a life blessed

If you died today, are you confident in knowing where you will be? Have you ever given more than a second's thought about what the torture of hell would be for you? What about the splendor of heaven?  Do you know where you are going? I cannot even wrap my brain around what splendor God has in store for those who make Him Lord of their life!! I am looking forward to finding out!  ALL of us need to receive God's forgiveness and grace for our sin.  How can we do that?  The only way possible is by accepting God's gift of salvaiton through faith in Christ (Ephesians 2:8).  Jesus died for our sins.  He was buried.  He rose from the dead to give us salvation, forgiveness from our sins, and eternal life, where we will spend eternal life with Him and our Heavenly Father in spendor!  Living eternally is a given.  Where do you want to live?  In the eternal torture of firey hell, or in the splendor of God's glory where you wi...

Tomorrow is 'Xtreme Clean' Day at my church.  We are in the beginning stages of building an addition to our church to make room for growth and to have a central place where all of our children can meet.  Currently our church parents with different aged children have to go to several parts of the building to get their children dropped off in their appopriate classrooms.  Our current children's wing is so old it does not meet 'code' and to do so would be almost as costly as building a new wing for them.  During construction, many of our Sunday School classes will be moving to new areas to make room for the construction zone.  In preparation for this, we are making a clean sweep of our church and having a cleaning day after our church services tomorrow morning to hold on to those things that need to stay and discard those things that need to go.  We have had over 180 willing servants to sign up and help us clean up & clean out, and we have set aside 2 hour...

I am so full right now I could just explode!!  Not physically full but spiritually full.  Todd & I are participating in a couple of Bible studies together - one is a discipleship training class called "Not A Fan", and the other is for our 6th Grade Sunday School class: "Experiencing God - Youth Edition."  I have mentioned in earlier posts that I am trying to have a Mary mentality for 2012.  We are very rarely home, so the Martha mentality tries to overtake me whenever I do have a scoop of time at home.  When we do make it home after a work day, we are usually home just long enough to make a mess only to have to turn around to go to another function and leave the mess behind with a promise to tend to it as soon as time becomes available.  Over the years, I've developed a practice of giving it a 'lick and a promise' for another day!  Frustrating. (especially if company comes over -- EEK!) Because of this busy-ness, I alw...

Have you ever read a scripture that 'screams' at you so loudly that it seems as if you've just heard it for the very first time?  That happened to me today.  My reading today included  1 Corinthians 3:7 - " So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase ." (NKJV)  This is my new favorite verse!! This is the version from The Message - " It's not the one who plants or the one who waters who is at the center of this process but God, who makes things grow ." Those who buy the seed are important.  Those who plant the seed are important.  Those who water the seed are important.  But they are not the center of the process.  God is.  (The "I AM.")  It is  for God that we do all these things.  Each one of us have been given different gifts to help in God's process of Kingdom growth.  The important thing to remember is that it is "GOD....who makes things grow." ...

(I'd like to apologize beforehand for a lengthy post!  The material was just so rich I could not bear to shorten it.) After coming off a whirlwind of 2011, my goal for 2012 is to 'gear down' in this Martha-esque world and make a determined, intentional resolution to take time every day and sit at the feet of Jesus and earnestly seek His face as Mary did.   In a world of  'to do' lists, and feelings of satisfaction with every check mark of completion making me feel productive, my main purpose of twenty twelve is nurture the relationship I have with my Father. Nothing else matters. Everything else will fall into place. I have been reading a very small but powerful book entitled 'Towards a Powerful Inner Life' by Graham Cooke. (A big 'thank you' to my friend, Jacque, for this gift!) I should have read it all in one sitting but have been savoring over each page for several weeks now.  The material is so rich I can only tak...

Christmas at Dad's. Family Traditions kindling a climate of love and warmth which create a sense of completion....a family bond ... family unity. Cords that cannot be broken. There's nothing else like it.   And it was all captured through the eye of the lens. Christmas was at Darin & Jen's house this year (my brother & sister-in-law.) Jennifer, adding the last minute touches Jennifer did an outstanding job creating a festive atmosphere with all the decor that was so very simple but elegant and Martha Stewart-ish, with her own personal touch of course. I love this! The food and trimmings were out of this world (thanks to a family of great cooks!) Lots of side items to go with the BBQ & baked beans, yum! And along with the BBQ, baked beans and side items, there were lil smokies and lots of desserts. The peppermint cake is absolutely my dad's favorite! My mom used to make my dad's favorite peppermint candy...

It's been a 'month of Sundays' since my last blog, but time has just not been a friend to me in my blogging world!  I would LOVE to be able to post every day, but for now....only as time allows! This Thanksgiving season as I thought about our fast-paced life and wallowing in self-pity for those things I desire to do that time doesn't allow, the Holy Spirit reminded me that in every situation I should be content (Philippians 4:11-13; 1 Timothy 6:6.)  Oh, I am not really wallowing in self-pity, although I have before, and I DO desire to do things that time doesn't allow:  - there are many books purchased of which I've not been able to peruse past the 1st page  - many blogs I've posted in my mind simply because of no time to put it in type  - giving my house 'a lick and promise'... a promise to clean deeper the next time....only to have to do the same the next time  - and blah, blah, blah...many others too ...