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Laid out before these boys, Titus and Will, THE WORLD AWAITS THEM, these precious little ones. Where will God take them? Will they follow, will they obey the leading of our God and Savior? Will they taste and see the goodness and mercy of the One who came to save us from our sins?
God has entrusted these children with gifts of His choosing. I pray they will use them for His glory and they will allow the layers of their flesh to be peeled away as they grow, by a God who desires to use them for His glory.
THE WORLD AWAITS THEM and while it does, I pray for them and for all of my children and grandchildren. What will they all grow to be? While I wait to see, I will pray.
It's been too long since I've posted. I'm sure no one has really missed hearing my thoughts, but I've missed putting them down.
The past days have been delirously busy and incredibly fun as I've been helping Butch at the shop. The days have flown by and God has been so sweet. He has given me a little mission field there at the shop and it's an incredible blessing!
I am reminded daily of the many who still need Jesus, the many who are in strained relationships and the many who are simply deceived and just don't have a clue about my wonderful Savior. He loves them all and it is my responsibility to be Christ to them. What a joy!
I would like to take a second to thank everyone for praying for DJ. He is doing well after the 2nd heart attack and we would ask that you continue to pray for him though.
Thank you also for praying for my sister who has glioblastoma, a type of brain cancer. She did not qualify for an experimental treatment, so that is now out. She is maxed out on the radiation treatments so she can have no more of them. She is back on daily chemo and they will do another scan in a month or so to see what the latest developments are. Thank you for continuing to pray for her. My sister in California and I will be visiting her again soon and we look forward to the time with her.
LIFE IS GOOD, despite the craziness, struggles and strains. God reminds me daily how good life can be when we'll allow Him to be in charge. He's a good God, all the time and for His provision, I thank Him.
People are funny, aren't they? Hasn't everyone asked that question from time to time? Some people are quirky, comical, quiet, submissive, talkative, uppity, humble, proud etc. etc. etc.
Each time we leave our homes, we come in contact with people of all kinds. Each time we do, we have an opportunity to be salt and light to every one of those people. Our 'bag of God seed' should be slung over our shoulder and carried with us everywhere we go, ready to be scattered at His will at the drop of a hat.
I love people, after all, HE CREATED THEM ALL. At first glance, we can often quickly made a judgement about one of God's people. But regardless of what we see/hear on the outside, underneath, we are each in need of the very same thing.....a Savior. As we are summing people up with our visual abilities, God sees the needs of the heart. He asks us to grab deep into that bag of seed and sow it every time we have the opportunity.
HE CREATED THEM ALL.....let us take the chances given to us each day to scatter God seed. He's counting on us to touch the lives of all people of all kinds, shapes, nationalities, colors, personalities and financial abilities.
I don't think I could count the number of times I have heard our senior pastor make this statement...
"BLESSINGS ALWAYS FOLLOW OBEDIENCE"
I have seen evidence of this statement over and over and over again. Not only in my life but in the lives of my family and friends. As Novella said this past weekend, "It seems like such a simple concept." (Those may not have been her exact words but it was the gist of her statement)
It IS such a simple concept, but one that seems so difficult for all of us to grab hold of. If we want to be blessed, then simply be obedient! Could it be that easy??
I believe it can.
But NOT in the flesh. The flesh cries out for obedience to itself. The flesh is selfish and prideful and only wants to please its' longing. We can be slaves to our flesh all our lives, doing whatever it hungers for.
But in the LORD, obedience can flow like the tide in the ocean. Its' coming in and going out appears natural, normal and rhythmic. It happens because its' supposed to, plain and simple. Obedience CAN be this way for us but only when we walk with the Lord Himself.
On our own, we will stumble and fall constantly and obedience to God will be impossible. Through the Holy Spirit though, it can flow like the tide...natural and normal.
BLESSINGS ALWAYS FOLLOW OBEDIENCE.........I have to wonder how many hundreds upon hundreds of blessings I have missed because of my disobedience.
If I am going to be a slave to anything.....Lord, let me be a slave for You and help me be obedient in all things.
GOD TOLD JONAH TO OBEY
But instead he ran away
Caught a ship and off he went
Very soon a storm was sent
All the sailors were afraid
Jonah said, I disobeyed.
A simple childrens song (sung to the tune of Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star) with a very profound meaning.
This was only the first verse to a song that we sang last Sunday at church to our children. Words so simple that a child can understand them but with a meaning so deep and true that we adults should shudder as we sing them.
We laugh as sing that GOD TOLD JONAH TO OBEY but instead he ran away! But isn't that a picture of us also? God tells us one thing, tells us to obey Him and follow what He tells us, but instead, we run in the opposite direction and do our own thing!
Jonah went so far as to "catch a ship" to get far away from the direction God told him to go, but then, what happened to prideful Jonah???? A storm was sent, that's what! A storm above all storms that not only affected Jonah but all the innocent people on the ship with him suffered because of his disobedience. YIKES! Many sufferered the storm right alongside of Jonah because of HIS choice to disobey God! How often in our own lives have we made others suffer because of our own selfish actions? This is a powerful question and can be life-changing if we'd allow it.
BUT....for many of us, we won't allow it. To allow this simple little song to take root in our hearts, takes a concerted conscious effort to decide to think differently and then make a change, based on what we know needs to be changed in our lives.
Isn't it time for a change? Isn't it time for us to "want" to live differently and stop the disobedience in our lives that has gone on far too long? If we, as Christians, are not willing to listen to the voice of God Himself, follow it and stop this ridiculous life of disobedience, I shudder to think the punishment that God will inflict upon us.
Jonah learned the hard way by spending 3 days and nights in the belly of a big fish! I wonder what it will take for each one of us and how much longer it will take for us to seek the Savior instead of ourselves.
There is power in the "spoken" word.
Deep inside of us lies much we would rather no one else know. Deep inside, we hide things about ourselves and our family members that we are too afraid to say out loud. Too afraid that if others know, they will look down upon us, that we will be embarrased and feel ashamed in front of them. In our pathetic minds, somehow we think IF we don't actually say the words out loud, then it really isn't true and we won't have to face the ugliness of it if we don't speak it aloud.
But, there is great power in the spoken word. Admitting the sins we struggle with, asking for specific prayer regarding specific issues in our lives, THIS is the beginning of wisdom and truth.
None of us stand alone, we are all sinners. We need to pray for each others needs and the only way we can pray specifically for each others needs, is to know them. We must put our fears of rejection and shame aside and share what lies hidden inside of us and beg peoples prayers.
AND THE TRUTH SHALL MAKE YOU FREE......Truth.....admitting it and asking for prayer will make you free.
Well of course it's A CAVE IN MY LIVING ROOM!!!! If you're a bear, or a tiger or a cheetah, you've GOT to have a cave, no matter where you are!
And so it is with grandsons, who love to pretend we're wild animals hiding from the BIGGEST bear....POPPA!!!! When a wild animal needs a cave to run (or crawl to if you're Will!!!), then Yaya has to pull some chairs together, grab a sheet and make a cave!
No deep feelings to share tonight, only a thankful heart for giving me precious little ones to have fun with, pretend with, giggle with and cherish where I'm at in my life with.
Thanks Lord, You've been good to this "cheetah!"
