Thursday, May 30, 2013

So, this year for Easter we were able to have the newlyweds with us for the afternoon.  Bugg had to work, so after she got off shift, they came down and we had a great meal together.

While we were working on the meal and waiting for the kids, Peanut had an idea.  She wanted to put together some messages of Christ's love and send them out for Easter.  So, she had some messages made up and wrapped them to the base of the balloons.  After we all had our meal we set out to set them free.....





While we let them go, one of them seemed to be a little heavy weighted and Peanut was concerned about it not going very far.  We had wanted all of them to reach high and out far to others.  Well, it so happens that later that evening Bugg noticed a post from our neighbor.....



Home w/Craig,Jessica,myself and the dogs! Seriously! No lie! My baby Dexter came walking into the living room with this balloon in his mouth with a Easter note in it! Seriously! The egg attached to balloon had a note in it that said "he lives" "believe"it was a miracle it floated in our yard and that Dexter brought it in! Seriously!



Couldn't help but feel blessed that they were blessed by my little Peanut's idea of sharing Jesus on this special Sunday....

Monday, March 4, 2013

I regularly read Rivera Douthit's blog and she always provides me with thought provoking words. Today, she had a guest blogger and it really brought my thoughts forward again. Below is just an excerpt of the post. But the words are the whole basis for my thoughts today. Enjoy. If your natural response to injustice is a fight response try something new. Let the living God of the Bible fight on your behalf. F – Forgive the person causing the injustice (Ephesians 4:32). I – Inoculate the enemy the devil and render his handiwork impenetrable (Luke 10:19). G – Give your burdens to your heavenly Father. Ask that He stand in the gap for you (Psalm 55:22). H – Hold on to the hope for which you were called (Hebrews 10:23). T – Thank God for His faithfulness as you wait. Be sure not to watch the clock (Psalm 100:4-5). Edy Sutherland uses outdoor adventure metaphors to unlock the secrets of the Word of God for use in your everyday life. Join her at her website www.edysutherland.com as she leads an online Bible study titled The WHEE Factor: The RUSH you get when you experience God in everyday life.

Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Grace

The last few weeks on Wednesday, I have a little Bible study with Liz Curtis Higgs via her blog. It is a new way to do Bible study, but a blessing, nonetheless. I have been going through her book, "Embrace Grace~Welcome to the Forgiven Life". Let me tell you what, this study has done for me, I have a weight lifted off my shoulders, the grace that the Lord has bestowed upon me has reclaimed my heart and found my head. I have been suffering with the lies of the enemy, the "you're not good enough", "he hasn't forgiven you", "you're not worthy to be called a child of the King". Those words have had a party in my head the last couple of years. My heart has become heavy, my head full of filth, the ache for Christ's love overwhelming me. Praise Jesus that I have connected with Liz, she IS an encourager. Her words were directly from God to me. I am not over it, I am not completely set free, but I am connected with a counselor, who loves Jesus and Jesus loves me! I will conquer the demons inside my head, that want to play chess with my heart, I will rule over the enemy and his lies to defeat me. I will celebrate Jesus and His grace, because He loves me so. Praise you, Jesus for helping me come home.

Monday, February 4, 2013

My Story

The Joy Dare continues to keep me thinking. I picked JOY for my "one word" for 2013, so being able to do the JOY DARE daily has been good for me. Three things.... three very different things. "three gifts red" "three gifts on paper" "three gifts found in writing" Those are just the first few days of February. Thinking.... pondering.... what gifts so unthought of can I find each day. Am I one of the faithful? That was the thought yesterday at church. Will I be one of the faithful ready to be thrown into the fiery furnance? Am I living my life outloud for the Lord in such a way, that I could be charged with loving Him so much that I deserve the fiery furnance? Does my life live a window into the heart of Jesus? Do I show that although my mundane every day tasks seem menial, my hope is in a future that is unfathomable for us to comprehend? Can I see that my life is a story? A story being written by the Author who knows the end? I read the blog today at (in)courage from Tsh Oxenreider and it blessed my heart. These thoughts that my ordinary, everyday, simple life can be part of a bigger story being written by the Author. It goes to show me that even when I think it may not matter, the ultimate plot of my life is God's plan for me. I need to be ok with that, I need to praise Him for that, I need to thank Him for that. I need to remember that, in the moments when I can't seem to catch my breath.... God is there and He is writing my story.

Monday, January 28, 2013

Starting again

Happy 2013! I cannot believe it is already 2013! My baby girl turned 17, my eldest is married and I am still doing the same old stuff. I have been thinking about returning to the blogging world for quite some time. I have been reading a lot of blogs... like Ann Voskamp and Rivera Douthit. I am encouraged by them and feel that maybe I should be writing again. It is always good for me to share my heart in writing. I am enjoying the Joy Dare by Ann Voskamp. She is a speaker for Women of Faith, author and mother of 6, who lives on a farm! She has challenging words for my head and my heart. She is a Jesus lover and simplistic, yet thought provoking. The Joy Dare has got me looking for 3 things each day that are either a gift or a grace. She has it all lined out by day of the month, I just had to print it out. So, my journal is filling with words of gratitude and grace and gifts each day. Some days are good and some days are ok, some are down right hard, hard to find the grace or the gift for that occurance. But, I think by doing so it will bring me JOY. Speaking of JOY, it is my one word for 2013. Rivera Douthit, on her blog, has encouraged me to find my one word that would bring me to my purpose or my goals for the year. Through thoughts and murmurings of the Holy Spirit, I felt that JOY was my word. Mostly, because I feel at times that I have lost my JOY. I need to find it again, so my journey of 2013 has begun. Find my JOY. In searching for this, I began doing an online Bible Study with Liz Curtis Higgs in the fall. It was the story of Ruth. The Girl's Still Got It, was the title of the book. We would read a chapter, answer the questions and then read her words about the chapter, her answers to the questions and be able to comment to one another. I found it very encouraging when Liz, herself would write back to each one of us who were participating. So, I continued. I did the Women of Christmas study with her, and now I am "EMBRACing GRACE", in her current online bible study through her blog at www.lizcurtishiggs.com. SO worth it to me and for my time. I enjoy reading my sweet friends blog, The Lion's Den, because they are on East Coast time and I don't get to hear from them as often as I would like, time differences, schedules, and the like. So, that is an important blog I like to keep up on. So my prayer and my heart is to blog a little bit more. Hope that it will be an encouragement to someone else as others are to me.