Season Of Beauty

Awesome colors that make you step back for a moment and say "ahhh"! This is a changing season... a season of beauty before the cold and ice and dreariness of winter. I love the beauty of it! It reminds me of something talked about at our Bible study recently. Restoration... renewal...The seasons change so quickly. Fall soon turns into
Winter and I know, I sit longing what seems like an eternity, for Spring. Spring then, turns into the heat and humidity of Summer and we long once again for the coolness and crispness of Fall. After the beauty of these colored leaves they will soon begin to drop from their branches, but we know that restoration will take place and by next Spring new leaves will form, and by next Summer they will be bright green once again. I have seen many seasons come and go in my life. Some have been pretty harsh and bleak like Winter; however I have the hope that restoration and renewal is taking place.  I love the hope and promise that God will restore all that the stinking devil has stolen from me... what a great promise... and I am so ready to claim back all that is mine!
~Joel 2:23-26 "...rejoice in the Lord your God, for He has given you the autumn rains in righteousness. He sends you abundant showers, both autumn and spring rains, as before. The threshing floors will be filled with grain; the vats will overflow with new wine and oil. I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten- the great locust and the young locust, the other locusts and the locust swarm... my great army that I sent among you. You will have plenty to eat, until you are full, and you will praise the name of the Lord your God, who has worked wonders for you; never again will my people be shamed."

Unfailing...Unchangeable...

Friends are sure nice to have... some are for a lifetime and these are rare gems that are to be cherished. They stick around no matter what. We all have had other kinds though that flee at the faintest offense, and just when you thought you had a friend... off they went their merry way... talking crap about you, and decided that they just weren't your friend after all. Then sometimes people just change, and their personality no longer is compatible with yours. They change so much you can hardly believe it is even the same person who you once knew so well. This is disappointing and hard to take. I am comforted this morning by the fact that there is a friend that has always been, and always will be by my side through thick and through thin and has never changed and never will! He has promised to never leave me or forsake me... He always wants only what is best for "Me" and is not thinking of other motives. His love is unfailing and unchanging! I am so glad for the friend I have in Jesus... He never has, or never will, let me down!

~Psalm 13:5&6 "But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation. I will sing to the Lord, for He has been good to me."

The Truck

If you are a mom and have boys, then you know that without ever teaching them how... they automatically seem to know how to play with cars and trucks from the time they can move around and make a noise! That is how it has always been...My son Justin was no exception to this rule. As a matter of fact, I still have a small metal lunch box of his just full to the brim with little matchbox cars and trucks that used to be all over the living room floor. It was never difficult to figure out what to get him for birthdays and Christmases, as a new truck or car would always suit him just fine. Well, now he is a man, and one that has new dreams and new goals. A year ago at this time, I was so concerned for his direction and began praying for him to find a new path. He has done that and I am proud of him, for not only pursuing it, but finishing it and here is his new truck! He no longer has to walk the halls of the depressing prison where he was an officer night after night. He can now be out on the open road exploring all that this country has to offer. May angels sit all upon the outside of this gorgeous truck of his, and protect him on his journey through life. God always has a plan to help us better ourselves... sometimes we just have to let go of the one thing we are holding so tightly to in order for Him to give us the better plan!
~Jeremiah 29:11 " For I know the plans I have for you," says the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

Rise And Rise Again

I love this quote from the movie Robin Hood: "Rise and Rise again ..until lambs become lions." It means to never give up. No matter how many times you have to start over from scratch.... do it. No matter how many battles you fight and seemingly lose... keep on fighting them. Maybe at times you feel like I do.. like you just can't go on this way another single day and don't have it in you to fight anymore... maybe you don't think you know how to make a way of escape out of your bondage that you are in...but God already has a plan and already has given the weapons you need... so don't give up..Fight! He is a very loving, just, God who does see all and cares so don't ever think for a second that He doesn't pay attention to any thing that seems like injustice. It will be taken care of.
 ~Psalm10:14 "But you, O God, do see trouble and grief; you consider it to take it in hand. The victim commits himself to you; you are the helper of the fatherless."
~Psalm10:15 "Break the arm of the wicked and evil man; call him to account for his wickedness that would not be found out."

What Are Your Plans?

What are your plans for today? How about tomorrow? Next week? Maybe you even have plans all made up for three or more months in advance. I find that next to impossible to do anymore.... I was sitting in the laundry mat yesterday trying to mind my own business but couldn't help but overhear a cell phone conversation of someone telling the person on the other end of all of the plans of various travel destinations that this couple was going to visit. The plans were in so much detail that it amazed me. It went something like this..."well by October we will be in Albuquerque, then we will be headed to here and then there and by thanksgiving we are going to stop in and eat at such and such a restaurant and then by Christmas we should be out in California.... Oh by the first of the year we will meet you in...." This person continued to talk and told of plans all the way up til March and April of this next year! I couldn't help but think to myself that with this sickness that I have, I have learned to take it one day at a time... I don't tend to make plans way ahead of time simply because I just don't know what each day will be like when I get up each morning. I can't even imagine what it would be like to have such great health that I could be on the go like that couple at the laundry mat! Anyway the thought also occurred to me that they may make their plans like that but they have no idea what may transpire from day to day that may interrupt that plan in some way. So I have this day....even in one day I have found that my plans can go awry so I dare not plan too far ahead....
~"Boast not thyself of tomorrow for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth."
~"This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it."

Big Cover Up

How bout it....do we believe the Bible or not? Do we preach one thing and then do another when it comes to our own lives? Are we all just a bunch of pious hypocrites?  How about the verse that says," He that covereth his sin shall not prosper but he that confesses and forsakes it shall find mercy." When we do something wrong and always shift the blame to others or try to hide under the skirts of other people to cover us or shield us from the consequences of our own sins then we are just guilty of a big cover up! It is a coward who will not own up to what he or she has done and take responsibility for their actions. It takes guts and fortitude to stand up and say when you are wrong and when you have done some atrocious deed that is shameful... but if you want God's blessings on your life then this is exactly what He wants. I am sick and tired of people calling themselves fine Christians.... and then even when they are caught red handed doing something they deny it or shift the blame or try to get out of the consequences! Come on! Just admit it... take your lickings like a man and then maybe God will prosper you!

There Is A Rainbow!

I love rainbows in the sky.They give hope...for a brighter day. Promise of the ending of the storm. Whenever we are going through a tough time it is easy to feel as if it will never end and that there is no light at the end of the tunnel. Maybe it feels like your rainbow will never radiate in the sky... it will. It is so easy to let yourself give into feelings of rejection, loneliness, and depression, but God has promised to never leave or abandon me, and if this is true, which it is,,, then why do I allow myself to let feelings of hopelessness creep in? I have to believe that He is still in control and will come through for me... He knows where I am...He knows what I am feeling... He does care. The end will be better than the beginning. I cannot allow my feelings to dictate to me how my day is going to go. Give all of your fears, disappointments, to Him. He is the only one who can fix them, and if there is something you need to do yourself He will show you... be listening in the stillness, for He tends to speak when you are quiet. Even Jesus felt the need to get alone and go up into the mountain to pray. In those moments when I am feeling so alone, I must remind myself that whether I feel it or not... God is with me because He said so!                                                                                                 ~Hebrews 13:5 "Never will I leave you, Never will I forsake you."                                                                                                            ~Jeremiah 29:11 " For I know the plans I have for you", declares the Lord," plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."