A Year of Blessings - January 8, 2010

Well, it had to happen sooner or later...of course my grandchildren are a very great blessing to me! Kaleb is first, only because he happened to get his picture done first...or maybe not. When I am with Kaleb I am reminded how God works in different ways than I do. I would never want children to suffer. I would never want them to have to grow up before their time. I would want them to feel like they had all the time in the world to be a kid, and then they could look forward to being an adult...later. But every day with Kaleb is a blessing unto itself. Precious. Valuable. Something to be cherished. And if it is one thing God has taught me through him, it is to value life and the time we have with each other. Yes, I look forward to being with Jesus and at the same time hold tight to my life on this earth. While I am here I know I have a job to do. There IS a purpose for me, a task that only I can do. Just like there is a purpose for Kaleb, and everyone. God doesn't put people here to take up space, we are here to fight a battle. A battle for life...and to win that battle by dying to self, living in Christ, and following Him to the throne room of our creator at just the right time. So I chose Kaleb first, I suppose, because he has given me the blessing of living in the 'today'. Because none of us are promised a tomorrow.

Be blessed, right now, because right now is such a blessing.

Hebrew 3:13
But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today...

A Year of Blessings - January 7, 2010

With the wind chill below freezing it is easy to see why I chose this photo. But there is even a deeper blessing in it than just a scarf and gloves for warmth. The scarf was my grandmothers. It was said at her funeral that she was an elegant lady at all times...and she was. There was never a day, even when she was sick, that she didn't have her hair, face, nails and clothes looking good. I remember as a child, sitting on a chair by her vanity table watching her put on her makeup or do her nails. Don't get me wrong, she worked hard! Grandma was not a fragile thing! She kept a full sized garden, canned the vegetables, worked at my Grandpa's gas station keeping books and filling the candy machines, and helped her neighbors any way she could. But the thing I will always remember about her, is the table beside her chair. She always had her Bible, a devotional book, magazines or papers of some sort to read there. And she always had a pair of scissors there too. She would cut out articles from the local newspaper that had something to do with prayer, love, or some other special characteristic she was studying, and she would stick them in her Bible or devotional. I was given more than her scarf when she died. I was given her Bible. And it was full of a woman that was just as beautiful on the inside as she was on the outside.

So my blessing today is warmth. The kind of warmth that comes from knowing a truly Godly person. I miss you, Grandma.

Proverbs 31:30
Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting;
but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.

A Year of Blessings - January 6, 2010

This looks like a Bionicle. Feels like a Bionicle. But in the hands of a three year old that has just watched a Disney movie...it is....Mary Poppins! I love the way children's minds have the ability to imagine. Adults are built to think too much in reality. Kids...well their thought patterns, in my opinion, must be a lot closer to God's. Our creator has the greatest imagination possible! There are things yet undiscovered that our God imagined, put into play, and hid just for us to find.

So the blessing given me today? The freedom to imagine! To imagine a world in peace, ruled by our Lord. To imagine pain and suffering...gone. Sickness and death...history. To imagine a place where love is the only law and worship of the Father and Son is around the clock, 24/7, all eternity. Truth and joy are 100 percent real. And relationships? Unimaginably sweet! I can only imagine...

Ephesians 3:20-21 (The Message)
God can do anything, you know - far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams! He does it not by pushing us around but by working within us, his Spirit deeply and gently within us.

Glory to God in the church!
Glory to God in the Messiah, in Jesus!
Glory down all generations!
Glory through all millennia! Oh, YES!

A Year of Blessings - January 5, 2010

Pete and I were asked to help facilitate a new class on Wednesday night at Memorial. We have only had a few days to prepare for the first class, but what a great few days! Already I have been blessed not only with the readings and study, but the encouragement of our fellow facilitators and just the joy of studying with my husband.

The fear factor that we are all facing daily is not by accident. It was never God's intent that we be fearful. By the power of deceit and our willingness to accept that deceit we find ourselves wringing out hands in despair at the state of our families, our jobs, our country, our whole world! Fearless - Imagine Your Life Without Fear by Max Lucado has allowed me to see how I have given up something very special - a view of life from God's perspective. He knows the beginning. He knows the end. We are his beloved creation that He loves SO much He died for us. How can we fear anything when our creator is so powerful and caring? I may not know how things will work out, but I DO know the One who does. I can rest in that, for sure.

I can't wait to get further into this study and see how the Father grows me in this one!

II Timothy 1:7
For God did not give us a spirit of timidity (fear, KJV),
but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.

A Year of Blessings - January 4, 2010

This blessing is of no surprise: a hot cup of coffee! My dearest husband starts my day off by bringing me one in bed (now THAT'S a blessing!) Some of my dearest memories are having coffee with friends and family. I study my Bible with coffee in hand and a phone call usually requires one, too. Now before you think all I do is drink coffee...I usually only have 2 cups a day. I just reheat the one I don't finish until it is all gone! Besides, part of they joy of coffee is warming my hands with the cup.

Ecclesiastes 9:7
Go, eat your food with gladness, and drink your wine (coffee*) with a joyful heart, for it is now that God favors what you do.

*my interpretation

A Year of Blessings - January 3, 2010

This time last year I was busy adjusting to a new house: putting up pictures, moving furniture around to suit my taste, unpacking and running around with all the craziness that goes with making a place a home. By April I had decided to paint and redo the living and dining room in a more warm color. Getting samples of paint, I was just ready to start putting some color to the wall when my back started aching. Then there was pain that started down my leg. Within a few weeks I couldn't stand upright without extreme pain in both my back and leg. Walking was a real challenge and after two or three doctor visits, surgery was the only option to stop the pain. I took it. It has been seven months since surgery and I am better but not able to even think about painting the living room. I still can't lift more than ten pounds and have a constant 'funny' feeling in my legs and feet. I keep hearing..'it takes time'...and I keep thinking...'but I have so many things I want to do NOW!'

This morning I was talking with a friend who had endured many back surgeries. I complained about how the cold was awful, and the pain was a nuisance. He said quite bluntly, "You're upright aren't you? You're walking, aren't you? I figure any day I can get up and walk is a good day. The pain doesn't quit, but I can walk. And I will make the best of each and every time I can do that..and smile about it!"

Ok...he is right. It took someone pointing out this blessing in a very blunt way to realize how big a blessing it really is. Walking. I can walk. I am very, VERY blessed.

Isaiah 35:4, 6, 10
..."Be strong, do not fear; your God will come,"...
Then will the lame leap like a deer...
Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee away.

A Year of Blessings - January 2, 2010

Blessings are SO hard to narrow down today! So I chose one that has many layers to it...working on the KPC song books for this year. First blessing: Being able to work on projects with my very best friend. Pete has to be my second greatest blessing on earth (second only to my relationship with my Heavenly Dad). Second: My relationship with a friend who has blessed my whole family richly...Brenda...and her very had work of teaching kids to follow directions. Third: The joy of song and singing, especially with the children involved in our Kids Praise Chorus. Over and over again I hear the comment that they sound like angels singing...and I totally agree!

Psalm 86:11-12
Teach me your way, O Lord, and I will walk in your truth;
give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name.
I will praise you, O Lord my God, with all my heart;
I will glorify your name forever.

A Year of Blessings - January 1, 2010

With the encouragement of my daughter, the two of us are going to do a picture a day for a full year of the blessings in our lives. For me, this will be a year of discipline to see what God is providing every single day. I will be doing this to consciously and deliberately grow my faith in Him. I know He is powerful. Now I will add to my knowledge an assurance that He works in everything, everyday.

The first blessing I am posting is my family. We have been through a lot the past few years and this photo means more to me than all the money in the world. It shows that our God heals, rebuilds, and upholds those that trust in Him. He grows us the way HE wants us to grow, sometime only in small baby steps. But each tiny step brings more forgiveness, shows more how He is in control and not us, and allows us to know deeply His grace and mercy. We are learning to give that grace and mercy to each other now...and becoming more like His son, Jesus. For that, I am truly humbled before Him...in awe and gratitude.

Isaiah 25:9
In that day they will say,
"Surely this is our God; we trusted in Him, and He saved us.
This is the Lord, we trusted in Him;
let us rejoice and be glad in His salvation."