My One Word – 2013

He (Jesus) must become greater and greater, and I  must become less and less.” John 3:30 (NLT)

Do you have “one word” for 2013?  Mine is LESS – less of me, MORE of Him!  Does that verse speak to you like it does me?

It is sort of like a New Year’s resolution, and my first time to do it, but it is so much more.  For me,  it is working well in all areas of my life this year.  With resolutions in years past they lasted maybe a month.  I am finding it is working in all areas of my life – my spiritual life, leadership, organization, cleanliness, exercise and health and so on.  Guess what – I already have a new word picked for 2014.

Last year I was led to Melissa.Taylor.Org.  One of the topics for several weeks has been blessings and I have been writing about my blessings but deviating a bit because the other topics have been awesome these past few weeks.  Today I wanted to look back and write about at least this blessing.

I am blessed that through this study I heard about the “one word” concept and there is even a book, and no I have not had the time to read it.  It is on my to-do list.  I have looked at it when I am in the book store.

So how have I been blessed by my one word this year:

1.  As a leader in a facebook Bible study group, I have learned to stop and pray for guidance before posting to my group.  I can not live nor serve the way I should without His perfect leadership and guidance.  More of Him each morning, less of me.  It is not about me,  it is about doing for others which is in turn for Him!  I pray that the light of the Lord would shine through me and people would see Him and not me.  I do not want to get wrapped up  in doing great things for Jesus, and feel any pride welling up inside me but rather humbly serve and honor Him.

2.  As a leader in our group of many leaders sometimes it can be hard not to compare myself to other leaders – some have been a leader longer than me, some are authors, some are more creative, some can vocalize so well,  and yes the list goes on.    But you know what God did not call me into this leadership to be like anyone else on the team.  He did not call me to be better.  He called me to be the “me” that He created “me” to be, and let Him work through me.  He only wants a willing servant, and He will do the rest.

2.  For my health I have tried many times to lose weight only to gain it again.  I have found this year I am making healthier choices in snacks and meals.  I have even started making shakes with kale leaves and I love them.  More of Him when I am planning meals, less of me.  I am learning to crave Him and not food, and learning I need to be fit for Him – not me.  I know now it does not matter what others think about my weight, it does not matter what I think – what matters is I am a child of the King and I need to be making wise healthy choices with my food and exercisedaily as a reflection of Him in me.

3.  As a wife and mother I want to be all I can be.  When it talks about the Proverbs 31 Lady in the Bible – yes that is who I want to be.  I am not there yet, but I am working on it and God will not let me rest until I become the Godly wife and mother He desires me to be.

So how about you – do you have one word this year?  If so, please share.  If not, I pray you do next year.

HEALED

Psalm 147:3-4

He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.

He determines the number of the stars;
He gives to all of them their names.
~Psalm 147:3-4 (ESV)

     Are you broken-hearted today or just broken in spirit and wounded?  Are you filled with grief or pain from the loss of a child or family member, miscarriage, infertility, guilt from an abortion, marital problems or divorce, an addiction, rape, the repentance of a loved one, a friend deceiving you,  or news of a terminal illness?  Are you dealing with a lost relationship with the one you thought you would marry, have you been hurt by a partner’s infidelity and their decision to move on without you in their life, or maybe you are the partner who committed the infidelity?  Have you had the pain of losing a job and your retirement benefits or maybe a job you applied for and didn’t get or perhaps even a failing business you own?  Are you a baby boomer who is providing care for an elderly parent and watching helplessly and powerless as their health is deteriorating?  This list could go on and  - there are so many things that have and will break your heart and mine.

     Not one of us are immune from a broken heart, and each one of us will experience some form at some point in our lives, and probably many more times than once.  For me this year it was the loss of my Mom during  Valentine’s week after many years of watching her suffer not only physically but mentally from depression of losing my dad – for eighteen years she could never let God heal that pain.

      Like some of you, I experienced miscarriages –  both early and late after hearing heart beats.  As I went through miscarriage after miscarriage, I was told my chances of having a child were zero.  Little did my doctor know the Great Physician would change that zero to a hundred percent.  See “My Most Memorable Gift From God – Trust Fund Baby”.

     Some of you may have a baby in an intensive care unit.  Our daughter was 2 lbs 6 ozs and nine weeks early.  Our hearts broke she was in the hospital for over two months wondering if we would ever bring her home.  It was a daily journey not knowing from hour to hour if that fragile, teeny, little girl would survive the NICU, but thousands of souls all over the United States were  lifting her and us in prayer. God was with our broken hearts all those weeks as we watched her suffer and go through ups and downs, and finally God healed her and we brought her home.

     We were brokenhearted when we lost a nephew about to start college in a car accident, and later his brother who was about to graduate from college died unexpectedly.  Yes we have known brokenheartedness watching a mother grieve in the loss of both of her boys – that gut wrenching grief that you never want to go through or see.  Holidays were not the same and never will be without those precious boys.  During that same time my husband and I both lost our dads within a few years apart.

     Did you know our awesome God is concerned about our broken hearts?  He has the power to heal our broken hearts if we run to Him and ask Him to heal our pain.  In Psalm 34:18 it says, “The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit”, and in a very moving scene in the Bible we see Jesus crying at Lazarus’ grave.  He hurt with Lazarus’ family. He hurts when we hurt.  I have often wondered how people deal with grief when they do not have God to carry them through.  It is unthinkable to me how I could have gone through any of my heartbroken times had I not been able to run to him,  and let him heal my heart.

     Maybe that is why I love this verse and it is staying on my mind as we study to memorize it this week.  Do you remember when you were a child and you would get hurt and run to your mom, and how she would love on you and take care of your wounds or even a sickness like tonsilitis or strep and making you tomato or chicken noodle soup?  I loved it when Mom would come in and put clean sheets on my bed.   I remember being up all night with my toddlers who had many ear aches and rocking and cuddling them, and when they were older getting their wisdom teeth out and taking care of them.  Do you know that is what Jesus does – he takes care of us and our wounds when we run to him?  Psalms 147:3  gives me a picture of me crawling up and sitting in His lap and him cuddling me and healing my broken heart as He wraps me in His arms.

     When my heart is hurting, I run to my Lord, my Father.  So if you are brokenhearted today my friend, take that brokenness to the only one that can heal it, to the one who really cares, and to the one who hurts with you when you cry!

     Lastly, I share this song.  It was the one song that God gave me that carried me through one of my biggest heartbreaks that I can not share here today.  Maybe someday.  I hope it carries you through like it did me.  Johnathan Pierce in Healing Hands and the video is amazing.

Blessings – Week 7

RAIN – It’s raining!  Don’t you love a lazy, rainy day and curling up with a good book?   I do.  I seldom get to just stop and read, but on those rainy days – days I do not enjoy housework and I can not go outdoors to work in the yard – well they are perfect for reading and spending quiet time with God.  Have you ever watched a slow, steady rain?  I looked out a bit ago and just imagined each rain drop and as I thought of our Bible study this week and the opportunity to blog, I put down my book and am reminded as each raindrop hits the roof of how the rain drops are similar to blessings.   Really, they are falling just like God pours blessings out on each of us – we just fail to stop and consider everything in life as a blessing.  Our blessings are that “BIG” if we stop and think about all God has done for us.  I am really engrossed with the rain toda,y and I thank God for bringing me to this place to be thankful in everything.

This morning as the rain arrived, it was lightening and the wind was blowing – people lost power and several houses burned.  As it was pelting on the roof and the sky was lit up, I was reminded about the storms of life and our reflection verse this week.

Isaiah 43:1-3 - But now, this is what the Lord says—
he who created you, Jacob,
he who formed you, Israel:
“Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;
I have summoned you by name; you are mine.
2 When you pass through the waters,
I will be with you;
and when you pass through the rivers,
they will not sweep over you.
When you walk through the fire,
you will not be burned;
the flames will not set you ablaze.
3 For I am the Lord your God,
the Holy One of Israel, your Savior;
I give Egypt for your ransom,
Cush[a] and Seba in your stead.

I was reminded again from our study on trust this week, that I can not rely on my own strength, I can not rely on material things, and I can not rely on people.  It is God – the only one who will NEVER fail me.

So how about you – what do you do on a rainy day?  Are you counting your blessings?  If not, I hope you start.  Need some help – drop by MelissaTaylor.Org and join one of our Bible Studies.

TRUST – He Has Summoned Me!

43 But now, this is what the Lord says—
he who created you, Jacob,
he who formed you, Israel:
“Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;
I have summoned you by name; you are mine.
2 When you pass through the waters,
I will be with you;
and when you pass through the rivers,
they will not sweep over you.
When you walk through the fire,
you will not be burned;
the flames will not set you ablaze.
3 For I am the Lord your God,
the Holy One of Israel, your Savior;

Isaiah 43:1-3

 This week I chose to write about trust again based on our reflection verse.  The first thing I did on Sunday when I saw the verse was personalize it. So here goes.  I have summoned you Debbie, you are mine.  When you pass through the waters Debbie, I will be with you; and Debbie when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you.  Debbie when you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze Debbie.  For Debbie I am your Lord, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior Debbie.  NOW, how about you – go personalize that verse with your name in it.

On Monday I began verse mapping for three days.   I love this verse and the more you map, the more you fall in love with it.  But that is how it has been this whole study with MelissaTaylor.org and the book, Stressed-Less Living by Tracie Miles digging in the scriptures.

So here is some of what I found as God walked me through this verse and our study of Stressed-Less Living this week.

But NOW - not tomorrow, not next week, not next year – NOW! I have summoned you – exactly what does that mean?    The NKJ version says, “I have called you by your name”.  To be summoned or called by name by our awesome Creator just blesses me to hear that.  I am summoned by God and that is  amazing!  He knows me by my name and He knows me intimately and I am important to Him.  Our awesome God, our Lord summons each one of us.  Does that make you feel special?  It does me.  I watch our asst. principal at school.  He knows every child by name and it is amazing to watch him in the hallways and at lunch calling out to each and every one of them personally by name – not “hey you”, not whatchamacallit but by name.  That is how our God knows us – by name!

Not only does God know us by name, we know Him by name and He is worthy of so many names and each one blesses me each time I hear them.  - the Holy One of Israel, My Savior, Adonai our Lord and the list goes on.   His names reveal him, they tell us about his character and His glory.  At the end of our verse this week He is called the Lord your God,  the Holy One of Israel,  your Savior and the list goes on.   Over and over the Bible gives us glimpses of the character of Jesus through the names  we find of Him.  This picture has only a glimpse of the names we find in the Bible but look at them.  They are beautiful and so descriptive of our Father who adores us.  So what is your favorite name of God?

 

I hope you will listen to this song.  It is amazing.  It has beautiful pictures of the names of God and the words will help you learned what they mean.  Love to Sing Your Name  by John Waller.

When you pass through the waters, I will be with you and the rivers will not sweep over you.  Not if you pass through waters, but WHEN!  Remember how he parted the waters when the Israelites crossed the  Red Sea.  He went before them and behind them as well as parting the Sea.  We have the promise of Him before us, behind us and with us during those troubled waters we go through in our lives.    If we try and do it in our own strength, those waters shall surely overwhelm us and sweep over us, but if we remember He is with us when we feel like we are drowning, He will walk us through, parting the waters as we remember his unfailing promises.  How precious is the promise of His presence before, during and after – that He will be with us through it all!  His current of love is with us to get through those waters and rivers of life.  Once you have crossed through you may wonder  how you made it through and sometimes even how you managed to survive.  But one thing for sure, you will not be the same person who entered those waters.

When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze.  It says WHEN we walk, not if we walk through fires, but when!  Do you remember the story in Daniel of Shadrach, Meschach and Abed-nego who were thrown in the fiery furnace?   They were not afraid and as the king continued to have the fire turned up, they stood refusing to worship a golden statue.   God was their fire extinguisher  and even sent a heavenly visitor to help them during this time of trial.  He can be our fire extinguisher if we call on him during our times of trial.  The verse reminds us too that we will not be burned during our fire – the trials, the testing of our faith, the pain, the sorrow, the brokenness, and the fires of life, but we are not going to burn.  There is pain in the fire, but we keep going, we keep trusting just as Shadrach, Meschach and Abed-nego did.  Let God be your fire extinguisher.  Remember His promise – you will not be burned!

This verse this week has strengthened me and I will lean on it as new challenges or drowning waters try to consume me.  Listen to this song about Isaiah Fear Not I Have Redeemed You.

So to sum it all up.   God created me and He called Me by name.  He redeemed ME and I am His.  He knows everything about me – He knows my fears, my insecurities.  He knows what I am going through so I shall not be afraid of the fire or the water, the loss of a job, the chemo, or prejudice because He is with ME., formed, redeemed ME and called ME by name. I am HIS and he knows exactly who I am. He knows my voice, he knows my trials, my insecurities, my fears and he tells us 365 times in the Bible “do not fear”. He doesn’t want me to be afraid, but I need to trust that because he knows EXACTLY who “Jessica” is and what she is going through, he is staying true to his plan, even when it hurts or I don’t understand.

 

  

TRUST

 So how does your heart respond to this verse?  That was the question from MelissaTaylor.Org.  It caused me to pause and reflect on how I trust God DAILY to deliver me from whatever comes my way.  In our study last week, Melissa talked about David and his giant.  David took those five stones in his pocket and a slingshot - but it was David’s TRUST in God that slayed the giant!

Things happen in our lives that hurt so deeply and oftentimes they do not even make sense to us, they are not fair, and they throw us to rock bottom at times.  It is during those trials we have to trust that He will take care of us.  He will comfort us, he will strengthen us, and love us with His grace.   If we remain faithful,  praising, worshiping and thanking God, we will look back and see how He carried us through (how He saved us when we cried).  On Pgs. 171-172 of Stressed-Less Living, Tracie Miles wrote “This daily obedience is where we find the infusion of emotional strength that allows us to walk in his peace when we face doubts and fears.  Strength to walk in his joy when we cannot find any reason to be joyful.  Strength to stand firm in our faith when things seem hopeless.  And strength to be strong when the painful things of life are taking their toll on our hearts.”  We have to TRUST daily in obedience.

In Proverbs 3:5 (NIV) it says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding”.   It reminds me of a song we used to sing in church – “Through It All”.   “Through it all I’ve learned to trust in Jesus, I’ve learned to trust in God……..I’ve learned to depend upon his word.”  Do you thank him for the mountains, the valleys, the storms He has brought you through?  If you did not have problems, you would not know He could solve them.  Love this version of the song by Selah. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zsN0TNyz-5A

WHY is it so hard for us to trust him with EVERY minute detail of our lives????  WHY is it that we can look at others when they are going through trials and speak an encouraging word like it is going to be alright, just hang in there, and then bam in the midst of trials and heartaches that come into our life and derailing us,  we quickly and easily forget that advice in all our panic, hurt and fear.  We wonder where is God in all of this, we feel rejected, abandoned, and overwhelmed.  No matter what we are going through, our circumstances are temporary and we are not abandoned but loved and never forsaken as promised in Heb 13:5.  Our lives can change in a moment from better to worse or worse to better and they will change.   One thing I always say when times are rough is “This too shall pass.”  I know it will if I will just TRUST!

We exist to glorify God!  In Isaiah 43:7, God says about us, “whom I created for my glory”.  He created each of us for his glory.  Do we glorify him when we are going through struggles, when things are ugly, when we feel forgotten, and we do not feel joyful?  For me, I can say not always.   We should be bringing Him honor EVERY day no matter what is going on in our lives with how we think, how we act, and what we say.  We glorify Him through our trust (faith that He will bring us through it).  Jesus was our example – He lived a life glorifying God - totally,  amazingly, consistently and ALWAYS, ALWAYS no matter what he was going through,  He glorified the Father through His love, His actions and His zeal.  When I pause and reflect on how even in the midst of His hardest sufferings that He declared the holiness of God, and He chose to willfully honor God, my heart cries because of how I have failed.  Jesus whole-heartedly pleased His father when He died on the cross for me!  He TRUSTED, He GLORIFIED!

I believe the secret to trust is practicing it, and the more we practice the better we become.  Each morning we have a choice if we will trust – do we rely on ourselves and our human strength, or do we trust the one from whom our strength should come to face the day ahead of us?    We do not want to give control to Him because we are control freaks – addicted to adrenaline – like we learned about in Chapter 8.

So my final questions for you and ME: ”Are you tying God’s hands, or are you laying it in His hands and at His feet”?   ”Are you trusting God through it ALL”?

WHAT-EVER

“Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable–if anything is excellent or praiseworthy–think about such things.”  Philippians 4:8 (NIV)

Whatever is true, honorable, right, pure, lovely, and admirable,  - I’m attempting to make these words that I live by daily.

Want to JOIN me??????????? I knew as I read this verse and made this challenge on facebook and MelissaTaylor.org that Satan would be sure I had plenty of practice.

So here comes Satan with the threat of storms – severe storms from the same system that had just hit Oklahoma. All the weather stations were telling us it was going to happen, and a 6/10 chance of tornadoes in the Dallas area and after seeing what was done only a short distance from here in Cleburne and Granbury this month I was shaken - so what did I do, I panicked – yes I did – I was so ashamed, but I prepared – getting things ready in my bathroom along with a Bible and a flashlight so that if I were trapped, I would be reflecting on my Lord and things that are true, honorable, right, pure, lovely and admirable rather than my circumstances. My giants are fear and worry about things that probably will never happen. And it didn’t – the storms came through, and as they were forming I took my mind off that which was not lovely and pure, and I turned my captive thoughts to Him, reciting this verse, and prayed that He would calm the storms and calm me. He did – He formed a long single line which caused the severe storms to calm.  The weather men were shocked, but I was not! So why no tornadoes? The storms north of us sent some cool air rushing, and it shut off the storms here (actually we had storms, but no tornadoes or large hail). Thanking Jesus still today for sending that cool air.

Have you ever stopped to think on those words?  Have you ever stopped to think about who is watching you?  I know sometime my tone, my facial expressions, and my body language do not speak these truths nor do some of my facebook posts at times  - they are not lovely and admirable.

Do you realize that you may be the only Jesus that many will ever see? You are the only Bible they may ever read! You are the only Christian they may ever know! OUCH!

Are you up to the challenge? Are you making the right CHOICES of what enters into your mind? Are you up to examining the TV programs that you watch, the magazines or books you read, the movies you watch or the music you listen to? Are you up to pausing before you speak, before you gossip, before you share rumors, before you speak rudely, before you curse, before you pick up that telephone and dial or you begin to text on your phone or post a message on facebook or twitter? What do you do when you are alone with only God watching? Are your thoughts pure, are they admirable, are they true, are they encouraging? Our filter should be Philippians 4:8.

If your thoughts were broadcast for the world to hear what would they think? Would you be ashamed?  Do you blame others, are you bitter, are you thinking about drinking, drugs or eating or exercising to excess,  wanting to gamble or look at x-rated things on the internet, are you just full of that stinking thinking – those captive thoughts?

2 Corinthians 10:5 says that we should “take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”

Have you ever heard the saying “what you think, you are”? Melissa Taylor showed us a coffee cup that said Think Happy, Be Happy. All I could see were the words Think and Be.

As we think, so shall we be! Prov. 23:7 says “As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he.”  THINK=BE!!!

Those thoughts entering our minds will affect our hearts and will come out in a holy or unholy way!  If Christ is in your thoughts, then only good things will flow from your hearts and mouths.  We do not have to stay the way we are.  Are you ready to take the Phil 4:8 challenge?????

# BLESSED – WEEK 6

This is Week 6 of blogging about my blessings during our study of Stressed-Less Living on MelissaTaylor.org.  This year it was my first mother’s day without my mom, and also that day would have been her 80th birthday.   This is also my first mother’s day knowing I am about to become a grandmother.

Over the past few weeks during this study,  I have spent much time in prayer, and noticed in my prayer binder I had printed out the verse Proverbs 31:28, “Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her “.   That was a prayer I wrote for me last year.  I wondered what legacy am I leaving my children, future grandchildren, husband  and every one I come in contact with daily.  As I pondered over that question, I wonder what others think of me and how I am pictured with all my faults and failures.  I want to be that kind of woman.  I pray to be that kind of woman.  I want to live my blessings out loud for all.  I am truly blessed, but do I show that?  Sometime not!

As a gentle reminder, I ordered the above coffee/tea mug from Adoremus Books.  Now when I am studying in the morning with that cup of coffee or can not seem to sleep at night and have a cup of sleepy-time tea, I will be reminded over and over of my heart’s desire.

So as I pondered over that Proverbs verse this week and continued to write down my blessings , and prayed about what type of legacy I am leaving , I added these:

MOMENTS WITH LOVED ONES -  “Sometimes you will never know the true value of a moment until it becomes a memory.”  Author Unknown.  As we spend time with our adult children, their spouses and any of our family and friends, I want to remember to cherish the moments and to make memories.  When a loved one is gone, that’s all we have are moments, memories and pictures.  Make the moments happen!  Make them precious!  Savor them!  We are soooo busy we do not take a moment to seize what is precious.  Enjoy a long kiss, sit in the quiet with no radio or television, write a list of blessings, call someone on the phone instead of texting, meet someone for lunch, read a book, read your Bible, watch the sun rise or set, listen to birds or children, feel the wind on your cheeks, notice nice things people do for you and say thank you, enjoy life, quit dreading Mondays and savor a a new day, ……….

MOMENTS WITH GOD – Moment-by-moment submission -”Just Give Me Jesus” by Anne Graham Lotz

 

                        SUCCESS – “No other success in life – not being President, or being wealthy, or going to college or writing a book, or anything else — come up to the success of the man or woman who can feel that they have done their duty and that their children and grandchildren rise up and call them blessed.” Theodore Roosevelt, 1917.  So how do we get to that place in our lives, where our children and grandchildren call them blessed.  The only way is Jesus!  God first in ALL things – good and bad! Jesus should be our goal each day.  He should be our identity

UNCONDITIONAL LOVE – ” My parents love was unconditional. When you have unconditional love there is no point in rebellion and no need to fear failure. I was free to follow my instincts enjoy my life and love my parents as much as they love me” – George W. Bush.  I love my husband and my children with an unconditional love and I see that trait in them also.  We have to love unconditionally because Christ loves us unconditionally.  When someone is showing their best behavior, it is easy to love them, but what do we do when they are behaving poorly, lashing out at us ?????

HUGS – Do you love hugs?  I do.  When I was small my mom and dad really didn’t hug, but I found as I grew older and they grew older they began to hug.  I love hugging my kids, my mother- in- law, friends and even strangers at church.  Hugs can say what you can not say out loud.  Hugs give us emotional lifts.  You usually do not give a hug when you do not receive one in return.  XOXOXO – every day should be filled with love and hugs!

KISSES - My husband kisses me goodbye in the morning and goodnight in the evening?  Even on those occasional days I sleep in, he comes to the bedroom and kisses me goodbye.      I have this plaque hanging beside our bed.  

What about you?  Do you kiss your spouse goodbye each morning or  goodnight each evening?  Why or Why not???

# BLESSED – WEEK 5

                                                                                                                                                                                                                    This is week 5 of Stressed-Less Living by Traci Miles with Melissa Taylor Online Bible Studies.  Although, there were some topics I wanted to write about this week, life just got in the way with year-end school and subbing for teachers taking their last leave days and also many subs have given up for the year.  So, I stayed with my list of blessings this week and picked up with the last five I have written down as of today.  That list is surely to grow as I have time to sit down and continue to count the blessings we take for granted.

BIRDS – I absolutely love walking out on our porch with a morning cup of coffee and my Bible.  Don’t you love watching the sun rise while sipping  coffee and praising God for the majesty of that sun rise or a sun set??? They can be breathtaking.  This morning I watched the sun rise and first thing the birds were chirping and cooing and welcoming spring – robins, doves, sparrows, red birds and others coming to our feeders and our bird baths and I have already seen some hummingbirds.  Many times I can remember when I was younger, those birds would irritate me when I was trying to sleep in and they would be chirping at day break – not anymore – I can’t wait to get up and spend time with my Lord and all his beautiful creations.  I have the windows thrown open this morning and am listening to them chirping even now.  Love it!  What if there were no chirps????

TECHNOLOGY – Technology can be both a blessing and a curse.  I choose to use that kindle, iPad, telephone, laptop, desktop, pinterest and facebook  to God’s glory.  How about you?  What do you post on facebook?  I decided a couple of years ago if it did not honor or glorify God, it was not going to be posted.  A few times yes I felt like hitting a share button on my page that did not honor my Father, but I now pause before liking and pause before sharing.  So next time before you click – THINK is that really honoring my creator?

PRAYER – How often do you pray?  I pray more than once daily.  I find myself in a constant state of prayer, but the most meaningful is when I am on my knees, during those gut-wrenching prayers, and during that time it is almost always for my family and friends.  Prayer is one of the most important things a person can take time to do.

FREEDOM – I am so very thankful for the freedoms we have.  I am blessed each time I substitute teach when we say the pledge to the American flag and the Texas flag.  Thankful we can still do that at school.  After spending forty-three years with the Department of Defense, how could I not love our flag?  I love our military because they were who I supported.  The Pledge of Allegiance is a privilege and a blessing sometimes taken for granted.  I thank God I was born in this great country.  May God continue to bless America

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MEMORIES – We do not remember days; we remember moments.  ~Cesare Pavese, The Burning  Brand.  Memory is a way of holding onto the things you love, the things you are, the things you  never want to lose.  ~From the television show The Wonder Years.  One of my favorite things to say is “make the moments matter”.  I don’t remember where I heard that phrase but I also say “savor the time”.  God brought those words to me several years back when I realized my Mom would not be with us long, but I apply it across my life now.  I make the moments matter with my mother-in-law and our married children and my husband.  Life is too short to not make memories.

So how about you?  Have you started a list of blessings?  I think you will find it amazing to see all the little things that God has blessed you with, and we take them for granted.  I invite you to share below several of your blessings and remind you what a blessing it is to start counting them when you become stressed or frustrated.

# Legacy – Blessed By Women – Week 4

No gift to your mother can ever equal her gift to you.

This week we shifted gears from listing five blessings to honor women who have blessed our lives. Is there a woman or women who have impacted your faith and influenced your life with God’s love or attributes of his love? I immediately started to list names of women in my life and those who have had an influence  on who I have become. It is my to honor to reflect on some of those women.

LEGACY – dicitionary.com – “Anything handed down from the past, as from an ancestor.”

As I think about leaving legacies and my list, I want to remember women who I feel made me what I am today – those women who nurtured me, encouraged me, challenged me and prayed for me. I want to remember those women who I feel have passed on to me a legacy to leave for those who come after me.

Proverbs 13:22 “A good man leaves an inheritance for his children’s children…”   What inheritance are you leaving your children and grandchildren? My hope is that I can leave a little of these beautiful ladies to pass down to my grandchildren.  Merriam Webster Dictionary defines inheritance in this context as “the acquisition of a possession, condition, or trait from past generations”.

“Some mothers are kissing mothers and some are scolding mothers, but it is love just the same, and most mothers kiss and scold together.” ~Pearl S. Buck

Louise Templin - Mom was strict, she had a heart of giving – would give her last dollar to help someone.  She also had a heart of love and caring. She taught me about the importance of home, family and tradition,  and what a wife should be as well as how to honor and love her husband. Mom and Dad were married for almost fifty years when he died, and Mom held on to that love until she died this year.   Mom loved to cook and handed that legacy down to my sisters and me, and my children and their spouses.  She sewed and quilt.  Mom taught me to save taking  me to the bank to open a savings account.  I believe the biggest legacy that Mom leaves me is her love of family. She loved to have people over on holidays and she insisted on it no matter what.  She and dad always had something special planned on holidays – a poem he would write, Easter baskets and stuffed bunnies, costumes she made for the kids for Halloween and Thanksgiving and always the family tradition, that will hopefully continue in generations to come, is that recital around the table and all of us holding hands and repeating The Lord’s Prayer (a tradition handed down from Dad’s family that I remember at my Granny’s house.) While my vault of memories is full and causes me to smile through my tears, my mom’s real legacy in my life runs very deep … and wide – her love. To my mom who we lost in February this year I leave this song of tribute. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bvQDLlKff6c (A Mother’s Love by Jim Brinckman). Thank you Mom for the stepping stones.  Happy 80th Birthday on May 10 Mom and Happy Mother’s Day – I MISS you!  I hope this song blesses each of you like it did me

Ella Arnold Templin - My grandmother. She at one time or another practiced various religions. She loved church, and she kept going until she found the right one that ministered to her. When she came to town, she took us or we took her. She loved the Lord and I have so many fond memories of her and church, and even one after I married and she, my hubby and I were leaving church.  The pastor greeted her and she told him how he had misquoted a verse.  She willed me all her Bibles, but for some reason they disappeared when she died. That hurt because that was a great connection the two of us had – our faith. What an example for me as I entered into my teenage years and my future husband and I would drive down to visit and go to church with her.  I remember when I was small she lived on a farm.  I watched her churn butter and milk cows.  My Granny was also the one that taught me about history of my Father’s family and told me stories, giving me that love of genealogy and family as she recited to me how her family came from TN to AR by covered wagon, and how some of them fought in the civil war. Precious memories. I thank her for giving me a heart of memories and wish today she were here for just one more chat so I could take lots of notes.

Bertha Racker -  My Granny worked hard. With ten children how could she not! I remember watching her wash clothes outside on the porch with a wringer washing machine. and watching her in the kitchen cooking (maybe that cooking legacy is where Mom got it). I also remember Granny wringing a chicken’s neck to fry up for dinner, and oh I remember the homemade biscuits  and unfortunately recipe lost.  I remember her flower beds and believe that’s where my love of flowers and garden work came from because Mom was not into yard work (Dad was). Granny worked hard, went to church, and loved us. I also remember her taking me to town on Saturday and those candies she bought me – I love them to this day – maple nut candies.   She didn’t have a lot of money, but like my mom she spent it on her loved ones. YUM! I never walk by maple nut candies in the store when I don’t reflect on my Granny.

Matthew 5:15-16 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. [16] In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven. Beyond our families and those closest to us, there is a way that we can leave a legacy to “everyone” [vs. 15].

Virginia Williams - My Mother-In-Law – My MIL took me under her wing just like a daughter. She loved me – took care of me when I was pregnant with toxemia and even my children after I went back to work and she is a phone call away – next door if we need ANYTHING. She loves the Lord and always has an encouraging word if something is bothering you. She, like my mom, loves and adores her family. She loves yard work, she loves cooking and she loves the Lord. She works very hard, is very organized and loves to sew which she has passed down to my daughter and both her daughters.  My daughter was born preemie  and  she made beautiful  gowns and dresses for her until she could fit into newborn.  I thank her for raising my husband to be the Godly man, father, hard worker, and husband he is. He has so many of her attributes and loves the Lord and his family like she does. Her arms are always outstretched in love and prayer.  She is a light – his light and she shines before men and women in her hard work ethic and love.

Amanda Williams Crane - My daughter – My daughter at times has put me to shame with her love of the Lord. She taught me to love christian music. I was an oldies girl until one day when she was about five, she asked me to turn the radio to 94.9. Has that changed my life and that is about all I’ve listened to now for 25 years – sometimes I’ll put on an oldie. Amanda was a preemie, not expected to live, many months of prayers and she came home but was supposed to be a sickly child and be mentally slow. NOT - God took over – she was summa cum laude in college for her BA and Masters and she was the valedictorian of her high school.  She is an organizer and a perfect housewife and a great example of a Proverbs 31 woman.  Currently, my Amanda is like Sarah and Hannah in the Bible – anguishing over not yet having a child - but she hangs on to hope, and we are looking forward to that day God blesses her with a baby of her own to hold and love and teach that child about Jesus.  We believe with all our hearts that God WILL honor her because of her faithfulness and love for him, and because of the thousands of prayers being lifted up for her through Proverbs 31 Ministries and our church.

Whitney Williams - My daughter-in-love – She rocks. Her love of the Lord is as amazing as my daughter’s and talk about encouraging. She always has something sweet to say. She is fun, will try any new thing and she can organize and decorate beautifully.  She’s about to birth my first grand baby, Colt, a boy in August. I thank her for that, and I am so proud that God sent her to be the mother to my grandchildren as we continue to pass down legacies. She is going to create some new ones and hopefully her grandchildren will remember her one day as someone who was the reflection of the Proverbs 31 Lady.  Whitney is always full of joy and I believe joy is one of the greatest gifts a mother can give her children.

Beth Moore and Melissa Ross Taylor – I put Beth and Melissa in the same category.  I started Beth Moore conferences when my children were small and was blessed immensely, but it was not until I retired last year that I found Melissa.  I have grown because she stretches us.  I am more into my Bible, verse mapping, verse memorizing and praying for and with women all over the world and look she has me blogging and now leading a facebook group of the most precious women.  I would say Beth was my first mentor, but definitely now Melissa is so in tune individually with all of her family of girls that she mother’s us, she knows us, she loves us, she grows us, and she teaches us.  I thank God for helping me find Melissa.  Follow me to grow in His word at MelissaTaylor.org.

How about you?  Do you have a woman or women that has impacted your life?  I hope so and ask you to share below.  If not, my prayer is that if  you are reading this that God will bless you with woman who will impact your life for the Lord’s Kingdom!

# BLESSED – Week 3

This was  Week 3 of  Stressed-Less Living by Traci Miles on MelissaTaylor.org, and once again I chose the blog topic of blessings. The more blessings I write down, the more they keep flowing into my mind each day. Grateful for blessings, are you? Life is packed full of them, but sometimes due to worry, stress, self-centeredness, we forget to be thankful and praise God for what He has done in our lives. As I paused these last three weeks and reflected here are five more blessings – things that I am grateful for in no particular order:

RETIREMENT – I retired the last day of 2011.

  Retirement is bliss. What does bliss mean? A google search says “perfect happiness; great joy.” Yes, that’s retirement and quality time to do what you enjoy – time on my knees praying for family and friends, reading, bible studies, substitute teaching, working in the yard, cleaning and organizing, meeting friends for lunch, blogging and hopefully come August helping take care of a new grandson! Yes, Colt will be here early August.

DOG – Fur and four paws – yes blessings come with fur and paws. The unconditional love of a dog is fun to watch. Our dog watches and greets my husband and son with so much enthusiasm. Their trucks pull in the driveway, the dog starts his happy noises and joyfully runs and grabs the nearest toy. A dog is called a man’s best friend for a reason. He is loyal, he is loving, he likes to have fun and he is always ready to go. Here is a picture of Creed waiting on my hubby as he does every night when I start dinner. Unconditional love – affection without limitation. That’s what our God’s love is like and what our love should be like – we should greet him with that excitement and readiness every morning.

Tulips and daffodils are blooming with abundance this year. As the sun came splashing through our sun lights this morning, I put down my Stressed Less Living Book, grabbed my gloves and headed out to work in flower beds and there were shasta daisies all in bloom (these next door at my mother in laws and some of mine just starting).</                                                                                                                                                                               I love mowing and that’s a good thing when you are on over an acre with trees to push a mower around and it takes about 3-4 hours to just mow, and I still mow my Mom’s yard.                                                                                                                                                                                                                        The herb garden we planted is coming up.

Loved doing that. We bought pots and actually buried them in the ground to control weeds and yes I still need to weed the grass and mulch but you get the point. Fruit trees are starting to put on peaches and plums and soon I’ll be making jelly to share with friends and family. New trees were planted this year in memory of Mom, Dad, and my Father-In-Law. (See my blog on 28 Feb – Joyful, Thankful Challenge to see our trees.)

SEASONS – Thank You Lord, for the blessing of beautiful, sunny, spring days that cause us to rejoice and be glad in each day!!!!

                                                                                                                                                                                                                    Thank you for rich fall colors, and gentle breezes.                                 

Thank you for hot summers. Days where all we want to do is get in the pool. Last summer and swimming. my great nephews and one of my nieces and daughter-in-law came for a day of fun, lunch and swimming.   Can’t wait to do it again this year!!!!!

                                                                                                                                                                                                                   Thank you for wet, dreary and cloudy days as well as cold, snowy ones that make us want to be inside for a time to snuggle with loved ones, drink hot chocolate, and enjoy being indoors.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                Every day You have made Lord is for a purpose, and every day contains blessings if we pause and look for them. Seasons in Texas change constantly but one thing is certain, God’s love and faithfulness never change! Today it was 78 degrees and tomorrow the high is in the 40s with an expected record-breaking low tomorrow morning.

HEAVEN – Without Heaven there would be no hope. Without hope there is nothing. I am so thankful for Heaven knowing my loved ones are there waiting to greet me and everlasting life. Once there I can not wait to see my Lord and Savior who died for my sins and I will shout Holy when I see Him, clap my hands and say GLORY to the son of God! This song says it all. I want to see Jesus, the one who died for all – “I Bowed on My Knees and Cried Holy!” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-fzqh3syxik

“In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.” 1 Thessalonians 5:18

So as you pause today, begin to be still and know that He is God. Would you share a blessing or blessings below that come to your mind. What are you grateful for this day???????

Count Your Blessings

by Kelly Johnston

Count your blessings instead of your crosses; Count your gains instead of your losses.

Count your joys instead of your woes; Count your friends instead of your foes.

Count your smiles instead of your tears; Count your courage instead of your fears.

Count your full years instead of your lean; Count your kind deeds instead of your mean.

Count your health instead of your wealth; Love your neighbor as much as yourself.