he will reject you forever. 

Am I seeking God first? When I pray for others am I praying for God's kingdom and God's righteousness in their lives? Or am I just praying for earthly things for them?  Money and good family relationships for my children?  Healing for the sick?  

Now these are not bad things to pray for.  God wants to hear us pray for the relationships of our children and healing for the sick. But it just seems to me sometimes those prayers are  more important than the spiritual healing, or the spiritual relationship they need. 

If God understands my every desire and every thought, just what is my heart's desire?  The one  desire that is most important to me. My Lord cares about my desires. He wants to answer my prayers. But are my prayers self centered?  Are my prayers earth centered?  Yes, unfortunately, if I am honest alot of them are.  

So, I started thinking about my heart's desire.  And how did it line up with God's kingdom and His righteousness?  I had to really think and really search my heart to realize that in the midst of all these prayers, (again that are not bad) is a prayer that my heart longs for that does line up with His kingdom.  

I will still pray for all the other needs. They are important, but this desire of my heart that lines up with God's will has become the one I will be in prayer about as often as I possibly can. Trusting God to answer in His time. 

Are you wondering what kind of prayer this is? Or maybe you already know...  This prayer is for someone close to my heart to have a renewed relationship with Jesus.  This person has walked away and needs that relationship back, just doesn't realize it.    

There are millions of people in our world today who need Jesus.  We need to be in prayer for every one of them. Even when we don't know them.  And I have to admit I fail in this area. 

Why is it if the need is not right in front of me, I tend to forget it?  Shame on me!  

So, how do I change this?  First, seek God's forgiveness.  Ask for His help in making my prayer time be more meaningful and more consistent.  That time that is supposed to be His every morning, and gets so easily sidetracked,  needs to be set in stone.  No more sidetracks, no more procrastinating!  

I also will ask you to pray with me  first for those who need Christ in their lives. Then for me to be consistent in  my prayer time.  

Thank you!

Love, 

Barb

The procrastinator is back!

First...if you have posted a comment on my blog, I am not seeing it.  I can only see a couple from the first  entries.  I am sorry.  Can you try again? 

"A blog is not a blog if I don't post in it". That's what a friend reminded me last night after choir practice.  That's right! Another friend reminded me tonight that she missed my posts! 

Yep, I've done it yet again, put off posting.  And I don't even have any good excuses!  

We've had a couple weeks of cold and snow here in Virginia.  I had prayed for ONE good snowstorm for the winter.  God answers over and above what we ask for,  we have had three!  

I was born and raised in NW Pennsylvania, so I know how very long and cold winters can be.  I am thankful I am not living there.  We may get a few snow storms in the winter or we may get nothing here.  I like one good snow storm. That gives me the beauty of the snow that I miss, but I don't have to deal with it from October to April.   

So, I have to confess I love that everything gets shut down around here during snow storms. I love to be snowed in for a few days. And if my family is home safe then let it snow!  I love taking pictures of the snow and the birds outside my windows. I love taking pictures of the snow on the trees and on my yard junk.  I love taking pictures of my dogs, kids, husband,  anyone who is out in the snow.  

I'm thinking I am strange, I can literally sit in my chair at my window all day taking picture after picture of the birds at the feeders that my husband keeps filled outside the window for me!  I do move to the other windows in the house and catch the birds at those feeders too.... Then I find myself with hundreds of bird pictures and have to decide which ones to keep and what to do with them!  Thank you Lord! for my digital camera!!  

I was watching the little sparrows the other day, and was reminded of how God's eye is on him. 

Mat 6:25  "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? 

Mat 6:26  Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 

Mat 10:29  Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father's care. 

Mat 10:30  And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. 

Mat 10:31  So don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows. 

So why do I worry when God promises I am worth more than all these beautiful little birds I am taking pictures of?  He has even numbered the hairs on my head!!  I really do not spend much time worrying.  I used to. But it seems  the Lord has shown me over and over in the last few years that worrying gets me nowhere, but trusting Him and taking my trials to Him results in a peace and joy that can only come from seeing my Lord answer my prayers.   I thought of these verses: 

Jas 1:2  Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 

Jas 1:3  because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. 

Jas 1:4  Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. 

Jas 1:5  If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. 

Jas 1:6  But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. 

Jas 1:7  That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. 

When I pray I want God to answer!  He says pray, believe, don't doubt!  If I do I shouldn't expect Him to answer!  Wow!   Well, then, ok Lord, I believe!  I will not doubt!  I will expect an answer!  In His time, in His way.  

Jas 4:3  When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures. 

Jas 5:13  Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray. Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise. 

Jas 5:14  Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. 

Jas 5:15  And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven. 

Jas 5:16  Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. 

Jas 5:17  Elijah was a human being, even as we are. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. 

Jas 5:18  Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops. 

I love the book of James!  So much in that book that speaks right to me.  I do not receive what I ask because I ask with selfish motives!  Wow!  Why do I pray?  The prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well.  The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.  Wow!  And Elijah just blows me away!  First time I read that verse I thought, Wow!! Really!??  It really changed how I thought about prayer.  

Mat 11:28  "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 

Mat 11:29  Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 

Mat 11:30  For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." 

Mat 7:7  "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 

Mat 7:8  For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. 

I've learned so much about prayer from BSF leaders meetings. We are expected to pray for our group members each day. We start everything we do with prayer. Matthew 7:7 is the verse we base our prayers on.   ASK...ask, seek, knock...  and the door will be opened.  

My husband and I are sharing a verse with each other every morning then talking about it. Today was my turn and I was thinking about this verse in Psalm 37.

Psa 37:4  Take delight in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart. 

Psa 37:5  Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him and he will do this: 

Which then led to all the other verses and a discussion about God keeping His eye on the sparrow.    So, my weird compulsion to take hundreds of pictures of birds can bring me to a point of worshipping my Lord!  That excites me.  I love to look for God in the world around me. 

I hope these verses encourage you in your walk with the Lord. Maybe there is one here that is exactly what you need to hear today to help you keep going. 

Trust in the Lord with all your heart!  

  

Love, 

Barb

Have you ever watched the movie The Croods?  These pics are of my two youngest sons and two grandchildren watching it.  My youngest, Ryan and I and Ayden, my grandson, had taken some furniture to Sean and Sarah and visited for the weekend. 

I had seen this movie once before, wasn't real sure I liked it the first time. Now after the second time, I'm still not sure!  Just something about it didn't sit well with me. 

So, bright and early this morning at 6 am, I was on my way to BSF leader's meeting. We meet every Saturday morning from 7 - 9 am. This is our training time and our time to share what God has been teaching us through the week.  Today we were having our monthly fellowship after class. This is when we eat and casually sit and share with one another what God has been doing in our lives since the last fellowship.  It's one of my favorite times, we get to know each other better and can share some of the awesome things God has been doing that we don't have time for in our normal leader's meeting. 

I was driving to Lynchburg this morning, about a 25 minute drive from my house, and asking God what He wanted me to share with the ladies. Sometimes He just says listen, today was one of those days...But as I was driving and asking His forgiveness for my sin He brought that movie to my mind.  Not because it was wrong to watch it, but He brought specifically the part where the young man and the father had fallen off a cliff and were in a tar pit. 

They were stuck. No way out. Nothing ever survived a tar pit. 
The tar does not let go, it sucks you in more and more till you 
are sucked under.  And now I can't remember what it was that 
pulled them free!!    :(   But, anyway, they grabbed onto I think 
a log or something...shoot, someone tell me what they grabbed!!  And didn't a bird come and pull them out??  You can tell I'm not good at this!  One of you will have to comment and tell it correctly for me...please???   

Anyway,  God brought that to my mind in relation to sin.  Sin is just like that tar pit. Once it gets you, it does not want to let you go.  And the longer you are in it, the further you sink, until one day you are sucked in and covered up with it. Unlike the tar pit that is black and ugly and you can see it, sin can be very deceiving, it can be appealing and sound like a wonderful thing. It can be so small at first that you don't even think it could ever amount to anything big. 

But, oh, isn't that just what our enemy wants us to think??  The Bible tells us that He masquerades as an angel of light. 

2 Corinthians 11:14   And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light.


2 Corinthians  11:3  But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent's cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ. 

It is all too easy to fall for the trap our enemy wants to set for us.  So how do we keep from falling for it? 

One of my favorite passages is Ephesians 6:10-18 

Eph 6:10  Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 
Eph 6:11  Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. 
Eph 6:12  For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 
Eph 6:13  Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 
Eph 6:14  Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 
Eph 6:15  and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 
Eph 6:16  In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 
Eph 6:17  Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 
Eph 6:18  And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord's people. 

Have you ever really studied this passage. I think it's pretty amazing.  I can be strong in the Lord's mighty power? Wow!   I can take a stand against the devil's schemes?  And all those struggles I see as against another person are against the forces of evil. Wow again!  That is hard to see when I'm right in the middle of a "disagreement" with someone. It sure does seem to be them I'm battling against.  But to see it as spiritual puts a different light on alot of arguments and differences of opinion with others.  I need to step back, pray, and allow God to shed light on the truth. 

But I can not fight this battle on my own!  It very clearly says put on the armor of God. I need a belt of truth, a breastplate of righteousness, special shoes for my feet, a shield of faith to extinguish those flaming arrows of the evil one!!   Oh cool!!   I need my helmet of salvation, and my sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. And I need to pray always, with all kinds of prayers and to be alert and keep praying for the Lord's people!  

I need to stay close to my Lord in order to fight the battles in this life!!  In order to stay close to Him, I must stay in His Word, I must be around other Christians, I must pray continually. If I don't I am going to get stuck in that ugly, black, miserable, life sucking tar pit.  I don't want to be there!! 

With that in mind I ask as Paul did that you would keep me in your prayers and I will pray for you!


Eph 6:19  Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, 

And that is where I believe God took me this morning on my way to leader's meeting!  I pray you have a wonderful Sunday. That you will  join in your own church and worship the Lord. 


It's supposed to be 65 here tomorrow, I am hoping to spend the afternoon outside enjoying His beautiful creation. 

Love, 
Barb

Thank you all for the prayers for Daddy. He is doing better. Apparently it was  just an infection he picked up.

I've been thinking lately about hearing God speak.  Last year seemed to be the year God taught me how to know I was hearing Him speak.

 Every year in BSF I can look back and see at least one overall lesson God had been teaching me.  It is exciting and encouraging to look back and see that I have learned something through studying His Word. 

I have learned the difference between my thoughts and that voice I hear speaking to me that is God.  Have you ever heard God speak to you?  I don't mean in an audible voice, but when He tells me something there is no doubt whatsoever that God just spoke.  It's as real as if He is sitting  beside me talking to me in a normal voice.  

I love those moments. They come out of the blue most times. Even times when my mind has been on something entirely different than what He tells me.  When He speaks it is about something I have prayed about.  There is  an unmistakable feeling of knowing I have no choice but to obey Him at these times.  Sure I could always say no, God has given us that free will to do that...but, honestly, after the mistakes I've made and all the times I have disobeyed Him, I am afraid to not do what I know God has told me to do!   

Those times I have followed through with what God told me to do have been absolutely amazing.  Not always easy....downright hard sometimes....but  the peace, confidence and joy afterward are beyond explanation.  

So, I've been praying and wondering why I haven't heard God's voice in a while.  I know He's  not really gonna talk to me every day.  I don't expect that, although just think how awesome it will be when we are in Heaven and can have a conversation with Him just like we do each other now!!!   Ohhh, I can't wait to see Jesus!!   

Anyway....back to praying about it...actually I guess now that I think about it maybe I did hear His answer and I am just now realizing it!....  What I heard was.......Do you not realize how LOUD facebook is??    What????? facebook loud????  really????    hmmmm 

This stopped me...got me to thinking...and you know God is right.   It is loud. Very loud.  We are on there, checking to see what we are all doing, posting our own ideas, and yes, I can see how loud it is.  

If I want to hear God speak, I need to get rid of the distractions that block His voice.  God is not going to shout to be heard over top of everything else in my life. He wants my undivided attention.  He wants my devotion. God demands to be first in my life. 

So, I am working at NOT looking at facebook, or email first thing in the morning.  I agree with God that I was/am not putting Him first.  I have asked for His forgiveness and help to put Him back in that first place where He belongs.  

God wakes me up around 5 every morning. No alarm. I hate alarms and don't set it.( only on Saturday mornings for BSF.)  I love getting up early when the house is silent, and just looking at the stars and talking to my Lord. I then usually study my BSf and spend time learning and searching for more of Him.  It is my favorite time of the day. 

But I seem to want to reach for my phone and peek at facebook or email!   And this distracts me and yes it is loud!!  

Psalm 46:10  Be still and know that I am God.......

John 10:27  Jesus said, "My sheep listen to my voice: I know them, and they follow me."

Luke 10:39  She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet listening to what He said. 


Revelation many times says: Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. 

And Revelation 3:20 "Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me."

 So, how do I hear if I am too busy "listening" to everything around me?  I have chosen facebook only because that is what I feel God has pointed out to me.  But we have tons of different ways not to listen to Him.  

If you want to share I would love to hear.  Or maybe you would share how you block out the distractions of the world and spend time with God?  

Now, I am sorry I have procrastinated once again in posting.  I sincerely ask that you all would be praying that  I can listen to the Spirit pushing me to write and to do it when I hear Him!!   I hear Him say you need to write in your blog...but I tend to come up with excuses... guess what.....that's just plain disobedience when I hear and ignore..........Please Lord forgive me!  And I also ask for your forgiveness also. 

Love,
Barb

Battles, continued

Hi all!  I hope you had a great day today.

Before I get started I would like to ask for prayer for my dad.  He had cataract surgery this morning which went well. Went home fell asleep, woke up vomiting and couldn't get off the couch. They have been at the hospital all evening doing tests and think he picked up the flu bug while at the other hospital. They are sending him home with meds. My parents live in NW Pennsylvania and I am in Virginia, my wonderful sister takes them where they need to go and is always there for them.  

I am thinking I will continue with the same general theme I had yesterday. I was excited to hear comments regarding my post and how others struggle with the same thing.  Not that I want others to struggle, but if hearing about mine helps someone not feel quite so alone, then I am willing to share.  

I did get out of the house today!  Just a couple errands and grocery store, but hey, I had to shower, get dressed and out the door!  Maybe you think that sounds funny, or maybe hard to understand, but it is real.  

I am not sure if this is related to menopause....laziness...or some other "thing".  But I don't like it!   Oh, by the way......if there is one thing in this life that I hate.....and we are not to hate I know....and I don't hate people...I just hate menopause!!!   Seems it totally messes with every aspect of my mind and body.  

Now I could blame this on menopause, but I also know me.  I have most of my life been the type of person who likes my little corner. And my house and gardens are my favorite corner.  The pic of the hammocks yesterday are in my garden and my favorite place to talk to God.

 When I go somewhere, I don't want to be noticed. I like the back of the church, in my own little corner pew.  I tend to be very quiet, until I am comfortable and know the people around me.  

When I come home the first thing I do is take off my good clothes, and put on preferably jammies!  no bra!!   My clothes I wear around my house are loose, comfortable and generally stained.  Do I like wearing nice clothes?  Yes, usually.  I just can't wait to get them off when I get home! 

So, there are some weird things about me.  The tendency to want to stay in the house, is temporary, I know.  I will be antsy, and missing people contact soon. When I am sleeping  the day away, it makes me feel like I'm sleeping life away. 

God has me here on this earth, in this house, this state, this town and this church for a reason.  I don't want to miss out on the exciting journey He has for me, so I will continue to pray, fighting the battle with menopause or laziness or whatever it is. 



Philippians 4:13            I can do all things through Him who gives me strength. 

Philippians 4:19           And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of His glory in Christ Jesus. 

Philippians 4: 4,6,7        Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding will guard your hearts and  your minds in Christ Jesus. 

Let's remember to pray for each other. Each one of us is here for a reason.  Maybe we can share what we think our purpose is in this life.  Maybe in sharing we will help each other to see that purpose more clearly.  

Have a great day tomorrow!  If you are struggling with getting out of the house, get dressed, and go out for a soda at the drive thru.  As you pick up your soda, take the time to say a big thank you, have a great day and smile at the person serving you!  It takes no extra time and if you do it every time you will be amazed at the ones who really appreciate it!  It's one of my favorite things to do!  Just a smile, thank you , have a great day.  So easy.  

Love,
Barb

Battles

I haven't been at my church since December 21,2014.  We had our choir cantata that day. It was beautiful. Since then, we celebrated Christmas with our kids through out the next week.  I absolutely love Christmas and having my house full of family and friends! 
The week after, I was keeping my two granddaughters because they had no school till Jan. 
By the end of that week, I was sick with an upper respiratory/bronchial thing.  First trip to Dr. got antibiotic and cough syrup.  Second trip to Dr the next week, another antibiotic, cough syrup and prednisone.  Not fun.  I have never been knocked down like this did to me. 
And now my husband has the flu!!!   
With all that, tonight was the first night I have been back to church.  It felt great to be with the choir family tonight and sing God's praises. 


So, why do I tell you all that?  I have been home, in the house for 3 weeks.  Mostly feeling too rotten to move.  Spent nights in a chair so I wouldn't be up all  night coughing.

I find myself becoming quite a recluse.  And honestly I don't mind it.  I like staying home. (Wish I had the energy and motivation to be productive at home!)  I enjoy being around my house and the peace and quiet here.  I find the more I stay home the more I want to stay home.  

I'm wondering how many others feel like this?  I don't tend to get antsy to be out and about. I'm pretty content right here.  I do know after a while, I will get lonely and need people contact.  I do love having people  here. 

So why was it so very hard to get out of the house tonight and go back to church?  It seems to be a battle I fight the more I stay home. Once I got there, it's only 4 miles from my house, it felt so good to be back in the land of the living!  As we were singing, I could close my eyes and worship my Lord through the music and it felt wonderful.. Why, then, when I am home, do I tend to forget that and have to fight the battle again to get out? 

It seems I am a strange person. I have two sides of me I think.  One side loves my Lord with all my heart and all my soul. The other loves Him, but would rather do it from inside my own comfortable home. 

One side of me loves people. On Monday nights we have been having ladies night out at my house. A few ladies come and we just have fun. A game or two, a small snack, and a small devotion. Just a fun time out, no pressure, come as you are. And I love it!!  

The other side loves people, but has a really hard time reaching out to them.  I want to, I think about it, but I don't.  

One side of me loves to have a house full of grandkids and family. It fills my heart with joy and completeness.

The other side loves it when they all go home!  

One side of me loves my church, loves being part of the choir, loves teaching my Sunday school class. 

The other part is struggling with getting back into it after being gone for so long.  

So do you have these kind of struggles?  Am I totally weird?  Maybe it's just plain selfishness??

Do I only want to do what I want to do when I want to do it???   Oh my, look at all those I's!

Reminds me of Paul...Romans 7:15, 19-25 
    I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do -  this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it. So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God's law; but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ  our Lord!

It seems this is a very real battle. Only through Jesus can it be won. I know we are not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together. We are to worship the Lord together.  I need to be with other Christian people who love the Lord and help me in my walk with Him. I need to sing to Him. Singing is a gift God has given me that brings me closer to Him.  Sometimes when I can't pray, I can sing. He will bring a song to my mind that perfectly describes the need.  What an awesome God!!

In closing, I would like to ask for  your prayers as I fight this battle.  I do believe it is spiritual, the enemy does not want God to be praised. He does not want God to be glorified and lifted up.  He does not want God's people to be about God's business.  

Pray that I am reminded of what God has assigned for me to do at this time in my life, and I will follow Him and not my own selfish desires. 


Thank you!

Love,
Barb

Hi! I'm back again.  Still struggling with consistency.  Can't seem to sit down at a regular time and write.  Am I the only person with this problem?  Unless I have to be accountable to someone, I seem to procrastinate waaay too much!  I tend to leave things until the last possible minute to finish them up.  Then am frustrated because I did.  

There is one area of my life that is not that way.

  I am so thankful God brought BSF into my life over 12 years ago! Through this study, He has brought me back from the pit and restored my relationship with Him.  Not only restored but He has made it more than I ever could have imagined! And He's not finished yet!!

Because of the work God does through BSF I have learned how absolutely vital it is for me to study His Word every day of my life!  If I have a day (which usually ends up being more than one) when I don't spend time with Him, I am wondering what in the world is going on??   Well,   duh....... it finally dawns on me.....I haven't talked or listened to my Lord!  

BSF is set up to study God's Word daily. It teaches how to study and understand and apply God's Word to our daily lives.  It has amazed me over the years how many times what I am studying is exactly applicable to the things going on in my life.  

I have been a children's leader for going on 3 years now.  I started out as a group leader four years ago, then was asked to lead children. I adore children!  They are so eager to learn and amazingly able to understand and apply God's Word in ways I struggle with. 

As a children's leader, I have learned so much more than I ever thought possible. I have to know the lesson before I can teach it.  The time spent preparing is exciting, fulfilling and very hard sometimes.  The same lesson the children study, I study.  I also study my own adult lesson.  The only way any of this is possible for me is through the guidance of the Holy Spirit.  He gives me the desire, the time, the understanding, and how to teach it to the children in a way they will understand. 

This to me is another aspect of God's grace.  By His grace I am able to spend the time I need preparing for this work He has given me to do.  By His grace He has allowed me to work with children.  I love children!  

This week we studied Leviticus 16.  We are studying the life of Moses this year.  In this chapter, God gives Moses explicit instructions for Aaron in how he is to approach God.  Leviticus 16 is about the day of Atonement. God instructed Israel to observe this day once a year. The people were to deny themselves and focus on God for the whole day. No work, no play, no food.... As the people fasted and prayed, the high priest was making atonement for their sins.  The detail in exactly how the priest was to do this is amazing.  And mind boggling! Until I wrote it all down to use as a teaching tool for our children, I hadn't grasped just how much there was.  I'm not going into detail, it would be really long..please read it for yourself and maybe take notes and write down each detail. You will be amazed.

Why do we need to know this?  We teach the children how this applies to their lives today.
The day of atonement was for the Israelites as they looked forward to the coming Jesus. 
Jesus has fulfilled all the requirements God demanded be met for His people to be forgiven of sin. Before Jesus, sacrifices had to be made, atonement made exactly as God specified. 

Jesus is the atonement for our sins. He is God's sacrificial lamb. Once for all time.  God made Jesus the scapegoat by putting all our sins on Him at the cross.  Jesus was perfect, unblemished, sacrificed, died and then rose again! Conquering death!  Praise God!!!

Jesus says in John 14:6  "I am the way, and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." 

All we have to do is accept Him.  Have you come to Jesus?  Do you know Him as your Savior?  Have you admitted you are a sinner in need of forgiveness of your sins? Ask Jesus!  He will accept you just the way you are right now.  No sacrifice, nothing you have to do. Just ask.  Then accept.  

I posted this pic on facebook today of two of my new Christmas decorations, that I am going to leave out this year. 
This is in front of my living room window facing the front of the house. 

I asked if anyone could see why I decided to leave it out. 

One lady came very close.  Everyone else had great answers and I agree with everything they said.  I was going to respond on facebook and let everyone know my quirky reasoning, but decided to do it on here instead. 

I am not an "angel" person. I have not even really been impressed with this large one after I brought it home.  (I am a "snowman" girl.)

I love the lion and the lamb one though.  After I cleaned off this table I decided to keep the lion/lamb out.  The symbolism of it just grabs my heart. 

Isa 65:17 - 25 (NIV)  "See, I will create new heavens and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind. 
But be glad and rejoice forever in what I will create, for I will create Jerusalem to be a delight and its people a joy.   I will rejoice over Jerusalem and take delight in my people; the sound of weeping and of crying will be heard in it no more. 
 "Never again will there be in it an infant who lives but a few days, or an old man who does not live out his years; the one who dies at a hundred will be thought a mere child; the one who fails to reach a hundred will be considered accursed. 
 They will build houses and dwell in them; they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit. 
 No longer will they build houses and others live in them, or plant and others eat. For as the days of a tree, so will be the days of my people; my chosen ones will long enjoy the work of their hands. 
  They will not labor in vain, nor will they bear children doomed to misfortune; for they will be a people blessed by the LORD, they and their descendants with them. 
 Before they call I will answer; while they are still speaking I will hear. 

 The wolf and the lamb will feed together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox, and dust will be the serpent's food. They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain," says the LORD. 

I can't wait for this day!!  

Then I was taking down the big angel with the trumpet...and I thought...oh my...the lion and the lamb will not happen until the trumpet sounds and Jesus comes back for us!

1Thessalonians 4:16 -17 (NIV)  For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.   After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. 

So...there is my quirky mind!   I just thought oh my they have to be together the whole year as a reminder to me to always be looking for my Lord's return.  Because He has promised!!

Keep looking up!!  
Love,
Barb

Faith is a gift!

Does it amaze you when you see or hear God speak through the different things in your life you do? 

I teach Sunday school to teenagers and am also a co-leader in the children's program at BSF. (Biblestudyfellowshipinternational.org)  If you are anywhere near a class I encourage you to go!  It is the most amazing and in depth study of God's Word you will find anywhere.  God has totally changed my life through BSF.

Ok, now that I have encouraged you to look into BSF.....I find it amazing how much I learn as I study and prepare for my Sunday school or BSF class.  

I was typing up lesson questions to use in SS and one of the questions was "What is faith in Jesus Christ?"... I'm thinking Hebrews 11:1 .... confidence in what I hope for and assurance about what I do not see...specifically for me the promises Jesus made and continues to fulfill.  

The next question "Where does faith in Jesus Christ come from?"  As I was typing this up and looked at the answer, it took me by surprise.  This answer referenced Ephesians 2:8-9.  
Eph 2:8  For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-- 

Eph 2:9  not by works, so that no one can boast. 

I have read these verses so many times, have memorized them, but somehow overlooked faith being a gift.  Somehow my quirky brain always thought this was referring to grace being the gift of God. 

Now I know faith doesn't come through me or anything I can do..and thinking about it yes, it is a gift of God.  I guess I just hadn't really thought that deeply about it before.   We know our faith in God grows stronger as we walk with Him and trust Him in our daily lives.  I know that. To think of it as a gift just seems to make me stop and really think more about it.  

So I'm curious....what do you think?  Please leave a comment and we will talk more about faith....

Have a great night!  Worship the Lord with all your heart, soul and mind tomorrow as you attend your own church services!  

Love,
Barb