I am searching for a new Blog topic....praying.....asking.....believing.....but all the while just getting all kinds of snippets spinning around in my head. Maybe I'm supposed to write a bunch of short stories!
Like there was one day last week that I decided I wanted to TRY my hand at swinging a golf club, on the driving range, with my guys. I guess a weird sensation overcame me when I actually connected with the ball and convinced me that ALL things really are possible! For the very next day I was convinced I was ready! David and I played 9 holes of golf on a real golf course....and I did better than expected....from both of us! :) I had always believed that I would essentially always be the awesome golf cart driver who did her darn best to read the thoughts of my men golfers and always stop at the EXACT location of hit ball as well as take off with just the right speed giving them the right amount of air breeze to cool them off. (Yes writers have permission to use run-on sentences when needed.) BUT.....there was more....so much more! You have to understand that I have had a firm outlook to the game of golf as being the LESS than fun game and would be right up there with the game of chess. Boring to say the least. Pointless to make it even more descriptive. But then I began to see it with a new set of eyes....a new perspective and it became so much more just as I said! It was something that David and I could find enjoyment in, share an interest in (we have MANY of those) as well as a great tool builder of self confidence! All I needed was some encouragement. My David encouraged me and off we went! I have a ways to go, of course, but I know with my husband's support, love and encouragement...as well as God helping out with maybe just a tad of natural ability (heehee)....we can have a shared hobby that can take us who knows where! A funny sidenote: a man at our church heard that I was now playing golf with David and Levi and said his wife had really been wanting to get into the game as well. He said we will have to get together and find a time to play! All the while I'm giving him one of those "yeeeeeaaaah....thats a nice thought, but not really" head shakes. As I related the story back to David he said "We could have a golf ministry." I told him I had never seen this guy's wife with him at church....hence the golf ministry idea. David dear also said almost in same sentence....."We are solitary golf game players." my sentiments exactly! :)
Some may know and some may not that my Levi has been enroute to Hawaii for the past couple of days. We started out as "Hey Mom...Cody wants me to go to Hawaii on Friday. Is that alright?" and this particular day was already Wednesday.....which turned into hearing no more whatsoever regarding it all day Thursday which would become "Hey Mom...it's on now. I'm going with them." and this being Thursday NIGHT. Friday came and went with no departure....flights looked bad. Saturday at 4 they decided to try again. They're flight to California did actually take off this time landing them that night at 9. And that brings us to today, Sunday, with yet no word of any flight taking them to their much anticipated location of .....Hawaii. I'm sure whatever the situation, they are making the best of it. I know that if God wants them in Hawaii....they'll get there. It will definitely be an experience that is most likely once in a lifetime and one that this Mom doesn't plan on ever making. I told Levi "Remember it all for me!" Me and planes do not have a compatible liking.
Instead of continuing on with my "short" stories and making this Blog longer than necessary I will come to the conclusion. In sharing with you, I sense that God is saying ..... Life is happening all around us and it comes in all kinds of packages. There are surprises- -finding a new interest that you never dreamed having! There is encouragement to help you become a better you - - David giving me the confidence to keep trying no matter how many times I didn't connect with the ball! There is God who wants us to share a life of enjoyment with our spouse and not just live in a mundane everyday existance - - a new shared interest is discovered! There are new opportunities awaiting - - Levi given the chance to go to an island we certainly will never take him to! There are setbacks in life and times of waiting on the unknown - - Levi waiting to see if and when they do make it to Hawaii. There are simply the times of making the best of what is given - - Although Hawaii is absolutely wonderful (or so I've heard), California can be pretty amazing as well!
We see that in any and every circumstance of what life can bring us. . . God is and will always be in control. His blessings are countless. His timing is perfect. He is forming He is shaping each and everyone of us into exactly what He wants us to be. Sometimes we need to have the right perspective to see Him at work in all of life's happenings....for He is surely there.
For Life Is What God Makes It!! :)
Sunday, July 24, 2011
Saturday, July 9, 2011
"Where Are Those Crazy Ducks Going?"
As I have been reading some blogs of friends, I have began to notice that each and every single one of my blogs don't have to be a heartfelt devotion on my part! They can rather sometimes be about simple everyday matters that you want to share with others and do not require great lengthy stories to do so. Haha! :)
OK.....I can do that too.....(I think).
Besides....God can speak out of short stories just as well through loooong ones.
Today I saw a situation that was both sad and pathetic and if not for God's great hand of provision - it could only end up heart wrenching. As David and I were driving to Huntsville for lunch, a mother duck, a daddy duck, and 3 or 4 baby ducks were crossing a very BUSY highway!! As they were, somehow thankfully all staying together, and God sparing any swerving cars, they made it only as far as a middle divider concrete barrier would allow them. It had to be God that got them that far! As we past them, I jumped up and turned around in my seat stretching to see them until I could no more. I mean just the major SHOCK of seeing a sight like that on a highway no less! I began praying for them right away for afterall who doesn't have a heart for God's creation in such dire distress?! The ONLY choice they could make was to turn around and go the same way they had got there.....crossing lanes of busy highway traffic. I do hope they made it safely back with God's gentle hand of guidance.
As I sit here and think of this picture in my mind, I see how it can relate to life so easily. I think of raising kids. We raise our children to think for themselves, to listen for and follow God's guidance, to make right decisions regarding life. I questioned David saying "WHAT were these ducks thinking? Where were they going? Couldn't they see it was a dead-end, no-go situation ahead of time?" His O so knowledgable reply, "Do ducks think??" I had to laugh on that one! :) Well, you most likly see where I'm going with THIS one. Do ducks OR kids think?? My answer 90% of the time....."NO." We, as parents, come to the day and time when we let go and watch our "ducks" blindly go forward all the while telling us they know what they are doing. It is in those times that we wait.....and wait.....and wait somemore for God's guiding hand to put the middle concrete barrier up in their lives. As he does, He turns them around gently leading them back to the safety of "home" - place of His will, His path, His purpose. Sometimes the way back, just as for those ducks out on the highway, can appear treacherous, scary and impossible.....but we know absolutely NOTHING is too impossible for God. "With man this is impossible, but not with God; ALL things are possible with God." Mark 10:27. I believe also that God can and at times does pick them up and literally place them where He wants them just as He could literally pick up these poor ducks and put them back in safety. But, I also have to believe that God, so perfect in His knowledge of what we need in life to mold us and shape us, will allow them to walk that path back home however dangerous it may seem. . . but NEVER alone. Maybe in other words.....we don't often understand the trials and errors our children go through, but we can ALWAYS trust their all loving, all knowing Father to be with them to see them through.
And not just our children apply to this situation!
We ourselves have been there. We blindly and unthinking go forward all the while seeming to believe that this is right. And if we were to come to that "middle barrier" and truly ask ourselves "Am I in the right place? Is this going anywhere good?" Our honest answer would be a very saddened "no." We adults make mistakes too and don't have life all pre-packaged up in a nice little neat bow. . . our kids need to know that. We are real. But just as sure as we are real, we make mistakes, we blindly set out on the wrong path - we have a loving Father who steps in and shows us the right one. :) God is so good! "He will call upon me, and I will answer him. I will be with him in trouble. I will deliver him and honor him/her." Psalms 91:15. Also - "I am the Lord your God, who teaches you what is best for you, who directs you in the way you should go." Isaiah 48:17. And leads us back He does! It is in those times of falling that often we used in an even greater way for Him upon returning as well! So have hope, my friend, God brings beauty from the ashes and blessings from failures. A good verse for anyone who has traveled a wrong path is to seek comfort from this >> "Forget the former things, do not dwell on the past. See, I AM doing a new thing!" Isaiah 43:18.
OK....so the word SHORT apparently is not in my vocabulary when it comes to writing, although the word has been applied to my physical stature more than once! Ah well. . . . :)
May God guide those little ducks and us, back to His place of safety and rest.
![]()
![]()
OK.....I can do that too.....(I think).
Besides....God can speak out of short stories just as well through loooong ones.
Today I saw a situation that was both sad and pathetic and if not for God's great hand of provision - it could only end up heart wrenching. As David and I were driving to Huntsville for lunch, a mother duck, a daddy duck, and 3 or 4 baby ducks were crossing a very BUSY highway!! As they were, somehow thankfully all staying together, and God sparing any swerving cars, they made it only as far as a middle divider concrete barrier would allow them. It had to be God that got them that far! As we past them, I jumped up and turned around in my seat stretching to see them until I could no more. I mean just the major SHOCK of seeing a sight like that on a highway no less! I began praying for them right away for afterall who doesn't have a heart for God's creation in such dire distress?! The ONLY choice they could make was to turn around and go the same way they had got there.....crossing lanes of busy highway traffic. I do hope they made it safely back with God's gentle hand of guidance.
As I sit here and think of this picture in my mind, I see how it can relate to life so easily. I think of raising kids. We raise our children to think for themselves, to listen for and follow God's guidance, to make right decisions regarding life. I questioned David saying "WHAT were these ducks thinking? Where were they going? Couldn't they see it was a dead-end, no-go situation ahead of time?" His O so knowledgable reply, "Do ducks think??" I had to laugh on that one! :) Well, you most likly see where I'm going with THIS one. Do ducks OR kids think?? My answer 90% of the time....."NO." We, as parents, come to the day and time when we let go and watch our "ducks" blindly go forward all the while telling us they know what they are doing. It is in those times that we wait.....and wait.....and wait somemore for God's guiding hand to put the middle concrete barrier up in their lives. As he does, He turns them around gently leading them back to the safety of "home" - place of His will, His path, His purpose. Sometimes the way back, just as for those ducks out on the highway, can appear treacherous, scary and impossible.....but we know absolutely NOTHING is too impossible for God. "With man this is impossible, but not with God; ALL things are possible with God." Mark 10:27. I believe also that God can and at times does pick them up and literally place them where He wants them just as He could literally pick up these poor ducks and put them back in safety. But, I also have to believe that God, so perfect in His knowledge of what we need in life to mold us and shape us, will allow them to walk that path back home however dangerous it may seem. . . but NEVER alone. Maybe in other words.....we don't often understand the trials and errors our children go through, but we can ALWAYS trust their all loving, all knowing Father to be with them to see them through.
And not just our children apply to this situation!
We ourselves have been there. We blindly and unthinking go forward all the while seeming to believe that this is right. And if we were to come to that "middle barrier" and truly ask ourselves "Am I in the right place? Is this going anywhere good?" Our honest answer would be a very saddened "no." We adults make mistakes too and don't have life all pre-packaged up in a nice little neat bow. . . our kids need to know that. We are real. But just as sure as we are real, we make mistakes, we blindly set out on the wrong path - we have a loving Father who steps in and shows us the right one. :) God is so good! "He will call upon me, and I will answer him. I will be with him in trouble. I will deliver him and honor him/her." Psalms 91:15. Also - "I am the Lord your God, who teaches you what is best for you, who directs you in the way you should go." Isaiah 48:17. And leads us back He does! It is in those times of falling that often we used in an even greater way for Him upon returning as well! So have hope, my friend, God brings beauty from the ashes and blessings from failures. A good verse for anyone who has traveled a wrong path is to seek comfort from this >> "Forget the former things, do not dwell on the past. See, I AM doing a new thing!" Isaiah 43:18.
OK....so the word SHORT apparently is not in my vocabulary when it comes to writing, although the word has been applied to my physical stature more than once! Ah well. . . . :)
May God guide those little ducks and us, back to His place of safety and rest.
Sunday, July 3, 2011
"Do you remember your first love?"
One evening this past week, David and I sat down and watched a very special video representing a very wonderful time in our life. . . . our wedding! A very dear friend came upon their copy of this VHS video that was made almost 24 years ago. They transferred it to a DVD and mailed it to us. I excitedly awaited it's arrival! My excitement didn't appear to carry over into my children though. As Levi stated the night David and I were watching, "That looks like the most BORING thing ever to watch." Ah well....who cares.... Probably would be to a teenage boy. But to me. . . even with it's flaws and poor quality compared to today's technology. . . it was priceless!
As we sat there and shared laughs over just how MUCH we and others have changed through the years. . . time has a way of doing that - we also noticed that there was a sentimentalness to it for 5 very SPECIAL people we loved dearly were past from this life to the next. I'm sure there were others out in the crowd that have past as well, but these 5 were a part of us and who we were in a sense. Kinda makes you realize the shortness of life as well. One man was absent that day. A man I have grown only to know through countless stories I have been told. A man that was admired, respected and loved. A man that one day I will get to meet for the very first time. A man that I'm sure I would have loved while he lived upon the earth, and hoped that he would have loved me in return just as much. My father in law.
< A toss in > So glad that my lovely husband discarded the giant glasses, higher pitched voice, hillbilly talk and has become the suave and ultra-magnificient-cool man he is of today!! :))
In sharing about our time of viewing a special memory, I also tell you that as wonderful as it was to see so many faces of those in past days as well as seeing the memory of how we looked ourselves. . . it was the memory of our first love that I would like to think was the most captivating. And so it is that I write this Blog.
As I decided upon a topic to write about after prayer and much thought, I went with this one. As I begin to write I remembered words from our dear friend who sent the video to us. She simply said "watch it and always remember that first love that you two shared." Hopefully in me remembering her words, once I got started, was the assurance from God that this was indeed what I was supposed to write about! :)
I will share with you that David was/is/will be always and forever my first love. I am most thankful that God didn't see fit to take me through numerous relationships while growing up. Although, while growing up you don't realize the beauty of that blessing! But, in looking back you most certainly do! I will also share with you that there was one other boy that will hold a forever special place in my heart as well. Many of you know him, but for lack of embarrassment to him I will with hold his name. ; ) He would one day introduce me to my husband and very lovingly and graciously bow out for he saw the happiness that would come. I thank him with all my heart for the wonderful boyfriend as well as friend that he was to both me and David. I hope he reads this and truly knows what a special person I know him to be!
I can also tell you that just as SURE as I know that David is my one and only true love both then and now. . . I also know that that love has grown immeasurably in great ways through times of testing, mistakes, errors, heartaches. And not only through those, but also through just the simple and pure enjoyment of finding happiness in being together as the very best of best friends. God has truly blessed us with being able to spend very much of our lives together. The beauty of that blessing. . . we never tire of being together and I mean that in the very most literal sense of the word - never. I read and hear how that others can't stand to be together for very great lengths of time with their spouse and it makes me wonder WHY then are you married? I know too though that people need their individualness and that can come across in different ways than I am not accustom to.
As I look back at this video, I can see and remember that "first love" in my eyes. But, I don't have to just look back and remember. Today I can still see and know that I have that same "first love" in my eyes, in my heart and in my actions. I can tell you that David carries that "first love" as well. He shows me everyday what it means to him through his loving actions. I am blessed above and beyond deserving.
Just as important for us to look back and remember that "first love" we have for our spouses, I believe God is telling us to also not forget nor dismiss that "first love" He has for us. God's love for us never ceases, never dims, never grows stale. In fact He not only loves you, but He DELIGHTS in you as well!! There may be some that have never felt "delighted" in so it would seem foreign to them to hear this. God delights in you simply and for no other reason. . . because you are His. His delight doesn't result from what you have done, what you haven't done or even what you can show for all your strivings. His delight is in you for you and exactly you. "How precious concerning me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them they would outnumber the grains of sand." God's delight is in you, my friend. Do you recall a time in your life when you made Jesus your first love? Do you recall a time of trusting in Jesus as God's provision for the salvation of your eternal soul? There is no other in which you can be saved by. Jesus says "I am the way, the truth and the life; no man cometh unto the Father but by me." John 14:6. If you haven't experienced that "first love" with the very ONE that loves you most - you can today, right now, right here!
Are you ready?
If unsure, know that you can KNOW!
A= Accept that you are a sinner in need of a Saviour!
B= Believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead!
C= Confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and call upon Him to save YOU!
If you have received that "first love" and know it's realness, but through the years and passage of time it has grown weak. . . know that God's love is always strong, secure and present. That love awaits your return. Just as I have shared the plan of salvation countless times in my Blogs, I also have shared that God can and DOES make new out of not just fresh born again believers, but old believers as well! I'm living proof!! :)
So won't you take a moment out of your busy day and not only remember that "first love" with the very One Who saved your soul, but also ask Him to make it refreshed too? "Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit to sustain me." Psalms 51:12.
As I end my Blog, I leave with you another great verse of God's great love and delight in you!
"The Lord your God is with you, He is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing." Zephaniah 3:17.
As we sat there and shared laughs over just how MUCH we and others have changed through the years. . . time has a way of doing that - we also noticed that there was a sentimentalness to it for 5 very SPECIAL people we loved dearly were past from this life to the next. I'm sure there were others out in the crowd that have past as well, but these 5 were a part of us and who we were in a sense. Kinda makes you realize the shortness of life as well. One man was absent that day. A man I have grown only to know through countless stories I have been told. A man that was admired, respected and loved. A man that one day I will get to meet for the very first time. A man that I'm sure I would have loved while he lived upon the earth, and hoped that he would have loved me in return just as much. My father in law.
< A toss in > So glad that my lovely husband discarded the giant glasses, higher pitched voice, hillbilly talk and has become the suave and ultra-magnificient-cool man he is of today!! :))
In sharing about our time of viewing a special memory, I also tell you that as wonderful as it was to see so many faces of those in past days as well as seeing the memory of how we looked ourselves. . . it was the memory of our first love that I would like to think was the most captivating. And so it is that I write this Blog.
As I decided upon a topic to write about after prayer and much thought, I went with this one. As I begin to write I remembered words from our dear friend who sent the video to us. She simply said "watch it and always remember that first love that you two shared." Hopefully in me remembering her words, once I got started, was the assurance from God that this was indeed what I was supposed to write about! :)
I will share with you that David was/is/will be always and forever my first love. I am most thankful that God didn't see fit to take me through numerous relationships while growing up. Although, while growing up you don't realize the beauty of that blessing! But, in looking back you most certainly do! I will also share with you that there was one other boy that will hold a forever special place in my heart as well. Many of you know him, but for lack of embarrassment to him I will with hold his name. ; ) He would one day introduce me to my husband and very lovingly and graciously bow out for he saw the happiness that would come. I thank him with all my heart for the wonderful boyfriend as well as friend that he was to both me and David. I hope he reads this and truly knows what a special person I know him to be!
I can also tell you that just as SURE as I know that David is my one and only true love both then and now. . . I also know that that love has grown immeasurably in great ways through times of testing, mistakes, errors, heartaches. And not only through those, but also through just the simple and pure enjoyment of finding happiness in being together as the very best of best friends. God has truly blessed us with being able to spend very much of our lives together. The beauty of that blessing. . . we never tire of being together and I mean that in the very most literal sense of the word - never. I read and hear how that others can't stand to be together for very great lengths of time with their spouse and it makes me wonder WHY then are you married? I know too though that people need their individualness and that can come across in different ways than I am not accustom to.
As I look back at this video, I can see and remember that "first love" in my eyes. But, I don't have to just look back and remember. Today I can still see and know that I have that same "first love" in my eyes, in my heart and in my actions. I can tell you that David carries that "first love" as well. He shows me everyday what it means to him through his loving actions. I am blessed above and beyond deserving.
Just as important for us to look back and remember that "first love" we have for our spouses, I believe God is telling us to also not forget nor dismiss that "first love" He has for us. God's love for us never ceases, never dims, never grows stale. In fact He not only loves you, but He DELIGHTS in you as well!! There may be some that have never felt "delighted" in so it would seem foreign to them to hear this. God delights in you simply and for no other reason. . . because you are His. His delight doesn't result from what you have done, what you haven't done or even what you can show for all your strivings. His delight is in you for you and exactly you. "How precious concerning me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them they would outnumber the grains of sand." God's delight is in you, my friend. Do you recall a time in your life when you made Jesus your first love? Do you recall a time of trusting in Jesus as God's provision for the salvation of your eternal soul? There is no other in which you can be saved by. Jesus says "I am the way, the truth and the life; no man cometh unto the Father but by me." John 14:6. If you haven't experienced that "first love" with the very ONE that loves you most - you can today, right now, right here!
Are you ready?
If unsure, know that you can KNOW!
A= Accept that you are a sinner in need of a Saviour!
B= Believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead!
C= Confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and call upon Him to save YOU!
If you have received that "first love" and know it's realness, but through the years and passage of time it has grown weak. . . know that God's love is always strong, secure and present. That love awaits your return. Just as I have shared the plan of salvation countless times in my Blogs, I also have shared that God can and DOES make new out of not just fresh born again believers, but old believers as well! I'm living proof!! :)
So won't you take a moment out of your busy day and not only remember that "first love" with the very One Who saved your soul, but also ask Him to make it refreshed too? "Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit to sustain me." Psalms 51:12.
As I end my Blog, I leave with you another great verse of God's great love and delight in you!
"The Lord your God is with you, He is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing." Zephaniah 3:17.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)