Just Some Little Things

 "We would worry less if we praised more. 

Thanksgiving is the enemy of discontent and dissatisfaction."

 - H.A. Ironside

Thankful Thursday Again!

Today, I am thankful for the apple pie that finally got baked for hubby.

Today, I am thankful for a little extra rest when I've overdone it.

Today, I am thankful for the gift of prayer that allows me to turn it all over to God.

Today, I am thankful for the clear Word of God that leads and directs when human judgment can be clouded.

Today, I am thankful for a warm pot of soup on a grey, stormy day.

Today, I am thankful for simple children's songs that stay in my mind all day and remind me of God's love, goodness, and mercy.

Today, I am thankful to watch a heart soften and change after much prayer.

Today, I am thankful for leftovers that make lunch box packing easier.

Today, I am thankful for the wide variety of foods that can make up my grocery list for tomorrow.

Today, I am thankful for encouragement in the rough patches.

Always

"It is ALWAYS safe to trust the Lord

in times of famine and feasting,

blessing and bondage."

I recently started reading through Genesis again in preparation for my new Sunday School class.

The editors of this Bible had written this quote in the introduction.

They linked it to the generations in Genesis.

Adam, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob.

They all went through hard times.

They all saw good times and bad.

Sometimes they met the times before them in faith.

Other times they met with self-sufficiency or doubt and fear.

Typically at the end of the trial, they had learned that reliance on God is really the best and only option.

We live in troublous times, don't we?

There is so much around us that in the flesh I want to take care of on my own.

But the right answer is always to trust God,

to be in His Word,

to be following that Word.

Even yesterday on our long walk,

we were mentioning all that God had done for us in the last year.

As we walked by apartment after apartment that was full or that wasn't open as hubby searched,

we recognized that God was in control to put us in a HOUSE that was right for us.
God knew that the apartment fitness center that we were ready to use would be closed for Covid.

He gave us a garage for plenty of workout space!

He knew better than we did the parts of town that were less than desirable because of drug activity.

He put us in a perfect location for work and shopping and walking.

As I mentioned, my flesh wants to take control,

to put everything in its place,

to know the next steps months ahead of time,

but where would the trust be in that?

Perhaps some of our struggles right now

as individuals, as families, as churches, as a nation

are a little reminder to us to just trust and obey.

Just do right.

As Elizabeth Eliot would say,

"Just do the next right thing."

Grace

I mentioned yesterday that hubby and I will be singing in church again soon.

Singing for the start of Mission's emphasis month.

We are singing a song about God's grace.

The chorus of the song is similar to this quote.

I have thought much about missionaries and their sacrifices in the last few months.

Here I am in a country that speaks my language,

in a home that is not primitive at all and very similar to homes I grew up in,

in a town where I can get familiar foods and drinks, ...

and yet many times, I have felt so alone.

It makes me think of those who are in foreign countries:

strange language,

different housing,

different foods and ways of shopping,

separated from the familiar, ...

but they are doing what God has called them to do.

God has called each of us to something.

Maybe it is the work-a-day world.

Maybe it is a home full of children.

Maybe it is a foreign mission field.

Maybe it is a large ministry in a big city.

Maybe it is a small ministry in a big city.

The task may seem daunting, scary, impossible ...

but His grace is there to help us when we falter, struggle, or just feel weak.

Draw on that grace today!

Interim

I was introduced to a great app recently.
It is a book app - Libby.s
An app that allows me to borrow ebooks and audio-books - just like a library.

I am enjoying listening to audio books as I run errands
or as I work around the house.
It will be a great asset on long trips.

I was listening to a book last week and this quote struck me ...

Everything is interim.
Everything is a path or a preparation for the next thing,
and we never know what the next thing is.
Life is like that, of course, twisty and surprising.

We are always learning,

always being challenged.

When I remind myself that God is always working on me,

that I have "not arrived,"

that there are so many things that I need to allow God to change in me in order to be more usable,

it makes the waits, the challenges, the difficulties easier. 

A True Fool

A true fool lives for today,

lives for himself,

seeks to make a name for himself.

This world and all it has to offer is temporary.

On what the world celebrates as April Fools Day ...

Won't you give up your pride, your sin, your excuses?

Don't be a fool.

Acknowledge Jesus Christ, the Son of God,

who not only died for you, but rose again victorious over death.

Don't be a fool.

Repent, turn from your sin, and give your life to Jesus.

You will gain eternal life.

You will gain peace that passes understanding.

For a Rainy Week

A Beautiful Lawn

Convicting or Encouraging Part II

More Than Enough

Convicting or Encouraging

Excellence

Perfection is not attainable,

but if we chase perfection we can catch excellence.

- Vince Lombardi

Keep striving today!

Repeated Actions

• 
  

We are what we repeatedly do.

Excellence, therefore,

is not an act but a habit."

Still thinking about righteous consistency ...

I think that this could also define character.

It must become who I am, what defines me.

What is my character?

What do people see consistently in my words, actions, and thoughts?

 

Garden Thoughts

You can bury a lot of troubles digging in the dirt. 

~Author Unknown

The garden is the poor man's apothecary. 

~German Proverb

Gardening is cheaper than therapy 

and you get tomatoes.  

~Author Unknown

Fasting and Feasting

Suggestions for Fasting and Feasting: 

Fast from discontent; feast on thankfulness. 

Fast from worry; feast on trust. 

Fast from anger; feast on patience. 

Fast from self-concern; feast on compassion for others. 

Fast from unrelenting pressures; feast on unceasing prayers. 

Fast from bitterness; feast on forgiveness. 

Fast from discouragement, feast on hope. 

Fast from media hype, feast on the honesty of the Bible. 

Fast from idle gossip; feast on purposeful silence. 

Fast from problems that overwhelm; feast on prayer that undergirds. 

Anonymous

Attitude

You can’t always change 

your circumstance, 

but you can always choose 

your attitude.

Proven, Time and Again

The more we depend on God 

the more dependable we find He is.

- Cliff Richard

First Things First

“We tend to use prayer as a last resort,

but God wants it to be our first line of defense.

We pray when there's nothing else we can do,

but God wants us to pray before we do anything at all.

Most of us would prefer, however, to spend our time

doing something that will get immediate results.

We don't want to wait for God to resolve matters

in His good time because His idea of 'good time'

is seldom in sync with ours.”
―

Oswald Chambers

Well Founded Dependence

"Every thing that a man leans upon but God, will be a dart

that will certainly pierce his heart through and through.

He who leans only upon Christ,

lives the highest, choicest, safest, and sweetest life."

THOMAS BROOKS

Victory through Dependence

"In war, when a commander

becomes so bereft of reason and perspective

that he fails to understand the dependence of arms

on Divine guidance,

he no longer deserves victory."

 

General Douglas MacArthur

 



 

A Proven Record

“As truly as God by His power once created,

so truly by that same power must God every moment maintain.”
―

Andrew Murray

 

No one has a better track record than my God -

HE IS PERFECT.

Why shouldn't I depend on Him?