Blessings... It's the Simple Things!

Have you ever prayed for something and hoped for something and wished for something that you kind of, sort of needed and would use every day, but you wanted it more than you needed it? And you understood that, so you waited. Then got impatient and started looking around for that something. Then waited (because God said, "Not yet.")... You know where I'm going with this? You (really, I) repeated that cycle several times, then one day, out of the blue, God dropped that something in your lap. And it was perfect. And you were thrilled! And you couldn't contain yourself, because you were so excited! Well, you could say that the "you" in all of the above paragraph is me. Today.

I've seen Jianna growing up for the past several months and I wanted to be prepared and have just the right furniture and just the right bed and, and, and... And God told me, "Not yet." Through circumstances, through wisdom and through Jason. But I got impatient with the waiting and prayed and looked around for what I thought we needed. And everything that I saw I wanted, but God and Jason said, "wait". Well, I wanted to finagle (is that a word?) and work it out on my own, but I decided they probably knew better than me. And I hate conflict, so I waited. Then I would get impatient again with the waiting, and start looking again. And they would tell me to wait, again. This has been happening on and off for the past 6 months or so. Sometimes on a weekly basis. But today, God provided just what we needed,  at just the right time!!

It is a beautiful bed, chest of drawers and book/toy case/bench. All white. And just right! Thank you, God! You know so much better than I do what we need and when! Thank you!

Can a Christian Have Joy?

Hey all!

Recently, I have been thinking about how legalism tends to sneak into my life and actions. I don't want it to, I don't intend for it to, but it does. I was watching a mini series from our pastor that brought the subject to the front of my mind, though I had been wondering about it for a while.

The sermon/lesson was titled "How To Have Joy Even Though You Are A Christian (parts I and II)" (I am not going to repeat everything he said, because he said it much better than I can, but if you get a chance to follow the links, the lessons are great!) I've realized that the legalism that I have allowed into my life is stealing my joy and I don't like it one bit! Pastor's sermons helped me identify some of the things that I need God to help me change to not continue down the path of legalism... to get my joy back. That's what I want.

Is there something you have recently learned, heard or thought about that was a light-bulb moment?

Slinky Living vs. Linear Living

Hey Everyone!

I just wanted to share a lesson I have been learning recently. A couple weeks ago, I watched a vlog by Beth Moore about the cycles we can get stuck in during this thing called life. She explained that God has ideas about where we need to go and builds hard things into our lives to help us learn to be humble. Sometimes we handle the lessons in a cycle, other times we learn from the lessons more in a line... In other words, sometimes we are broken by a situation, and we respond to the brokenness with offense, insecurity or devastation, but we don't look up for a while to allow God to restore and heal us. Other times, we will encounter a situation that is meant to humble us and we will be humbled and look to God. He will then set us on our feet and make us powerful and anointed by him, because we have died to ourselves.

I've realized that I will be doing OK for a while, going along in a straight line, when I'll be hit by something and I'll fall into the spiral or slinky of doing the same thing over and over again. I'll repeat the same lines of complaining and moaning about how my life shouldn't be affected by these things that I am experiencing. After a while, I get so fed up with my own moaning and groaning and I'll ask God to help me change. When I ask, He helps me immediately. I may not see results I want to see, but He is there. I don't want to live life in a slinky. God has too much to teach me to try to relearn the same lessons over and over again. I want to learn the lessons and move on.

I am so grateful that God doesn't throw me to the side when I don't get the lessons right! God is good!