A Year of Blessings - January 12, 2010

Five boys and a Mema. We had fun! Eating cupcakes, playing Mario Cart, doing homework...(ok, I thought it was fun), reading books; we had fun! So here's to the blessing of just kicking back and having a good time!

The blessing of being a child!

Matthew 18:5
And whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me.

A Year of Blessings - January 11, 2010

The SUN!! One good thing about cloudy, dreary days? They make me appreciate the sunlight more than ever! One day we will stand where there is no need of sunlight. Our Father, creator, provider, King will be our sun and He will never let dark, dreary day intrude again. I can't wait!!

Thank you, Father, for the sunlight today! What a blessing!

Revelation 21:23
The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp.

A Year of Blessings - January 10, 2010

We had our small group Christmas party today. Yes, it was a little late...the snow is just now melting enough to safely get together. We had food, fellowship, food, games, food, gift exchange, and yes, more food! The gift exchange is always fun! We all bring a wrapped gift and put them in a pile. Then each of us choose a number and from 1 to 17. We go in order and randomly pick our gift from the pile. The catch is, that gift can be taken away by any person who picks after you and then you choose another gift...or steal another person's gift. Confusing? Oh yeah! But a lot of fun!!

I got the gift Jenny H. brought...but not by randomly picking. She refused to let anyone pick it up until my number was called. The she told me to pick hers. (We call her 'Mom' for a reason!) When I opened it she whispered to me, "I thought of you when I found this and really wanted you to get it!" ...LIVE... she really wanted me to get it. What a message!

So my blessing? Jenny. With her precious message to me. Live. What a blessing!

John 14:16-19
...I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever - the Spirit of truth.
...you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.
...Because I live, you also will live.

A Year of Blessings - January 9, 2010

All who know me are snickering at my blessing for today. The gallons and gallons of water my friends have seen me consume is...funny. Coffee and water are my beverages of choice for anytime. And as soothing as I find coffee, I find water refreshing anytime, anywhere.

So my blessing today...water. A gift from God for quenching thirst, cleansing the body, dedicating the soul, and as a reminder of the river of life we long to see.

Psalm 46:2-4
Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way
and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,
though its waters roar and foam
and the mountains quake with their surging.

There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
the holy place where the Most High dwells.

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.