Jehovah Nissi

You are the Lord our Banner, Jehovah Nissi.  You give us victory against the flesh, the world and the devil.  Our sins are done! Our victory was won on the cross.  Out battles are Your battles.  We have only to be still and believe that the battle is already won!


What a reassurance that is.  Just imagine the life you can live when you live it for Christ.  He has taken care of everything.  Jesus did it all!

Peace that surpasses all human understanding is ours.  We do not have to count on ourselves to take care of battles, whether they are battles again the flesh or battles against the dark forces of evil.  Christ did it all!

The battles are won as Christ walks before us clearing our paths of obstacles.  He did it all!

He died on the cross so that you, me, all His children could be free from the stronghold that sin had over us.  He sacrificed His life so we can live!  Father God did it all!

I strive daily to live a life pleasing to my Father so His sacrifice on my behalf was not done in vain.  Father, Son and the Holy Spirit did it all! 

A Present For Jesus

This is written by my good friend Wendelijn Sloof and edited by another good friend Robin Jones.  This is such a Christmas blessing to me and I hope you enjoy it as well.

A Present for Jesus

“They came into the house and saw the young child with Mary, his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Opening their treasures, they offered to him gifts: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.” (Matthew 2:11 NIV)

When the wise men came into the house, the first thing they saw was Jesus and then Mary.

They worshipped Him and then offered the first Christmas gifts ever! And what a remarkable gifts they were to give a little baby. Even more remarkable is the deep meaning of each gift. We, too, can follow the wise men’s example in giving Jesus the same gifts. Let’s take a look at each of the gifts.

Gold represents the majesty and dominion of Jesus as a KING. Frankincense depicts the symbol for prayer and offering showing Jesus as HIGHPRIEST. Myrrh is very expensive, used for embalming, and is a bitter herb used during the Passover meal. (Not your typical baby shower gift!) Myrrh represents suffering and sacrifice showing Jesus as the LAMB.

The Gold is Jesus’ FUTURE reign as King of Kings on earth. This represents the gift of HOPE. Frankincense is what Jesus is doing right NOW as high priest, interceding for us. This represents the gift of FAITH. Myrrh represents what Jesus DID for us on the cross as the sacrificial Lamb taking away the sins of the world. This represents the greatest gift, LOVE.

We also find these three gifts symbolized in the Tabernacle. When first entering the Tabernacle, the priest would see the burnt offering of the Myrrh, symbolizing the suffering of Christ. He would smell the odoriferous sacrifice of the Frankincense, the scent wafting heavenward in the form of intercessory prayers. At last, the priest would see the arch of God symbolizing the throne of God where He rules.

All three elements of the gifts become a visual in Jesus’ life. As we are called to look more and more like Jesus we should also make those gifts our own!

Is there spiritual gold in your life? Can people see that Jesus is our treasure and He rules as King in our lives? Can people see your HOPE?

Is our life full of spiritual frankincense? Do we send intercessory prayer wafting to the throne of God? Do we spread the scent of Christ? Do we have FAITH that our prayers are being answered?

Spiritual myrrh is all the forms of suffering in our lives. We don’t have to look for suffering for it is pervasive in all of our lives. Can we surrender our sufferings to Jesus? Will we willingly offer the broken pieces of our lives to Christ so He might pour out HIS LOVE in and through our lives to heal and restore us and others through your testimony?

How then do we give these gifts to Jesus? Follow the example of the wise men.

Bow our knees Jesus, worship Him, surrender ourselves and thank Him for his sacrifice by:

Surrendering our Gold which is all the things we have set our hearts on here on earth.

Bringing our Frankincense by baring our most intimate wishes and desires before Him in prayer

Laying down our Myrrh at his feet, by giving over all our suffering and pain.

There is so much gold to dig in this world. Satan tempts us with all kinds of it. He attempts to make us believe that we are only happy when we have those things in our lives. Of course the things he offers us as Gold is actually Myrrh! We don’t have to settle! Our FUTURE and HOPE is GOLD! The Lord promises us all of His riches. We don’t have to look for them here. Now we will have the bitterness of the myrrh in the form of suffering. However, the myrrh leads to something, without myrrh there is no gold! Now we have Frankincense. We can work on ourselves by surrendering to Him, keeping up our prayer life and relationship with Him on a daily basis. In this way, we will receive strength to remove the myrrh.

I’ll leave you with this thought about gifts. In Isaiah 60:6, we see we receive a gift in return. We read that there were only two gifts taken to the honor of God, gold and the frankincense.. Is the bible making an error by excluding the myrrh? No, of course not! This is actually a vision of the New Jerusalem after Christ’s return. It is a peek into our future. A future with no myrrh! The suffering will pass! What a great gift we receive from Jesus. What a gift we can give back through our lives, until the time that He will return and the suffering will vanish!

Are you ready to give your gifts to Jesus?!

　

　

　

　

　

Just Be

Just Be!

I strive to be all of the above.  Some days the "be still" eludes me.  That is the most important of the "be" word.  When I fail to be still, then I miss my time to soak my whole being with God's Word and His presence.

"Be humble" that another battle that I face.  I really struggle to remain humble most of the time.  Not that I don't want to, but my flesh wants that recognition and praise.  Like I go around patting myself on the back if no one else offers to pat it for me.  This is not the way God instructs me to live my life.

It is easy for me to "be grateful".  These past several months has really taught me that regardless of our circumstances, I have so very, very much to be grateful for. 

I think I can "be smart", however, that is open for discussion.

I can "be involved" but sadly,  not involved enough.  I wonder, how can I complain about happenings, events and people of this world not changing, when change begins by people being involved.

I also find it easy to "be true".  I have never liked people that are not truthful.  I don't have problems being true to my spouse or true to my friends and family.  True and truth are a part of me.

To "be prayerful" is my second nature.  I live most of my day in a prayerful state.  No, I don't mean that I am in a head bowed, hands folded, standing still position, but, I am in a ongoing conversation with God most all of the day.  I truly have a open line of communication with my Father.

To "be clean" to me means to be clean in mind and spirit.  This is tough sometimes because when someone upsets me, I automatically have to fight unclean thoughts about that person. 

So, there is definitely an unfinished work in me.  Some of the construction God does, the rest is up to me.  I certainly have work to do.

God created fruit too!

Oh, how I love fruit.  I thank God for creating fruit.  It is healthy, good and comforting.  Did you realize that fruit was comforting?  Well, it is!  Especially apples. 

Maybe apples are comforting to me because they make me think of Christmas time.  When I was young (long time ago) we only had 2 fruits that we could afford at Christmas; apples and oranges. 

Honestly, I can pick up a orange or apple, close my eyes and smell either of them and they take me back to the days of my childhood when my mother was still living.  My mother died when I was very young, so I enjoy smells that take me back to the days of comfort when my mother was there to "mother" me.  Our sense of smell is connected really well to our memory.

We made a trip to Ellijay, GA today.  Ellijay is the Apple Capital of Georgia, or so they say.  I LOVE going to the apple houses.  I try to stop at everyone of them when we make the trip up to buy apples.  Actually, we only buy apples from a couple of them but still, I enjoy stopping by each one and walking around and smelling the apples, apple pies and apple cakes.  Of course, there is always apple cider to taste test.  And no apple house is worth it's salt if it doesn't have apple butter and apple sauce to be tested as well.

We had a wonderful day.  Enjoyed the beautiful sites of changing leaves that God had on display for us.  The beauty that our eyes beheld only enhanced the trip.

My husband and I had a long conversation on the trip up about the many, many blessings that God heaps on us everyday.  You might think, with the cancer diagnosis we are living with in our lives now that we would not find it easy to see so many blessings.  However, we can even see the cancer as a blessing in a very unusual way.  My husband faith in God has grown from a seed to a huge redwood tree.  Praise God, that is a huge blessing.  My faith has grown stronger. 

Take whatever comes to you in life and turn it into a blessing.  That can be done, we are living proof.

Be blessed and be a blessing to others.

Major Changes in Life

George had his 2nd chemo already and is scheduled for the 3rd on the 17th of October.  We have moved from McKinney CG to our new location which is Upper Stamp Creek CG.

It is beautiful here at the new park and I am so looking forward to doing a lot of walking and exploring here.  Now, this park is truly on a mountain.  The last portion of the drive into the park is literally on the edge!! 

I love it because being up on the mountain like this makes me feel like I can just reach out and touch the face of God.  I realize that He is with me everywhere I am, but there is something that is so comforting about being in this location where I am right now.

This fast paced life we have been living for several months has really taken away from my time with God and that has left me totally frustrated.  I can not get enough of my Heavenly Father.  I crave the peace and comfort that I get when I spend time with Him.  I love to "be still and know He is God".  My refreshment and rejuvenation comes only when I bask in His presence.  I owe Him and myself a lot of "together" time. 

This campground is closed for the winter and that will really allow for more quiet times with God.  There is no campers coming in and out of the park as the entrance gate is locked.  So, no noisy vehicles, people or pets.  Just George and myself and another wonderful couple are the only residents.  Of course, we have plenty of critters living here as well, such as squirrels, wild turkeys, foxes, deer and all kinds of birds.

I thank God for all the blessings that He has abundantly heaped upon us.  He has made provisions where I could not even fathom provisions being made possible.  Our God is an AWESOME God. 

First Chemo

I love this statement.  But my blessings are so many that it would take mountains of stone to write them all down.  Thank you God for all those blessings.

George had his first chemo treatment on the 19th of September (this past Monday).  He has done wonderful.  He feels great and has had very little side effects.  For about the first 3 days he took the nausea pills sort of as a precaution. 

The main side effect was the when he would have mouth and throat spasms when he drank anything that was cool.  Even though it would be at room temperature, he still got the spasms.  Those lasted for about 3 days and then subsided.  Giving up his morning milk was hard for him.  We bought some instant hot chocolate mix and he added that to his milk and heated it to drink for breakfast.  Thankful he could get his milk in anyway.

Oh my, it is hard to express the words that bubble in my heart of praise for my Heavenly Father.  He has blessed us abundantly.  He continues to bless us and I thank Him.

Storms With Rainbows

GOD PUT A RAINBOW IN THE SKY, WHEN IT LOOKED LIKE THE SUN WOULDN'T SHINE ANYMORE, GOD PUT A RAINBOW IN THE SKY

My last post was one of a woman that was in awe of the miracles of my Lord and Savior.  This post is from a woman who is STILL in awe of my Lord and Savior.

The Pathologist as well as the Surgeon felt sure there was cancer in the mass, so he continued to dissect the one lymp node as well as the growth removed from my husband and he FOUND the cancer.  Naturally, when the Surgeon talked with us on Monday I can honestly say that "shock" came no where close to describing how we felt.  I could not wrap my mind around what I was hearing.  I called a dear sweet friend and let her pray me through it.  She talked with me until I could get calmed down and start to look at things objectively.

There was so many blessings in this Rainbow that God put in the middle of my storm.  THEY found this cancer before my husband was sent home from the hospital, had they not found it; I shutter to think of what might have happened in the coming months. 

Surgery for the 2nd time was performed on Tuesday.  They took out 12" more of the colon and all the lymp nodes.  Final reports on Friday revealed that 3 of 38 lymp nodes had cancer and the growth had cancer in it as well.  There is no cancer in the liver nor in the lungs and with the surgery, the cancer is no longer in the colon.  However, he will have to take Chemo to raise his chances of the cancer not re-occuring in the colon from 50% to 80%. 

At the end of the Chemotherapy treatments (6 months) then the Seeds of Radiation will be implanted into the prostate. 

God is so good, all the time He is so good.  He put us in a place at this time in our lives where there are wonderful Doctors, Nurses, Hospital and Cancer Treatment Centers.  How blessed we are.







In Awe

 I stand in awe and complete reverence of the miracle that my Heavenly Father has given to my sweet husband.  This miracle also effected every family member and friend of the family.

The colonospy that I had mentioned George had to have on the 3rd turned out to be a real "life saver for him".  They found a huge mass that was growing out from the wall of the colon.  However, the mass WAS NOT what the Radiologist had felt.  What he felt was just a small polup that was easily removed.  This mass was located at the end of the large colon where it connects to the small colon.

The surgeon came and talked to me after she finished the colonospy and told me she was admitting him immediately and would do surgery the next day.  She was 90% positive that it was cancerous.

I could not breathe, I started hyperventilating, I was afraid, I wanted to cry, I wanted to run, I had to tell my husband this terrible news.

He had no problems that would have indicated such a monster growing in the colon.  The fact that his father died with colon cancer and one sister was a colon cancer survivor, another died of colorectal cancer and yet another died with lung cancer REALLY put fear in our hearts.

God had not had the final word and believe me, until He speaks the final word, then no sentence is complete. 

I fell heavily onto Him, my heart cried out as my mind swirled.  Fear was gripping my mind as I clung tighter and tighter onto God's hand and His comfort.

Surgery was performed around 1PM on Thursday.  We were prepared for the worst when the surgeon met us in the consultation room to say.....NO CANCER WAS FOUND!!!  Praise God....Yes, my Heavenly Father had said the final word.....no cancer in this colon....He is my Lord and my Savior, my strength, my hope, my refuge.  He carries me when I can't walk, He lights my path, He lifts me up when I fall.  I thank you God, I praise you God. I worship you God.

Had the mass not been found and removed the chances of it turning into cancer was about 100%. 

God used a lot of people to get this problem taken care of.  He used 4 doctors and lots of events to bring the final curtain down on this performance.  I stand in complete awe and am totally amazed at the way He performs.

Cartwheels

Has been much too long since I updated my blog.  The title "Cartwheels" really explains what I feel like me and my sweetie have been doing since the 15th of July. 

A week after the diagnosis we met with the Radiation Oncologist.  While doing his exam he felt a rough spot on the colon wall so, another appointment had to be made with a surgeon.

Met with the surgeon today (26th) and a colonospy is now scheduled for the 3rd of August.  Went to the hospital and had the pre-admission papers filled out to speed things along.

Meanwhile, the Radiation Oncologist has scheduled a ultrasound of the prostate to be done on the 10th of August.  He told us that normally after the ultrasound is done then the seeds of radiation will be planted 2 weeks later.  OF COURSE, if the colonospy reveals a problem, then all the above schedules will change.

Now, do you see the reason I say that I feel like we have been turning cartwheels??  Our lives are very topsy turvy at the moment. 

Our God is still in complete control of the situation and we are both very much at peace with all these procedures.  So many wonderful friends and all the family are praying for my sweetheart.

I can honestly say there have been very few times that I have felt fear in the past few days.  I did feel fear and a sick feeling when the Radiation Oncologist found the spot on the colon.  Since my husband lost a sister to colorectal cancer;  another sister to lung cancer and then a third is a survivor of colon cancer.....you understand why I would have fear??

But still, my God is in total control.  I put my faith in Him and I leave my problems in his protective care.

Sweet Spirit

God's sweet, sweet Spirit was with us today when the doctor confirmed what we already knew deep in our hearts.  My sweet George has prostate cancer.

I would have told you a few years ago that if a doctor told me, that me, my husband, or one of my children or grandchildren had cancer that I would have collapsed, cried, thrown up, screamed....that list goes on and on.  You see, that was before.  Before I really studied God's love letter to me, before I put my complete faith and trust in Him. 

God said that He would give me a peace that transcends any human understanding.  He gave me that peace and it is a peace that does surpass human understanding.  The doctor could testify to that, as could many of our family members and friends.  People are having a hard time understanding how we are being so calm about a diagnosis of cancer.  Our God and His love for us is so much greater than cancer cells. 

God's word tells us,  all the things that He can and will do for us.  All that He ask us to do is believe, such a simple little word...believe.  It really takes no effort, just trust and faith.  I have both and I BELIEVE! 

There are no words to describe the peace that my sweet George and I feel tonight.  This won't necessarily be a easy battle, however, God did promise to fight the battle for us.   If we just BELIEVE in Him, then He will do the rest.  AND I BELIEVE.

Yes, that sweet, sweet Spirit of God has not left us.  He said that He would be with us now and always....and my friend, I BELIEVE HIM.

There is blessings to be found with every storm in our lives.  I can already see blessings as my faith, trust and love for God gets stronger and stronger.  My husband and I have always had such a very, very close relationship.  I would have said earlier that there was no way we could get any stronger in our love for each other, however, this has drawn us even closer than before. 

I love living my life with God's Spirit with me, there is no peace like His peace and I love it!!

Moving Mountains

I have read and studied the Bible for quite a number of years, however, I  recently had one of those "aha" moments when a light went off in my head.  YES, I GET IT!! 

In the Bible, God tells us that if we had faith that was strong enough that we could command a mountain to move and it WOULD MOVE......I have faith, I have strong faith but I just never saw a need to move a mountain, after all, where would I tell it to go?? 

I FINALLY got the point He was making, it is not a literal mountain that our faith could move, but, the mountains in our lives.  Just like the mountain that George and I found ourselves standing in front of lately.  That huge mountain of FEAR....guess what???  Our faith in our Lord and Savior along with our prayers and the many, many prayers of friends and family has literally moved that mountain from our lives.  Instead, in front of us now is a peaceful, green valley filled with wild flowers, birds, butterflies and a gentle clean stream.  We met God in that valley and He held us in His hands and gave us the assurance that if we leave that mountain with Him that He will be faithful to keep it out of our lives.  We gave it to Him and now we only face that beautiful garden of peace.

Thank you sweet Jesus for your blessed assurance that anything we might face in this health crisis won't be faced alone, but, we will face it with Your hand in ours.



Biopsy Done

On the 7th we went for the pre-op meeting with the doctor and then yesterday we were back again for the biopsy.  Very surprised that they allowed me to stay in the room with George while the biopsy was being done. 

12 samples were taken to be sent to the lab to be analyzed.  The report should be back next Friday or the following Monday at the latest.  Now, the wait begins.  What ever the results might be, we know that God has a reason and a purpose for allowing this occurence in our lives.  We were not meant to understand or question the reason why.  It has certainly drawn us closer to God, even when I felt that I couldn't get any closer.  In His time, all things will be revealed to us; not a day too soon or too late, but in His timing.

Both of us were at complete peace yesterday; matter of fact, we are still at peace both mentally and spiritually.  There have been so many, many prayers said for us and the situation we are facing.  The Peace I feel actually transcends any human explanation, just as God's word says will happen; if and when we put our total and complete faith in Him and give Him our worries and troubles.

We shall patiently wait for the scientic evaluation of the biopsy, while we are standing firm in God's hands.  There is sweet peace to be had from this sweet Spirit.

Shock and Breathing

Shock is what I feel right now.  Along with that shock I feel tremendous fear; along with that fear comes difficulty breathing.

Why do I feel like this???? The phone call we received from the Urologist is not one we wanted to receive.  My husband's PSA numbers have increased considerably over the last 3 weeks, instead of the increase in milligrams of the medication improving the numbers.....they INCREASED.

Now,  instead of trying a antibiotic or a different medication as the doctor indicated 10 days ago that he wanted to do; he has now decided to go to the last step and do a biopsy in 10 days.

I am frightened and I don't like this feeling, that is not easy for me to admit.  However, I have God.  I have really got to draw deep from His well of comfort.  I have got to give this fear over to Him.  Only He can handle this problem.  I proved today that I have no strength on my own to be a support to my husband when actually I am crumbling myself.

I have to ASK for His help and guidance.  I have to KNOCK and He will open that door of peace and comfort for me. I have to SEEK Him with all my heart and with complete faith, He will be there for me and George.

God, let me rest my weary head upon your chest and bring me a feeling of peace; then and only then will I be able to give my husband the strength and support that he needs.

Peace

Sweet Words of Peace from Jesus!

Return, then unto thy rest, O my soul! Let the sweet cadence of this “word of Jesus” steal on thee amid the disquietudes of earth. Sheltered in Him, thou art safe for time, safe for eternity! There may be, and will be, temporary tossings, fears, and misgivings,—manifestations of inward corruption; but these will only be like the surface-heavings of the ocean, while underneath there is a deep settled calm. “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace” (lit. peace, peace) “whose mind is stayed on Thee.” In the world it is care on care, trouble on trouble, sin on sin; but every wave that breaks on the believers soul seems sweetly to murmur, “Peace, peace!” And if the foretaste of this rest be precious, what must be the glorious

4 Weeks

Can't believe it has been 4 weeks since I posted.  Time really moves fast in the summer months especially with work at the park.  So very busy as so many people are doing the Stacations.

I have got to learn how to deal with emotional pain.  I had a bad emotional experience today and developed a terrible headache and now my neck and shoulders hurt due to the tense muscles.  Anger and emotional pain causes us to really tense up and then when you get older like me you will find that tense pain endures for much longer periods of time.

I know that when I face emotional pain like I did today that I need to STOP, LISTEN and SEEK GOD with all my being and turn it over to him.  But almost everytime it happens, I fail to do what I know I should do.  Instead my emotions take over and then I just sort of "lose it" or lose control might be a better choice of words.

When I am dealt emotional pain then I lash out verbally with words that I would normally NEVER use.  Matter of fact, some of the words I said today are actually words that I despise hearing people use.  All done in anger!!

Tomorrow, oh tomorrow....I have no idea what it will bring.  I need to clear my head of the trash it had in it today and replace it with God's sweet words.

Humbled

I am always humbled by the way that God loves me and provides for me and my spouse.  He can be counted on to come through everytime.  Maybe not in my preferred timing, but always in His perfect timing.

Everyday gives us new hope on our financial situation.  God started a mighty work in helping us to recover and He is not finished. 

I pray that I will be receptive to His promptings to "stop circling this mountain and walk straight away".

Some time ago I posted on this blog that I was at the lowerest point I have ever been at, let me tell you something!!!!....that is when you cry out to God and He reaches down and lifts you slowly and gently from the deepest crevice of your pit.  I am not solid yet but this Rock that I stand on is solid through and through.

When I say I am nothing without Him, please know that is exactly what I mean.  Maybe I had become guilty of being full of "myself" and full of "my own strength" but Praise God, He brought me back to a place I need to be.  The journey has been bruising and hard to take sometime but He brought me through it alive and healed.

God does not allow me a language that would adequately describe my love for Him and my praises to Him.  That is why He gave us the Holy Spirit to make moaning and groanings when we could not find the words that we need to communicate our feelings to our Abba Father.  

Many times a day I can feel my heart swell and overflow with my love for Him.  Have you ever seen a child that squeals and claps their hands while jumping up and down with excitement????   that child is me and that happens to me when I think about my loving, forgiving, providing Father.  I love that feeling and the fact that I am 66 years old doesn't make any difference to my Father, He still sees me as a small child of His.  Thank you Jesus! 

AWOL

I have been "absent with out leave".  When I started this blog my intentions was to post several times a week, however, life got in the way.  Good life, bad life, inbetween life, just plain life in general took over my being and I failed to keep my blog going.

So, here I am, beginning once again.

Life really has been a struggle with so much financial stress on my husband and I since the summer of last year.  Then it finally hit rock bottom a few months ago.

Except for the love and grace of God and the supporting grace of some very, very special women in my life, I don't know what would have happened to me and my sweet husband. 

God interceded by placing this unlikely group of ladies right smack in the middle of my situation and they have helped thru monies, prayers and love to get us out of the "pit" and back to climbing out of the deep, dark hole we were in.

I can never, ever, thank God enough for what He has done for us.  I pray we are on the road to recovering and overcoming our dire situation that we were in.

Nothing that I have done in my human form and mind deserves the rich blessings that I have been receiving.  I find that I am actually going to sleep at night and getting rest, not constantly waking up and worrying and wondering what is going to happen to us!!

We still have a long way to go, however, not near as far as it was 6 months ago. 

Since I quit smoking in 2003 I have put on weight.  A couple of times I got some of it off but then invariably winter arrived and I put on the proverbial "7+" pounds.  This past year was no exception, so, I am back to watching what I put in my mouth and trying to get back to an exercise program. 

The first 4 months of this year has been hard on me both financially and physically.  I am having more problems with my hips and left leg.  I know a lot of the physical problem is from the extra weight I am carrying around. 

I want so desperately to get back down to around 130 lbs and maintain it there.  It will take a lot more work on my part but I am in prayer that getting some of the financial stress off of me that I will be able to move forward with the weight loss and then weight control.

Bearing my soul here it seems. 

If you don't know God please let me know as I would love to introduce you to Him.  He can do for you what He has done for me and the best part is that He wants to!!

U

Before U were thought of or time had begun,

God even stuck U in the name of His Son.

And each time U pray, you'll see it's true

You can't spell out JesUs and not include U.

You're a pretty big part of His wonderful name,

For U, He was born; that's why He came.

And His great love for U is the reason He died.

It even takes U to spell crUcified.

Isn't it thrilling and splendidly grand
He rose from the dead, with U in His plan.
The stones split away, the gold trUmpet blew,

and this word resUrrection is spelled with a U.

When JesUs left earth at His upward ascension,

He felt there was one thing He just had to mention.

"Go into the world and tell them it's true.

That I love them all - Just like I love U."

So many great people are spelled with a U,

Don't they have a right to know JesUs too?

It all depends now on what U will do,

He'd like them to know - But it all starts with U.

Trust

We are saved by trusting. And trusting means looking forward to getting something we don't yet have -- for a man who already has something doesn't need to hope and trust that he will get it. But if we must keep trusting God for something that hasn't happened yet, it teaches us to wait patiently and confidently. 

Romans 8: 24-25 TLB

"Come to the edge, he said. They said:
We are afraid. Come to the edge, he
said. They came. He pushed them,
And they flew..."

Lifted Up

Praises go up to my Heavenly Father for placing so many wonderful sweet friends in my life.  Thanks to several beautiful "sisters in faith" that gave us "practical" gifts, we have been able to begin digging ourselves out of the financial pit we are in.  We still have so far to go, however, we are not as deep as we were.

So many of the financial institutions have been making an effort to work with us by either deferring a payment or lowering the amount due for a payment.

God has been faithful and just to put people in our lives to help us get out of the pit that we dug ourselves into. 

God amazes me every single day by His blessings, love and faithfulness to provide me with comfort, love and help. 

Praise God from whom all blessings flow!!

Acrostic Prayer

This is my attempt at a acrostic prayer based on the bible study by Wendy Blight where our assignment this week was to read Psalm and then write our own acrostic prayer using part or all of our alphabet:

A Amazing Grace you freely gave to me.

B Blood of the Lamb purchased my freedom.
C Cross of Calvary is where He was sacrificed.
D Death could not hold Him.
E Everlasting love He gives me.
F Fear not, the Lord is Risen!
G Gone is the stone from the tomb!
H Hallelujah, Jesus lives!
I I am Redeemed by Grace Divine.
J Just As I Am, I come to you Father.
K King Jesus, worthy of my Praise and Worship!
L Love & Praise, I want to sing and shout to my Father!
M My heart yearns to be at home with Jesus.
N Nothing but the Blood of Jesus saves!
O Oh how I love Jesus!
P Pardoned from my sin by My Savior.
Q Quicken my heart to repent of my transgressions.
R Risen!! My Lord and Savior is Risen!
S Sweetest name I know, Christ Jesus.
T Thy Will I want to obey.
U Understanding will be mine by and by.
V Victory from deaths sting I claim.
W Washed white as snow with crimson red blood!
X X-Ray my heart, my soul and blot out any corruption.

Y Your loving hand I cling to Father.

Z Zealously will I live my life Praising You Father!

The End

I am literally so low today that I can not even pray!!  Ever been like that?

I have tried so hard to remain upbeat during this time, but, today I just could not manage it. 

My husband has been so worried as I have been, however, I was the one that kept saying...God will see us through this, stay positive.....not very good at heeding my own advice..... am I??

When someone else has problems I am always the "miss fix it" with such words of wisdom as ....give it to God.....depend on God.....He is faithful and just....He will see you through the hard times.....WELL, I know He is all those things, but, it is evident that He doesn't apparently want those things for me right now.

God, my heart is heavy, my burdens are many.....where are you???

Blessed

Blessed!!  What a wonderful word.  I am not blessed in the same ways others may be blessed, matter of fact, most people would say that I am anything BUT blessed. 

They just do not know how richly God has blessed me.  I have a wonderful, fairly healthy husband, 2 wonderful healthy children, 2 beautiful healthy stepdaughters (both like my own) 6 grandchildren 1 great grandaughter & 1 (soon to be) great grandaughter.

I am saved, I was redeemed by the Blood of Jesus Christ.  His blood washed me clean from so much sin.  He forgave me, set me free from the bondage of sin.  He has promised me that I will live with Him eternally in the New Jerusalem.

You see my blessings are not material blessings, of those, I have almost none.  My blessings are the important blessings.  Death can not steal my blessings because actually death will usher me into the greatest of these blessings....my eternal life with my Lord and Savior.  No, death will have no sting for me.

You probably say I am confident and I am, after all, my confidence comes from God, He told me that if I submit my life to Him that all these promises would be mine.  Have you submited your life to God yet?  What ever are you waiting for?

“The LORD says, ‘I will guide you along the best pathway for your life. I will advise you and watch over you’” (Psalm 32:8, NLT).

The Crabb Family - My Redeemer Lives

Another beautiful song by The Crabb Family, My Redeemer Lives and because He lives I live, you live, we all live as children of God. Washed white as snow because He Lives.

Through The Fire - Crabb Family

Absolutely beautiful! Thank you sweet Jesus for words like these!! "Just hold on and He will show up and He will take us through the fire again, our help will always come in time". Praise God Almighty

Jesus - Bring The Rain - MercyMe

This video is awesome even without the pictures, however, the pictures really add to it.  Mercy Me has some of the best praise and worship songs out there today.

MercyMe- "You Reign" Music Video

Another great song by MercyMe.