ABC's of the Word - G

From there they continued on to Beer, the well where the LORD said to Moses, "Gather the people together and I will give them water."
Numbers 21:16

I was facing a situation that was pressing me over the weekend. Still pressing as it evolves...through it all my spirit keeps singing this song :

"God will make a way, He'll make a way, He'll make a way,
God, will make a way!"

Then my spirit took it further and started changing it up -

"God has made away, He's made a way, He's made a way, He's made a way
He gave water from a rock,
God has made a way"

"God has made a way, He's made a way, He's made a way, He's made a way
He made manna fall all around,
God has made a way!"



"God has made a way, He's made a way, He's made a way, He's made a way,
He gave us life and made us clean
God has made a way!"

Good Thursday to you all! I know God will bless you for seeking Him through His Word and fellowship with other believers! What I hope you take from my thoughts on His Word today, is that if He has to make water flow from a rock for you, He will! If he didn't hold back His one and only begotten Son for us, He won't fail you now. Whether in His Sovereign wisdom He knows we need more time, more favor, more mercy, more grace or just plain and simple physical HELP and needs met, He will move Heaven and Earth to meet our need. What will we move to meet His need?

Lord, sometimes I feel like that rock, hard, unyielding and flinty and lacking fruit. Make your water (Spirit) flow from me I pray! Lord, Sometimes I feel like Moses - who struck the rock in anger the last time he had the opportunity. When He should have just spoke in authority to it. Help me to speak with love, patience, wisdom, authority in the power of Jesus Name , to the rocks which You have given me stewardship over. In Jesus' Beautiful Name - The Name above ALL other names! Amen

Please visit Pam at Grey Like Snuffy for more!

Lord, I have Been Here Before..Really...AGAIN? Can you Hear Me Whining?

How was your weekend? We had a great time with family this weekend. Missed my oldest. He was supposed to be able to come with his fiance'. But, he had to cover for someone at work and couldn't get away. But there was lots of fun with the nieces and nephews at a birthday party, and good times with my father-in-law and his wife yesterday. Bunch of other stuff too. God has blessed us greatly.

In the midst of that, I began last Wednesay taking on a new project that may or may not be a waste of time, but I HAD, as in HAD to try it. We shall see! Nothing ventured nothing gained!

And at the outset of the weekend, I was faced with a situation that was oh so familiar to me, as to make me want to just stay at home and put the covers over my head, because it just made me weary to comtemplate the SAME scenery AGAIN! Sheesh! Enough already! But, I did not! I hung on to the hem of His garment and said "I can't do this. I. CAN. NOT. Do. This. Please. Take. This...."

And He did. Through the weekend, since it was a busy time, (and many times I just wanted to escape and be alone with Him, My Father, My Savior, My King) when I was maybe in the truck driving by myself to run a quick 100th errand in town, or in the shower, or feeding Roto (our pig)...there was this song that I would sing - and it stirred my faith, and kept the enemy at bay. I don't know if I have heard it before ,or if it just was my spirit initiating a call out to the Lord. I just know the ministry of The Holy Spirit through that song blessed me and kept me going.

I am determined to not see this scenery again. I press on, and I don't look back. I trust Him!

How about you? If He's bringing you through - say so! Happy Monday, Ya'll!

ABC's of the Word - F!

5 Let your character or moral disposition be free from love of money [including greed, avarice, lust, and craving for earthly possessions] and be satisfied with your present [circumstances and with what you have]; for He [God] Himself has said, I will not in any way fail you nor give you up nor leave you without support. [I will] not, [I will] not, [I will] not in any degree leave you helpless nor forsake nor let [you] down (relax My hold on you)! [Assuredly not!] 6 So we take comfort and are encouraged and confidently and boldly say, The Lord is my Helper; I will not be seized with alarm [I will not fear or dread or be terrified]. What can man do to me? Hebrews 13:5-6 Amplified Bible

In the strange times we find ourselves living in, it is important more and more that we remember where our hope comes from, and Who we place our faith in! He IS faithful. He is more than enough - at all times, whether in times of plenty or want - He is MORE than enough. The world will increasingly need to be able to see that God's people are not afraid. We are secure and assured. Our children need to see it, our in-laws, our customers and our co-workers, sometimes even our spouses. It need not be a front. It should be and can be real. Lights on, groceries in the 'fridge - He's my God. No money in the bank, lights off, pink slip - He's my God. At all times, He is my God.

Lord, help us to be faithful to You like You are to us! Thank You, Father that You never leave us nor forsake us! We love You, we adore You! Fill us, Father with more of You! That we may lives lives useful to You! In Jesus' matchless and wonderful name! Amen!

For more ABC's of the Word, please visit Pam at Grey Like Snuffie - you will be so glad you did! Toodles!

Come to Me!

Where oh where does the time go? I remember so often a season that occurred 5 years go last fall. It was our youngest's season playing football. The coach was a real good guy and SUCH a character! He had this thing he would say to the guys on the team that just rung in my heart like it was words from God everytime he said it. I STILL think of it. His nickname for my son was "Head" and he would say "Head! COME TO ME! COME TO ME!"

The news is frustrating, I know I am not alone....could we get some real people in Washington and have the place to ourselves for about say oh, 48 hours? We can straighten it up in the Name of Jesus, pretty durn quick...but I digress...grim and frustrating news..HIGH grocery prices, children who need much more than the little $5 dollar prize from the local Supermart, workplace politics that make the job so much harder than it has to be, a scale that just really is NOT kind. No. Not. At. All! ; ) Yikes!

But, we have a friend, who sticks closer than a brother! A friend in high places! He can make that dollar stretch, give us favor, grant us peace and the ability to be gracious. He gives me focus, the RIGHT one! Purpose and right motives. His ways are OH SO MUCH higher than my ways!

He gives to us, but our hands, our hearts, our very heads - must have room for what He gives! Empty your hands at His feet, pour out your heart to His ever present ear, clear out your head and make room for His thoughts!

Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy-laden and overburdened, and I will cause you to rest. [I will ease and relieve and refresh your souls.] Take My yoke upon you and learn of Me, for I am gentle (meek) and humble (lowly) in heart, and you will find rest (relief and ease and refreshment and recreation and blessed quiet) for your souls. Matthew 27, Amplified Bible.

The Answer to Questions in the Dark

This morning I want to share a little thing I wrote 7 years ago next month. In March of 2002 our oldest son moved out in his 11th grade. His grades were in dire straits, but he had turned the much ballyhooed age of 18 the month before. He was surrounding himself with friends that encouraged him to ditch his family and go his own way. He was on a collision course with us, his parents. There was toxic relationship at the root of it all. And he was just completely focused on how to maintain that relationship. We were completely focused on how to get through to him. The night he told me he had made his decision and that he was moving out, I could feel the gut wrenching pain. Then came the night he came with two friends to remove his things from his room. You could feel the hostility radiating from his friends, because they had this impression of us as the overly strict parents who made their friend miserable. The two friends came from extremely dysfunctional homes and had much reasons to not respect or trust authority based on their relationships with their own parents. But these were young men we had been kind to, shown sacrificial love to and prayed for - how did they, how did we become strangers? The darkness.

Anyway, as you know if you visit regularly - that was 7 years ago, and life is dynamic flowing forward thank goodness, and praise God!!! Our family made it through that awful time intact, healthy and vibrantly. Were there rough times? Yes. But, God sustained us so sweetly. He kept my son. He went with him into the "darkness". He kept my youngest son, who this marked greatly. His one and only brother, his "big" brother, leaving in rebellion - prematurely, yeah it made an impact. He kept the little one as well, in the "darkness". His father and I experienced God's sustaining grace and "peace that passes understanding" through that period. I remember thinking at the time, "this is why it's called peace that passes understanding". The sheer grace, unexplained, and breathtakingly comforting. He kept us in the "darkness".

During that time for about 6-8 weeks I wrote several songs that just overflowed from my heart. I call them songs, but mind you I can't play or write music, so it's just lyrics that had music in my head to go with them! God knows the tune! LOL!

Anyway, lately I have been thinking about these particular verses and the times peope are going through all over this nation, and our nation as a whole. I hope you enjoy these words.

The Answer

He is majestic, mighty and holy

Lovely, and righteous and pure

He is deliberate, awesome and wonderful

He is Lord! He is Lord

He is light in the darkness

And shade in the desert

He is The Answer to the questions in the dark

He is The Answer to questions in the dark

When Your Call Comes - Shaving!

I have been ever so blessed by beginning a reading plan on January 15th for reading through the Bible in a year. Do you know that as much as I LOVE to study the Word, and get little and big treasures out of it, and to have wisdom imparted to me for being a more effective servant in everyday life, I have never completed such a plan? I only started my first attempt last year. I was really enjoying it and it got me out of a bit of a rut I was in. Once my wheels got turning though, I was off "chasing butterflies" in the Word. But this year over at Karen's blog, Surviving Motherhood, when she mentioned a plan she had used, it just clicked for me. This time I believe I have the grace to complete the plan. I like this one the most, because it is chronological, and I have always been interested in reading in that order.

Anywho, as I was studying Joseph's life during the read through Genesis, something I have studied more than a few times, I came across a phrase that just seemed to "pop" for me. I felt immediately like sharing it here.

The Set Up: We all know that Joseph suffered much painful, egregious and harsh injustice from age 17 for a period of about 13 years. We know that the scriptures tell us that he enjoyed success and favor, in all that he did, as a slave, and as a slave accused of rape and tossed into prison - still favor and success, still the presence of the Lord with him always. However, false accusation, slavery, imprisonment - the sting, the loneliness, the injustice were not evaporated. No, those feelings were something Joseph most likely had to daily render unto God, as he took up his cross and followed Him.

The Promise: Joseph had been given a promise and it called to him, it simmered at times, it gave him hope, hope for a future, hope for good, hope for a life of liberty, peace, restoration, and kingdom authority. There came a day about 11 years into his dark period where he gave the interpretation of a dream for each of two fellow prisoners. One of the men would be restored to his rightful place in service to the King. He asked for the man to remember him. The man forgot him instead. Two more years went by.

The Call Came! "14 Then Pharaoh sent and called Joseph, and they brought him hastily out of the dungeon: and he shaved himself, and changed his raiment, and came in unto Pharaoh." I don't know if I can explain why this excited me so, I am not even sure I know why it excited me so. But, it did, and does. And I really immediately wanted to share it here. The idea that we can wait and wait in seeming obscurity. But, to the eyes of God we are not obscure. It seems like the years are ticking by and our "chance" has been devoured by the enemy, but it hasn't, because God has a perfect time!

One Day: One day our call will come, our child's call will come, our spouse's call will come, and when it does, we want to be clean shaven, dressed appropriately and ready to stand and serve in the manner which God's perfect clock work has been moving us towards, inch by precious inch, day by grinding day. We are made to shine! We are made to come forth like silver - smooth, shiny and serviceable!

Joseph's day came and he was never a prisoner or slave again. He served in the way God had uniquely prepared and placed him to serve., and it saved all of his entire family, all of Egypt and many peoples surrounding Egypt. Exceedingly, abundantly beyond ALL that we could ask, think or imagine! Our Father loves us too much and is entirely too wise by far, to give us the authority and influence our hearts tell us await us, until we can handle the power and influence without being overtaken in the sins of pride, fear, lust, and a myriad of others. And that takes preparation. That takes refining. Strengthening. Chiseling off the superficial layers of what you thought was your faith, until all that remains gives glory to God! And when it does, the fires of hell can't burn it, the waters of the ocean can't drown it, the winds of the storms of life can't snatch it away from you. He IS the author and the finisher of our faith!

Shave & change clothes! When the call comes make sure you are groomed and dressed for it! Make sure you have your stuff ready and waiting! If you need an outfit for that interview, if you need money set aside for that trip, or maybe that passport, or that wedding present for a child, or a degree for a job, or the house painted ready to sell it - get it ready for your call! Pray, be with God, believe and do your everyday part. And tell me when you get your call!

ABC's of The Word - E!

E Out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the sky, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called a living creature, that was its name. Genesis 2:19

E The LORD God said to the serpent," Because you have done this, Cursed are you more than all cattle, And more than every beast of the field; On your belly you will go, And dust you will eat All the days of your life; Genesis 3:14

E So He drove the man out; and at the east of the garden of Eden He stationed the cherubim and the flaming sword which turned every direction to guard the way to the tree of life. Genesis 3:24

E Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. Genesis 6:5

E "And of every living thing of all flesh, you shall bring two of every kind into the ark, to keep them alive with you; they shall be male and female." Genesis 6:19

E "Of the birds after their kind, and of the animals after their kind, of every creeping thing of the ground after its kind, two of every kind will come to you to keep them alive." Genesis 6:20

E "You shall take with you of every clean animal by sevens, a male and his female; and of the animals that are not clean two, a male and his female; Genesis 7:2

E "For after seven more days, I will send rain on the earth forty days and forty nights; and I will blot out from the face of the land every living thing that I have made." Genesis 7:4

E On the very same day Noah and Shem and Ham and Japheth, the sons of Noah, and Noah's wife and the three wives of his sons with them, entered the ark, they and every beast after its kind, and all the cattle after their kind, and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth after its kind, and every bird after its kind, all sorts of birds. So they went into the ark to Noah, by twos of all flesh in which was the breath of life. Genesis 7:13-15

E Thus He blotted out every living thing that was upon the face of the land, from man to animals to creeping things and to birds of the sky, and they were blotted out from the earth; and only Noah was left, together with those that were with him in the ark. Genesis 7:23

E "Bring out with you every living thing of all flesh that is with you, birds and animals and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, that they may breed abundantly on the earth, and be fruitful and multiply on the earth." Genesis 8:17

E Every beast, every creeping thing, and every bird, everything that moves on the earth, went out by their families from the ark. Genesis 8:19

E Then Noah built an altar to the LORD, and took of every clean animal and of every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar. Genesis 8:20

E The LORD smelled the soothing aroma; and the LORD said to Himself, "I will never again curse the ground on account of man, for the intent of man's heart is evil from his youth; and I will never again destroy every living thing, as I have done. Genesis 8:21

E "The fear of you and the terror of you will be on every beast of the earth and on every bird of the sky; with everything that creeps on the ground, and all the fish of the sea, into your hand they are given. Genesis 9:2

E "Every moving thing that is alive shall be food for you; I give all to you, as I gave the green plant. Genesis 9:3

E God said, "This is the sign of the covenant which I am making between Me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all successive generations; Genesis 9:12

E and I will remember My covenant, which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and never again shall the water become a flood to destroy all flesh. Genesis 9:15

E "When the bow is in the cloud, then I will look upon it, to remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth." Genesis 9:16

E Let everything that has breath praise the LORD.Praise the LORD! Psalm 150:6

Skater Guy, a Hen House, Some Chickens and Thanksgiving!

It takes an embarassingly L-O-N-G time to load these pictures with my wonderful dial-up that I am so very grateful for! Seriously! I know I snicker slightly as I type this, but I am CHOOSING to be grateful! Feels much better! :) At least we have internet! Which most of the time I think is a good thing! I have been wanting to post some of these though for quite a while. So today is sort of a picture "pot-luck"!

The first few are the last month at different times with my youngest doing what he likes to do best, well second best (he'd rather be on something with a motor and wheels, but that is broken and we can't find parts for it anywhere.) I just put some of my favorite here!

The one on the left is him with a new skate board his Dad surprised him with because he appreciated the manly way his son had stepped up to the plate the previous week. My husband had it specially made for him. Yeah, BIG hit!

The one on the right is just him getting some pictures made by his Dad for updating his myspace. It was a fun evening!

Yes, that IS a doublewide! I am officially Queen of the Doublewide! :) As a matter of fact, I had to laugh during the media frenzy against Sarah Palin. We were strong supporters for her campaign. And we fit the stereotype that the leftist media portrayed her supporters as in some ways. And that was Ok with us. Southern, Christian, Pro-life, members of NRA, homeschool family, creationists, lived a doublewide, and drive a 4 wheel drive. It doesn't matter to them that there is so much more to people than those statistics. OR that none of those things require an apology or shame. But, I digress! :)

More kick-flips or who knows. He tries to teach me the names of the moves...it all spells P-R-A-Y-E-R for me! I am sure you all can relate!

Here we have my pretty ladies. I have wanted to have laying hens for SO LONG! Finally, the "biddies" came in at the feed store this week. I just have six for now. I may get 4 more. We'll see how these do. I have to keep them inside under a lamp right now, because the weather is to cool at night for them They are just babies for now.

As you can see they're absolutley terrified of the woman with the camera and the flash! Yes, their living quarters are a mess. Within 20 minutes of changing the paper - there is a mess again! They don't know any better!

I just can't wait to have brown eggs for us and for our family and friends! No more buying organic eggs! I will have my own!

Right after we got the hen house back in January, my husband and his fellow officers working midnight shift captured one of the wild roosters running around down town in the St George Street area. They have been down there generation after generation since the Spanish settlers came! Anyway, Hubby brought him home to me. The picture on the left is early January the morning after he came home to us. I call that his early teenage stage. The one on the right is him today. He's looking good, huh? His name is Sam!

Here's the hubby and the hen house the day we got it! I was raised having chickens, at least when I was younger. We didn't have them when I was a teenager. And I have always missed them. I love the noise and the whole thing!

These are pictures taken by my youngest on Thanksgiving Day. You can see me as usual in mid-blink, which is my normal state for photos!

My awesome husband, oldest son, and my son's wonderful girlfriend, who we adore!





In case you are wondering about this "bird's eye view" thing going on, it's because the youngest is on the roof taking photos!

You know, as I type these bits of info, I feel led to say, that if you, or if you have a loved one who has, struggled with putting smoking behind. Be encouraged. Don't give up. Pray. Take steps towards your goal (if it's you). Don't quit trying to quit. If it's NOT you, don't nag, I pray. Don't, don't don't - resist all temptations to do so, even in the prettiest forms. Pray for them, pray, and pray, and love and love. It'll happen.

I say this because these photos occurred because the oldest and his girlfriend went outside to have their after dinner cigarrettes. We sort of ended up following them, after a discreet length of time so they could have their own conversation for a bit.

He wasn't raised to smoke. Anymore than I was raised to do some of the things I did when I was younger. I still remember when I found out he had begun smoking. It was on one of his quick visits to the house after he rebelled and moved out when he turned 18 (while still in 11th grade). I was HORRIFIED. It's almost funny now to think of my horror. There were so many more things I was going to be horrified at. This now seems tame!

I love this kid! This young man turned 25 on Valentine's Day! He has grown up so much the last two years. Well, really even longer than that. But, especially the last two. He is rediscovering his faith in the midst of some challenging, painful times. We are very proud of him.

He truly does have a sweet heart. What can you expect from a Valentine's baby?

He and his girlfriend want very much to quit smoking. They are making progress towards that. I included this picture to say that at one time this picture would have made me cringe. And I wouldn't have included it most likely. But, today - the things I have, and our family has been through in the last few years, all I see today is one of many sides of my son that I love. Yes, I can look at this picture and think "WOW!" I know him, he's my son! I can't believe we are sooo fortunate, his father and I!

Silly guys! Dad's giving him the obligatory rabbit ears. You know, once again, as I type I am further inpsired of the fact that if I feel like this about our son, what love must Our Father feel even as He sees us? We see our flaws - He sees The wonder that He has put inside us. He's not bothered by the same things we are! He is proud of us, He sees our worth, our beauty and our purpose! Praise God from whom ALL blessing flow!

As my youngest would say - Rock-On! Happy Monday, Ya'll!

Lost in This Moment - The Coming Groom & The Bride Preparing

Happy Saturday, Ya'll! I pray that you are hearing God in the Whispers of your life!

Last weekend at our local Unity Outreach Women's Conference, one of the illustrations I used for the desire of the Groom (Jesus) for His Bride (The Church) and his continued preparations for us, as well as His desire that we be impacted by His Word, was a song by Big and Rich called "Lost in This Moment". I didn't have any luck finding the authentic song and video by Big and Rich in a format that I could embed it here for your viewing (sadly), but I DID find one I could link to right here. If you listen to the song thinking of the Groom as Christ, singing to His Bride - The Church, it really impacts you. It makes you think how very precious His Church is to Him, and how MUCH He has done and is doing in preparation. The line that most got me (there were several of course) was where The Groom tells of seeing His Bride's eyes tear up from His Words to her! I thought "My goodness!". When was the last time I was so touched, so pierced by His Words to me? I LOVE His Word. It thrills me. Not often does it move me to tears though. Not. At. All.

It made me consider also the preparations we perform for weddings, and rightly so. But, how much more should we be sure to let His Word work inside of us so that we might be prepared? As Ephesians 5 says He prepares the Bride this way - "So that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the Word," Ephesians 5:26.

It really is a pretty song. Even if you have heard it before, I encourage you to listen to it with new ears today! Click here if you like!

"I will worship toward Your holy temple and praise Your name for Your loving-kindness and for Your truth and faithfulness; for You have exalted above all else Your name and Your word AND You have magnified Your word above all Your name!" Psalm 138:2 Amplified.

Dankeshane! aka Danke Schoen!

Do you remember hearing seemingly unimportant things from childhood, that just leave a happy impression? I do. I hope that my sons will as well. One such that I remember are a few different songs that my Mama would sing when I was a child and she was in a silly mood or

just trying to keep cheerful while swishing dirty diapers (remember the cloth diapers our mothers had to use?)...one of the songs was a Wayne Newton song that many of us think of as "Dankeshane", but as I perused the web today I discovered what I suppose is the proper German spelling of the phrase Thank You as Danke Schoen. I don't know that I have ever actually heard the real song. But, I have strong memories of Mama singing this part (and only this) "Danke Schoen, darling Danke Schoen. Thank you for all the joy and pain." It sounds sort of wistful to see it typed out, But, when Mama sang the words (and I assume when Wayne Newton did as well) it had a decidedly upbeat tempo. Quite Cheery!

Anywho, I want to say Dankeshane, Darling! ;) to two wonderful bloggers and friends, 1 new and 1 for over a year (which in bloggy time is pretty good I think!)

Julie from Joyful Days and Kim fron Falling on His Grace. Both of these women are in love with Jesus, their husband, children and life. This sentiment and zest for all that is good is reflected in their blogs. You should visit and say hello!

The Lovely Award says the following: "These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers. Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award.”

The Lord has blessed me greatly through my friendships in blogging. Here are a few of my bloggy blessings! (I am limited to 8 as I understand it!) I want to pass these awards to the following ladies!

Back at you Julie, at Joyful Days (I'm terribly late, it's been wild ride! My sincere apologies!)

And to you also, Kim, at Falling on His Grace (Thank you so kindly for sharing this with me! )

And to these sweet ladies - Leslie, at Do You Weary Like I Do? Tiffany at Southern Sass, Stacey at Stacey Stace, Laura at The Wellblog, Pam at Grey Like Snuffie, and Renee' at 2 Peas in a Pod.

Thanks to all of you for bringing out the best in all of us through your humor and insight through your blogs! You each have made me smile, think and ponder many times.

Odd Man (or Woman) Out

17 This is what I command you: that you love one another.
18 If the world hates you, know that it hated Me before it hated you.
19 If you belonged to the world, the world would treat you with affection and would love you as its own. But because you are not of the world [no longer one with it], but I have chosen (selected) you out of the world, the world hates (detests) you.

John 15:17-19 (Amplified Bible)

This is just a quick word to encourage you and me, to each remember, that as we are in Christ, we will more often than not, have occasion to feel like the "odd man out". By the looks of political and social news lately, that will be happening with greater frequency maybe than we have ever known before. Don't let it make you feel like you are the one who needs to "get over it", "lighten up" or "loosen up". I looked up this scripture for God's wisdom as to why this phenomena occurs. Stand your ground, graciously, yet firmly. When in doubt, go to the Word.

Yet, I also want to remind you that there are examples in scripture which though they don't fit into a small verse, they in fact show this principle is in play within circles of believers as well. It's my very least favorite part of the Body of Christ. Yet, even as I type this phrase I know better. I know with everything in me, that the delicate push-pull tension between family members and within the Body of Christ's members is vital. Vital to refine us, teach us, strengthen and correct us. There were times even with the 12 and with the 3 (which were within the 12) disciples of Jesus that men (and their mothers on their behalf, as I recall) jockeyed for positon, displayed jealousy of each other, and dropped away because they could not comprehend spiritual things (not within the 12, but the larger group {well, except I guess you could say Judas here, right?}). Yes, conduct unbecoming, hmmm? Yet, it happens.

Why do I mention this? Because sometimes I have been prone to get way too up in arms over a fellow believers' behavior as it pertains to me or my family, than I have any business being. It's a waste of energy, time and emotion. If Jesus's own closest friends and followers (and family) could succomb to this very human tendency, why do we think we would be any different or suffer any less, the tug of war that comes into every group of people, lost or saved, sanctified or cold. So, I guess I thought maybe I do not suffer this malady alone. If that's the case maybe this will encourage you to enjoy your minority status and shake off the dust that sometimes tries to cling to us from old wounds! And if I am truly the odd woman out here, well then, telling on myself and mulling this over out loud is good medicine I imagine.

After all, we are made to stand out, not blend in!

Whispers

Hollar! Ok, that is a joke around here between my teenage son and myself. He has very "strict" standards of what parents should NOT do. And it all pertains to parents who try to speak in the current vernacular of the day. In this case "Hollar" isn't just the word, it's the way you say it...it never fails to send my son into spasms of horror (for now anyway) when I do it...it's a silly game we play for now...

I only bring it up to contrast with what is on my heart right this moment, which is the whispers. The whispers in life.

Life can, and does, throw so many, many things at us. Challenges, losses, trials, frustrations, delays and good things, too, no doubt. But right now, for the purposes of this post, I am thinking of the craziness of life. And how, after we make it through these periods, we tend to hibernate as much as possible, in hopes of hearing the still, small voice of The Lord. Regrouping, catching up, healing, then shaking it off and moving forward again.

As I prepared to get on and blog, (my time to shake off the dust from the last few weeks, and move forward), I thought of the post I was in the middle of writing on the 11th of February, when one of life's curve balls came and changed my plans (how rude!) :). As I stared at the sunbeam coming through the nearby sliding glass doors, I thought that post would now have to wait. I couldn't "feel" that post right now. What I was feeling now was Elijah's listening for the voice of The Lord...and being the completely focused and disciplined person that I am, (NOT!) I clicked over to read an e-mail from a friend who always sends the neatest encouraging e-mails...it was so very timely, I want to give the link to you all to read...Click here.

Another post to follow within the hour most likely! :)

"And He said, Go out and stand on the mount before the Lord. And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains and broke in pieces the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake;
12 And after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire [a sound of gentle stillness and] a still, small voice.
13 When Elijah heard the voice, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood in the entrance of the cave. And behold, there came a voice to him and said, What are you doing here, Elijah?"

1 Kings 19:11-13 (Amplified Bible)