What should I talk about this week

My mind is like an interstate freeway as I ponder what to write about in the next several days. That makes me think about something a friend had said to me about how the minds of women and men work - " A woman's mind is like a bowl of spaghetti and a mans mind is like a waffle/ice cube - everything is in a compartment and simple for a man and a woman is all over the place/complex with her thoughts. Can anyone relate ? 

  The SPAGHETTI MONSTER

So for now... I  wish everyone a joyous and grateful Saturday.




 "This is the day that God acted - lets celebrate and be festive." - Psalm 118:24 The Message

Until next time Do your best to celebrate being you and loving those around you.



 Please feel free to comment I think I have the glitch fixed to you will be able to comment.

TGIF - I will make this short and sweet

When life gives you lemons make lemonade  or something like that. Boy today when I got up I just wanted to crawl back in bed. Just seems like the weight of the world was on my shoulders. Between kids health issues and academic struggles, what do I want to do with my life head battles, cant find the right curtains, and who drank all the milk -  I had had enough !!!  The good news is that I just kept one foot in front of the other - keeping my eye on the prize  -  a haircut and color with dear Laura.  Nothing like a few blond highlights and a snazzy cut to bring me back around. Don't you just wish everyday your hair looked freshly cut and styled just right  ? Tomorrow it will go back to the same mop of curls no matter how much gel,mouse, lotion, anti-frizz, hairspray, root lifter, straightener, etc I put in and on it. Can anyone relate ? But does it really matter ?


Anyways .the good news is that one minute, one hour and one day at a time we can get through the days that feels like tornado's and the life situations that feel hopeless.
Friends, a higher power, and God can be our sources for hope, encouragement, compassion, endurance, strength and renewal. We are Gods masterpieces. He sees our beauty from the inside, man sees it from the outside. No amount of gel, spray, or highlights will perfect us in the worlds view of what is supposed to be important and significant. Life truly is amazing when we can believe  that we are truly loved and lovable.  With that knowledge buried deep in our hearts..it will be so easy to make lemonade out of the lemons life has given us.

Thursday - Breathing Hope

 I just got home from my small group. We just finished a great study " Forgotten God- Reversing our Tragic Neglect of The Holy Spirit " by Frances Chan. Powerful study. It is so great to know that none of us are ever alone. I had no idea most of my life that there was a God and never knew about the Holy Spirit. For years my God was alcohol,drugs,food,exercise,denial, measuring myself by others and the worlds standards ( I still struggle with that one - and shopping !), fixing others,avoiding  others, avoiding reality....on and on it could go. By the power of the Spirit we are filled with hope because our God is a God of hope who fills us, his children, with all kinds of joy and peace.

How hopeful it is to know that today and all the days of our life, past, present, and future we  can have a real relationship with a Father who loves us just as we are.We don't have to look a certain way, have a certain house in a ritzy neighborhood, look like we just stepped out of the gym with an ageless body, have numerous college degrees, or drive the latest SUV- wouldn't mind one though  - just saying ! Seriously - material possessions, the worlds view of what is important, power ,status, Clinique, Mary Kay,or leaning our ladder of success on the wrong wall  will eventually fail and leave us empty, without joy and peace.

 Now how can you not feel hopeful knowing that "the spirit of God has made me:the breath of almighty God gives me life " ( Job 33:4)   So...pray for how God wants you to BE not what you think you are supposed to do. Ponder these quotes and tell me what you think:

"But God doesn't call us to be comfortable. He calls us to trust Him so completely that we are unafraid to put ourselves in situations where we will be in trouble if He doesn't come through"
— Francis Chan

 

"The irony is that while God doesn’t need
us but still wants us, we desperately need God but don’t really want Him most of the
time.

 

"Lukewarm living and claiming Christ's name simultaneously is utterly disgusting to God."
— Francis Chan (Crazy Love: Overwhelmed by a Relentless God

Tuesday - Where's the fruit?

Well we made it through Nathans scope this morning and will be waiting for biopsy results Friday. Watching him be sedated was really hard. I had to leave the room. Talk about feeling powerless. It took longer to get him set up for the scope, than the actually procedure itself. So I thank all my friends and family who have prayed for Nathan and for our family during these past stressful weeks.

For each new morning with its light,
For rest and shelter of the night,
For health and food, for love and friends,
For everything Thy goodness sends.
~Ralph Waldo Emerson

If a fellow isn't thankful for what he's got, he isn't likely to be thankful for what he's going to get.  ~Frank A. Clark




So life goes on and we wait. Trying to stay hopeful and restored. Love can be the source of restoration and renewal. I have been trying to be mindful of the fruits of the spirit. Believe me there are days when I am not feeling so affectionate and compassionate. Those are the days that I think the world resolves around me. Some habits of self centeredness are hard to break,however are changeable. That is indeed good news.

Galatians 5:22-23 (New Living Translation)

 ²² But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things.

Galatians 5:22-23 (The Message)

 ^22-23But what happens when we live God's way? He brings gifts into our lives, much the same way that fruit appears in an orchard—things like affection for others, exuberance about life, serenity. We develop a willingness to stick with things, a sense of compassion in the heart, and a conviction that a basic holiness permeates things and people. We find ourselves involved in loyal commitments, not needing to force our way in life, able to marshal and direct our energies wisely.
 ^23-24Legalism is helpless in bringing this about; it only gets in the way. Among those who belong to Christ, everything connected with getting our own way and mindlessly responding to what everyone else calls necessities is killed off for good—crucified

And so it goes..another day will go by, another chance to hope that Nathan will get better, another chance that restoration will come in a good nights sleep and in  the love and comfort of family and friends. Thank you for these gifts.

Monday - Really need renewal today

Okay...It was pouring outside this morning and air has a raw chill to it. I sent my 9 year old to the bus top with a bent up umbrella and white paint all over his black winter coat. What a train wreck he looked as he trudged up the street stepping in every icy puddle he could find. My Jon is always looking for an adventure and ways to take it up a notch in his life. I love that about him. Jon is always happy and full of wonder, always questioning life, always looking for the next invention with a toy or something  simple as a fishing vest with pockets. He sure knows how to fill those pockets and knows exactly what each paperclip, marble, Nerf gun and  slip of paper purpose is.

My Nathan has missed many days of school due to stomach issues. The latest diagnosis is IBS - Irritable Bowel Syndrome. We are requesting further testing. Nathan has even asked for more help and is willing to fast on a liquid diet for 24 hours.  This has been a very stressful situation at home and affects many areas. I have missed a lot of work. It is very hard to watch your child in pain and hope that maybe tomorrow the medication will kick in. I have put a call in to the doctor and hope to get him in for a scope ASAP.

So...I really need renewall today.. find me restoration. Help me to see that no matter what the circumstances in life are, whether in my favor or not.. I can remain content. Today I hope to fill " my pockets" with patience, love, excitement, hope, and endurance.

Content Whatever the Circumstances

 ^10-14I'm glad in God, far happier than you would ever guess—happy that you're again showing such strong concern for me. Not that you ever quit praying and thinking about me. You just had no chance to show it. Actually, I don't have a sense of needing anything personally. I've learned by now to be quite content whatever my circumstances. I'm just as happy with little as with much, with much as with little. I've found the recipe for being happy whether full or hungry, hands full or hands empty. Whatever I have, wherever I am, I can make it through anything in the One who makes me who I am. I don't mean that your help didn't mean a lot to me—it did. It was a beautiful thing that you came alongside me in my troubles.  PHILIPPIANS 10-14: The MESSAGE  BibleGateway.com.

Happy Monday and  Keep it Simple

Sunday

Well I have been playing around with this blog and of course hit snags. If you happen to read this post, please comment so that I know I am doing something right and that my page is accessible to readers .

I am thinking about what I will write about this coming week. Any suggestions ? I am kinda leaning towards Hope and Renewel, since March is a couple days away, the sun is shinning as I write, a friend saw a large group of Robins, I hear the birds singing in the morning, the days are lighter for longer periods of time, and I am itching to be in the sun on a beach. The picture is taken in Jeckyll Island, Georgia last spring.

 Defination of Hope:

the feeling that what is wanted can be had or that events will turn out for the best: to give up hope.

to look forward to with desire and reasonable confidence.

to believe, desire, or trust: I hope that my work will be satisfactory

 

Defination of Renewel :

 

 begin or take up again, as an acquaintance, a conversation, etc.; resume.

to make effective for an additional period: to renew a lease.

to restore or replenish: to renew a stock of goods.

to make, say, or do again.

to revive; reestablish.

to recover (youth, strength, etc.).

to restore

 

Any ideas on how you find hope and restoration  after a long cold winter , maybe a trial in your life that just doesnt seem to end, or a pain in your soul that is taking more time thatn your care for to heal ?

 

When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us.

Helen Keller

Psalms 31:24Be strong and take heart, all you who hope in the LORD.

 

Romans 12:12Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.

 

 Keep hanging in there because you are worth it and you are never ever alone.

A Snowing Friday

Wow what a day for weather. No school and it is the last snow day for the school district. My kids think snow days are awesome, until they hear that it will cut into a scheduled vacation day..which by the way, I have already made camping reservations at Cape Henelopen State Park in Lewes, Delaware on one of the days that was to be a vacation day..Oh well..Family time at a historic site justifies not being in school for me.
The ocean is where I find my peace and soul restoration. I love walking in the mornings listening to podcasts from Joyce Meyer, Chip Ingram, Creflo Dollar. I get so much help and peace when I am reminded over and over again that my shortcomings and struggles are part of being human.  I have a wonderful counselor to nudge me and guide me through life.  I am never alone and no matter where I go and what I go through...there is one thing that will always remain the same in my life.