Where will you lead....

My devotion today had a note about when to let your children step away from a commitment (ball team, clubs , yes, and even (gasp) church activities).
As I was reading I wished that I could make the right decisions they were talking about. But more than that, I realize now that our children will mimic what we do. If I am continuously over extended, have bad attitudes, am not committed to the right things, not loving The Lord in all I do, that is the paths kids will take.
We all want our children to have a good life, etc. but we all know that whatever we do in life it will show up in our kids. I have some huge things in my life that I never wanted my kids to live thru yet I see these things pop up in their life and take root. Look at your life, things that you see and do not want in your children's life , take some time to examine why that is even in your life. Then get it out! Pray for a hedge around your children that will protect them from the effects of these things. You know what they are....unfaithfulness to those in your life and God, lying, being immoral, not following thru with promises.
My kids are grown but I am still conscious of things I do because "they are watching" and will tend to follow this path. Are you living where you want your children to be when they are your age? Think about it, God can help you make the changes you need to make!

How time flies.....

Seems like just yesterday I made a commitment to blog regularly, work on a book, and read my Bible daily. Well, I am faithful with Bible reading. It really helps that I have the Bible on my phone and iPad. I have had 3 schedule changes in my job so most of the time I feel like I am not sure if I should be going or coming. So a set time is not reAlly feasible all the time. We have also had some major drama in our life, which I am not ready to blog about just yet, but I am journaling about everything and eventually it will come up. So, this year my mom moved from our house into assisted living, we sold our house and moved into an apartment, had a grown child move in with us for a short time,.....just say that it has been an interesting year so far. My husband asks " when will life get back to normal?" Well, I do not know what NORMAL is any more and would probably not know what to do with that.
Now that you know I am still around, I will be making an effort to share regularly, probably not daily or even weekly. Just keep checking in and I would love to hear some comments just so I know you are reading. Thanks for stopping by.....

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Is Your Oven Clean?

It's funny how we get so used to the way things are and we are not receptive to change.....even when it makes our life easier.
This week I sprayed the "fume free" oven cleaner into my oven. Now, this is not the first time I have cleaned this oven. It's never really a bad job, just something I don't do weekly ( or monthly). As I am twisted sideways and pretty much crawling into the oven and thinking "now I know what makes an eye level oven so popular"..I saw something I had not noticed before. There is a lock on my oven door! As I straightened up, to rinse my cloth, my thought was "why is there a lock on my oven door, and why have I not noticed it before?". As I looked at the control panel, what did I see? A self-cleaning cycle setting. What!!!! I have a self-cleaning oven! How cool is that?
Well, I am almost finished wiping out the oven so I went ahead and finished the job, but it did make me wonder....
Often the Lord will show me things in my life that need to be changed, or cleaned up. At these times all He wants me to do is surrender to Him and let Him work. Push those self-cleaning buttons on the control panel and let Him do His work. But, what I tend to do is get my cleaning stuff out an begin to do what I think needs to be done. That usually gets me all twisted out of shape and just make a general mess. My cleaning creates those stinky fumes in the place where
only He can provide that sweet aroma of praise and worship.
The next time you start to clean your oven, check and be sure you don't have a self-cleaning oven. And the next time God shows you something in your life that needs to be rooted out and wiped clean, surrender it all to Him and step back and watch Him work. Just like the oven gets really hot while it's cleaning, things might get hot while you are being cleaned. But, just think how much cleaner you will be when He is finished with you!
Foot note: you can see how my blogging is progressing. I am reading my Bible daily, memorizing James is not going so great but I am learning a few Spanish words. I am writing some things for my book. I am trying not to beat myself up for my shortcomings but rather rejoice and be thankful for the progress I am making. What are you doing that you feel like you are not reaching the goals you should reach? Re-assess what you are doing. Is it what YOU want done or what God wants. I am going to spend some time in prayer over this matter for myself. It's something we need to do daily.
Have a good weekend....just in case I don't make it back before Monday.

Easy to Believe

My earliest memories of my daddy are times of trusting him. Seems like I always knew that mo matter what, he would love me and take care of me. I did not want to disappoint him, even tho I knew it would not change how he felt about me.
Unconditional love. Isn't that what we all want? Do you crave for someone to love you, no matter what? Is there a hole in your heart that nothing seems to fill?
When I was saved, it was not difficult for me to accept the truth that I was loved no matter what. This was not a foreign thing to me. A lot of people struggle with " how can God love me? I have so much sin in my past. There is no way He can accept me let alone love me!"
Well, that is the kind of love God has to offer. Unconditional love. You cannot fix yourself, clean yourself up, only God can do that. And He only does it when He is invited in to do His work. Do you need to open your door wide and let Jesus come in and do some spring cleaning? Maybe a little re-decorating in your heart? Just drop those defenses a little and pray for God to make the changes necessary for you to dwell in His freedom and love. Even if your earthly father was not someone you could trust and rely on, you have a Heavenly Father that will never fail you.

Moving day is done!

Yesterday my sister came and helped me to pack up all mother's stuff. She is moving into assisted living, back in her hometown. Well, actually she moved today. I didn't cry and neither did she (as far as I know).
I am trying to fulfill my commitments
that I made earlier. I am reading my Bible, and you see how my blogging is working out. My Spanish and I are crawling along. I will keep working along, I know I can do it, I just haven't gotten my rhythm down yet:-)
Tonite my husband and. I went to a dinner for about 16 other new church members an us. We had dinner with the pastor, his wife and two associate pastors. It was good to have some time to get to know other people on a one on one basis. I can't remember names very well, so I will have to depend on the Lord to bring them to my remembrance.
For some weird reason, I always thought that when Johnny and I got to this stage in our lives that we would be settled in a church and our lives would be slowing down. Well, that's not how it's working. I am excited about church and getting involved. I don't think God wants me to get comfortable anywhere. I do much better when I am on high alert, He knows that!
I am so thankful for all He does for me and that He guides me right where I need to be at all times! Have a good weekend, just in case I don't make it back before then!

Just. Another day?

So I did pretty good today....I studied James, read my scriptures for today, studied a little Spanish and worked my 12 hours at the hospital . It was a good day at work, not too busy, just steady.
I read some today about boundary stones. When someone had their boundary stones out, you were not supposed to mess with them. What boundaries do I encroach upon that I should stand back and not cross? You know how you grown children lay out their life and may know what their boundaries are, but we as parents want to just charge in to "help". Do they need your help? No they want you to stand back and wait for them to ask for help. It's not ever easy to do this, but you can know that whatever God has here on earth for you and your loved ones will make you stronger and you don't have to cross other peoples boundaries. So basically you need to stay at home and mind own business.
Chin up....God does provide all our needs!