Panic or Prayer??

It's been awhile since my last blog..Life happens as we all know. And when life happens sometimes it is undeniably wonderful and other times well....Not so much! I have to admit it I have a fault (ok, I have many but we are focusing on this one) it's one that I am working on, but I tend to be a worrywart. Instead of just turning to Jesus when things go haywire, I tend to try and solve the problem myself. It doesn't matter if it is an issue with the house, kids, finances, vehicles or whatever, I try to fix it! That's my first mistake. :{
Is anyone else this way or just me?? I should pray rather than panic, I should open my eyes and take note of all that the Lord has given and done for me throughout my lifetime, but yet...I worry! My prayer is that I will take Matthew 6:33-34 to heart when these times arise, and they will continue to. God never promised a life without storms, He promised He would be our shield through them!

"But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Matthew 6:33-34

When it isn't as it seems...

C'mon Confess..We have all been there! Whatever the situation might have been, a new home, new car, new love, new job or a  new pet. We are so excited and we see only the good and positive aspects of whatever our object of desire is at the time. We seem to forget that the new home will require cleaning and maintenance, the new car will eventually get a small knick or dent, the new love undoubtedly will have a little habit we don't absolutely love, the new job may come with some complications we didn't want or expect and that new pet...I think we all know the down side to new pets. :-{   They are all Great at first...then real life happens!
The thought I am trying to express is that maybe we need to look a little further down that road before we become giddy with excitement. Go into these changes slowly and with prayer being your guide...(Philippians 4:6 In nothing be anxious, but in everything, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.) I have recently come to realize that new things or change ISN'T always for the better. Sometimes when we see that thing or that person for a limited time we don't see all that there is to see. What you may think is going to be so great or have a positive impact on your life can actually be a truly negative experience in the long run. So go into these new things with caution..Pray diligently so that you are in God's will when you make the changes.  :)

No fee security!!!

As parents we want to keep our kids safe, protect them from anything that can harm them or make them feel sad. I can't count the number of times that I have reminded my children of the safety rules. When they were younger it was things such as "look both ways before you cross the street", "don't talk to strangers" and now that they are older it has changed to "drive safely" or "remember to text me when you get where you are going." If only I could put them in a little bubble to protect them from getting hurt, and send them off with a checklist of things to be aware and prepared for just in case...WHATEVER happens. But, as we all know that is not how it works. They run away excited after some awesome bug in the backyard and fall and scrape a knee, they begin driving and didn't notice the mailbox behind them as they drove right through it, or they fall for someone that ends up breaking their heart. We just can't always be there to help them make the right decisions, or point out the pitfalls we see coming their way! BUT..Jesus is! was and always will be! Free of charge he provides protection and security for us, His children! and all he asks in return is for us to trust Him!  24/7 protection without a monthly service fee! Jesus loves us enough to be there for us WHENEVER we need him. In any circumstances we can call on our Father and he will be our shield, our fortress our forever friend!! So go ahead enjoy this beautiful world God has given us!, He is only a prayer away when you need Him!!Psalm 91:4 He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler.

Without ceasing...

How often do you pray? You don't have to tell me, but just answer the question for yourself.....I'm giving you time...(whistling the Jeopardy tune). Finished?  OK,  In Thessalonians 5:17, it plainly tells us to "pray without ceasing",but have you ever really tried that? Without ceasing, meaning continually, never ending! While mowing the grass this morning I began to talk with God, and I continued to do so while I weeded the flower beds, and then while I was  watering the flowers, and even more after I finished the outside work and got in the car to run some errands. Total time for all that was only about 3 hours!! Not all day -You don't  necessarily need a special place or special time to pray. You don't need to be in a special mood to pray. Praying  should be like breathing, continuous, essential, life-giving, praying is the conversation with God that goes on all of our days!! Have you ever tried to carry on 2 conversations at the same time?  While some people are better at it than others, no-one can fully devote themselves to 2 people at the same time. I think that praying without ceasing means being so caught up in your conversation with God that it is hard to concentrate on another. God knows our life and all the things that are in store for us, He is truly the only one that knows our destiny, we should be talking to him daily, hourly, minutely [yes, it's a word..;) ] I am challenging myself to take that scripture "literally" and seek Him in all of my thoughts, joys, hopes, worries and desires. I feel sure if I pray without ceasing, My Father will listen without ceasing. :)

Distractions...Satans' little trick?

I sure hope that I am not alone in the fact that there are days I feel totally overwhelmed! So much to get done and not nearly enough time to do it all. Afterall, I have an 8 to 5 job, a home that needs to be cleaned, mounds of laundry to be washed, dried and folded, toilets to be scrubbed, groceries to be bought, dishes to be cleaned, children to take care of, flowerbeds to be weeded, errands to run and yadda, yadda, yadda. Sound familiar?? They seem like just ordinary things everyone deals with, but what if in reality they are just part of Satans' (I capitalize because it is a name and that is the only reason) arsenal to distract us from the things that are truly important. I can't count the times that I have thought to myself, I am going to go have some prayer time or I am going to go read some scripture only to get "distracted" by a load of dirty dishes that need to be washed or a beeping dryer reminding me that the clothes will wrinkle shortly if I don't get them on hangers. Don't get me wrong, I am not in any way advocating living in a pigsty, or letting your children go hungry by neglecting what you have to do. I am however asking you to think about whether your "to do" list is just a note from Satan himself telling you to ignore God and do his business instead. Crazy thought? Maybe. But, what if...we let those dishes sit in the sink for a few minutes longer while we pray and thank God for all of his provisions? What if we let those clothes wrinkle in the dryer and instead we read the bible with our children? What if instead of weeding the flowerbed we pick a boquet for a sick neighbor or family member and go hand deliver them? Wouldn't we be more about the Fathers' business at that point? I wonder if we put His business ahead of ours what changes we might see within our own home? Just a thought. :)

Honesty..It does a body good!

Pet Peeves of mine...smacking on chewing gum, misspelled words, hair flipping and lying!! Have you ever told a little white lie? You know what I'm talking about...the friend that wants to know if those jeans make her booty look big, the boyfriend that wants to know if you are excited about the Wrestling match he's invited you to and so on. For those of you who "really" know me, and that list is not long, you will find this surprising, but I have on occassion held back saying what I  really wanted to about a situation or even told the little "white lie". Some would ask, what's wrong with a little white lie?  Those mistruths, even little white lies to protect someone's feelings can compromise our faith. Remember you are being watched and speaking and living the truth help those around you come to know the Truth. Christ said that He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. If Christ is Truth, then lying is moving away from Christ. Being honest is about following in God's footsteps, and if our goal is to become more God-like and God-centered, then honesty should be our focus. I expect honesty from the people that I associate with daily, my co-workers, people I buy goods from, neighbors and my family and friends.
Being honest is not always easy, we know how easy it is to fall into sin, but we need to WORK at being truthful, and yes, it is work! The world does not give us easy situations, but it is always better to be honest!  HONEST!

Luke 16:10 - "Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much."

I don't think Jesus likes nouns..unless it's YOU!

My son, Jarred and I were having a spiritual conversation on the way home from work the other night. We were talking about Gods presence in our lives and how blessed we are as a family and then the conversation turned to giving back to God. We were talking about things we could do, events that we had been a part of within our church and things we remembered from years ago in vacation bible school and all of a sudden it just hit me like a ton of bricks..God doesn't like nouns! (you being the exclusion) Think about it, the majority of things we take on as individuals or as corporate churches for others are ACTION things!  Notice the "ing" things listed Praying, Loving, Helping, Serving, Ministering and Giving.
All of them involve "physically" doing something for another.  We have made goodies for bake sales to raise money for missions, we called it "Baking for Jesus." We have done prayer walks several times with different churches, we called it "Walking for Jesus",  just a few short weeks ago we participated in donating food to individuals in need and it was a mighty hot day. We called it "Sweating for Jesus" , and the list goes on. Matthew 4:19 says, "Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men." Our God wants us to be a people of action, following His ways and being fishers of men! Get Up..Take Action! God is a VERB lover!!

Spring cleaning for the soul

The past couple of weeks hubster and I have been doing home renovations of a pretty major scale. We have been painting, painting and more painting, cleaning out junk, having yard sales and lots and lots of yard work! Needless to say our home has been less than inviting during this time and truthfully I am not sure the kids knew where to look for their beds each night,,,haha! I admit I do love the "after" (the during, not so much) when everything is sparkly clean, freshly painted and each picture and decoration is just in its right spot.  I feel very blessed to have the opportunity to have a home that we can care for and I do admit feeling a sense of accomplishment when our efforts result in the being able to relax in out comfy home or sit outside and enjoy the manicured flower beds and pretty flowers adorning the yard. The one big thing that I noticed while doing all of this was the amount of trash, dust or weeds that had to be cleaned out of the house or the flower beds! I got the Murphys oil out and wiped all the furniture in all the nooks and crannies I normally cannot get to, picked up little bits of paper that normally are hidden underneath the furniture and spent more than a few hours pulling weeds and spraying round-up on some of those toughies! The hubster even had to help out with a hoe to cut away some of the tough roots that seemed to go on forever.

I realized that we can, and some of us probably do have the same thing going on in our spiritual life. Just as the dust and weeds can easily overrun a clean home or beautiful flower bed, sin and neglect can overrun us when we don't care for ourselves spiritually. We too have to throw away the junk that clutters our heart and mind, weed out those pesky sins that seem to continually show up especially the ones that run deep, and spend time in the word and with our Father so that we may blossom to our full potential and be that beautiful creation that God takes pleaure in knowing that he created!

God Made Me, but he didn't fatten me.

We have 2 new mothers in our church with babies 2 and 4 months and neither of them look as if they just gave birth a few short weeks ago. They look marvelous, baby weight is gone, they look fit and toned and I am happy for them! I really am, but for me the dreaded extra pounds have been a struggle in my life as far back as I can remember! When I was younger and waaay more active than I am now I was able to keep it in check and stayed at a decent weight for my height and age. But as all things do, this changed! You grow up, begin working full time which limits your time to exercise which has never been a passion of mine, oh lets be real..I despise it. The whole out of breath, getting sweaty just to ache from sore muscles the next day hasn't ever grabbed my interest. I have done the cardio workouts, played raquetball, bicycled, taken the stair stepper and treadmills for lengthy climbs and  walks, and gazelled with the best of them but blatant fact is I dont like it!  Anyway, then those child bearing years come along and that just adds insult to injury. I didn't gain an enormous amount with either child, 25 with my first and 29 with my last but it was enough to sabotage whatever efforts I had made prior to the pregnancy. Life goes on and I, like alot of moms concentrated more on taking care of my family than I did myself and year after year the pounds have crept on and sadly have decided to take up residence and stay!  I have no one to blame for this but myself. I was not at gunpoint made to eat homemade sourdough bread, slathered in melted butter and rest my booty on the couch, It was a choice and a bad one. Yes, God made me a lady of short stature, 5 feet nothing and he also gave me a zest for the tasty things in life! What he did not give me is the permission to abuse this body as I have been doing for so many years. Overindulgence and sedentary lifestyle a healthy girl does not make! I live and am in love with a nurse, which is good and bad. He is the first to jump in and help when you need it, but is also the first one to point out when I'm doing things that aren't the best for myself. So I certainly have someone to keep me in check if I will allow it to sink in. (I'm a tad hard-headed..again God made me that way) I say all of this to say that a healthy body is a gift from God! I realize it and I am going to make a real effort to try and treat mine as such. So please pray for me as I try to make better choices to refresh and maintain this gift that God blessed me with, and if you see me eating out feel free to swipe my roll or dunk my dessert in ketchup. :) I give you permission. Off to walk!!

Chef trapped in a hygienists' body..

Some days I would like to put on an apron instead of scrubs. Don't get me wrong I love my profession and it has served me very well over the past 19 years, but as I grow older I realize some new passions in my life...cooking being at the TOP of the list! I have lots of great cooks in my family, my Grannie Turner who was known throughout Cairo for her famous cakes, my Mama who introduced me to cooking years ago even though I was reluctant to learn at the time and numerous aunts, cousins and in-loves (as a friend calls the inlaws) that have contributed yummy dishes to my recipe box over the years. Maybe that's one reason I have such an affection for the kitchen! Maybe it's because I love to eat and try new food combinations, or perhaps because in my kitchen is where alot of our family memories are made, maybe because through the actions in my kitchen I can make others content and happy, even if it's only for a little while! Whatever the reason, I love to cook, bake, knead, process and garnish! I love the aromas that float through my house when I am baking bread or have a huge pot of soup simmering on the stove. There is nothing more therapeutic, (except maybe pulling weeds from my flower beds) than rolling out dough, or whisking egg whites at the end of a stressful day and I get to eat the final result! For me..it's just a little piece of paradise! Plus..We all enjoy a good meal, right?
:) Happy Cooking!!

Rainy Days

I am sitting here this morning in my pj's with a hot cup of coffee watching this wonderful rain sent from heaven. I hear the thunder, but I do the counting trick my Mom taught me as a child and I know that the storm is still miles away from where I sit. As I watch the shower out my window I notice the yard debris and road grime is being washed away as if it was never even there. The streets are shiny and freshly cleaned, and the grass is greener than it was just seconds ago. This is how I view Gods forgiveness! When he sent his only Son to die on the cross for my sin..it was washed away...forgotten...as if it was never there!  I am a new creature in Him, fresh and renewed every day! What an amazing knowledge that is!!


 1 John 2:1-2 My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.