How did another year go by??? 2018? Really?!?!

I'm glad I'm not in this for fame or fortune. I admire women who have mad blogging their full time job and their success, but that is not for me. I'm fortunate to be around from time to time (year to year??) We are now in our new home. One level living is such a blessing for us! We did add in a bonus room above the garage that has since become my crafting room. A day may come when it needs to be moved downstairs but for now, if I'm hurting I just don't go up there!
We (Neil and I) just returned from a two week trip to South East Asia; Thailand, Malaysia and Cambodia (although our flights also took us into Tokyo and Bangkok!) The primary reason we went was to attend the SEA Conference with Things to Come Missions. Getting to see our dear friend's was an added blessing and making new ones even more! It was great catching up with our Missionary friends. We learned a great deal about how to support our missionaries. Sure, sending in a monthly support check is certainly a need they have, but there is also a great need for friendship, communicating with them and praying for them. Many live in areas where there is persecution and the burden can be great. I cried when one lady said, "You can trust no one but God." You see, she's had people be friendly to her only to later find out they were not friends but trouble makers. She is slowly adjusting to only becoming friends with those she approaches. God's shoulders are huge and she can lean and cry on them all day long, yet an encouraging word can mean so much! We have discovered many was in which our church can improve our serving the Missionaries and I'm excited to see what other idea's God passes along our way.

2017

Ummmmmm, hello 2017??? Talk about interruptions! I mean, an entire year interrupted. 2016 brought with it tears and cheers. I'm thankful to have had both, and I say that with most sincerity. You see, through the tears I've grown closer to God. New changes will take place in 2017. My mom was diagnosed with MS, which possibly goes back forty years. It's with great relief that she has this diagnoses as it explains so many of her problems. Now the doctor is thinking that perhaps some of my health struggles may be do to MS and not just fibromyalgia. An MRIs show changes in the brain that "could" be early stages of MS but further testing needs to be done. They found a good sized nodule on my thyroid and since my dad's side of the family has thyroid issues, I've got an ultrasound planned for tomorrow.

Because of health and balance issues, we've decided to go sell our home and get a ranch style home. We hope to have it on the market very soon so that the builders can begin on our new home. The layout is lovely and the builder is willing to work with us on making the doors wide enough for a wheel chair and no step going into the house or from the garage. There is limited carpeting in the house and will be none in my mom's room. Because of severe peripheral neuropathy, the specialists recommend that she does not walk on carpeting. I'm excited and scared... but very thankful that God has given us this opportunity to do this for hers and mine safety.

The past few years I have been doing scripture writing through Sweet Blessings and have found it easy and encouraging to keep up with. This year I stumbled upon Things Unseen and am looking forward to writing out a whole book of the Bible rather than skipping around verses geared towards a theme. Don't get me wrong, I have loved Sweet Blessings! However, I am interested in a different approach.

Scripture Typer has been an amazing way for me to memorize scripture highly recommend their program. A friend led me to Siesta Scripture Memory Team challenge. You commit to memorizing two scripture verses a month which is very doable! There are many ways to memorize scripture and I encourage you to leave your favorite method in the comments below. For me, though, I like to put scripture to songs (I must know at least fifteen that are done to the "Mary Had a Little Lamb" melody. I also find writing the scripture out four or five times a day helps me to memorize. The goal is not how many you memorize, but that you DO memorize scripture.

2017 will be a great year because I know that Jesus is my Savior... do you???

Bible Study Lies I've Believed: Part 1 Rise and Shine its 5:00 A.M.!!!!

I love my Bible and I love to be in God's Word. Truth be told though, there are some things that make me just want to never get into God's Word again. You see, there are things that I have convinced myself to be truths, even though I know that there is no scripture to back it up. Those truths (Ok, really they are lies just imitating truth)have made my time with the Lord often very frustrating. So what are these lies I believe?

The first lie I have believed is: Reading God's word is only profitable IF I spend a specific amount of time at a specific time of the day.

I have friends who are diligent about waking up at 5:00 a.m ever single morning and devoting at least an hour to God being in His Word. I love these friends and I am so proud of them! But if I got up at 5:00 a.m. each day it would be me struggling to keep my eyes open. Same thing when I try to do this in the evening... I'll just fall asleep. So I do my best to spend time with God in the morning and then I put in some more time later on during the day. Yes... my time is broken up. There are even times when I am not able to get to more time in the day. Life has a crazy way of interrupting you and I find this especially true when it comes to God's Word. So I tend to beat myself up a lot because I'm not one of those people who have scheduled their time with God and stick with it. I've even thought that God must love them more because they are up at the crack of dawn. Silly, yes?? There are scriptures that talk about early morning worship:

1 Samuel 1:19 They rose early in the morning and worshiped before the LORD; then they went back to their house at Ramah. And Elkanah knew Hannah his wife, and the LORD remembered her.

2 Chronicles 29:20-21 Then Hezekiah the king rose early and gathered the officials of the city and went up to the house of the LORD. And they brought seven bulls, seven rams, seven lambs, and seven male goats for a sin offering for the kingdom and for the sanctuary and for Judah. And he commanded the priests, the sons of Aaron, to offer them on the altar of the LORD.

Mark 1:35-36 And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed. And Simon and those who were with him searched for him

I fervently believe that your feet should not hit the floor any morning before asking to see you throughout the day. May we all be willing to do His will and not our own. Before all the chaos of the day, reading and delving into the Word of God hits you when your brain is the freshest. However, God just wants you in His Word. He wants you to intimately spend time with Him and be whole heart in with Him. Find a time that works for you but also realize that you may be in a season of your life that makes an hour each morning a challenge. Raising my three kids there were plenty of times when my God time only took place in my bathroom (often with hands peeking under and them asking, "Mama, mama, mama, mama! Whatcha doing??? Baking a cake dear I'll be right out!) It is the great deceiver who wants you to spend your time comparing yourself to everyone else instead of looking to God. He wants you to believe you are not doing enough for God.

One should certainly consider their time being used wisely. Ask God to reveal Himself to you in ways that you may not be a good steward of your time (for me its Facebook, Pinterest and Books) and adjust accordingly. Today may not be the day you can give one hour of uninterrupted time. Maybe you can't even give thirty minutes. But can you give some time? He is worth our time being spent with Him. More than minutes or hours, God wants our time to be intentional. The time we give Him should be out of our desire and not because it is something we are obligated to do.

I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. James 15:5

Life Interrupted

I have another blog that I've kind of (Ok, not kind of but in actuality)let slip away. Not because I disliked it, nor did I not see the content as irrelevant. Life just once again got interrupted. You see, that is what living a life entails; one interruption after another. Maybe its school, or marriage, babies, teenagers, divorce, a death of a loved one, illness... whatever it is that's going on in your life there is bound to be an interruption. Sometimes its nothing more than a minor bump in the road and you gently go over it (I would name a few, but I have found one persons bump is another persons mountain! Sometimes its just our perception) Other times there are things that most people would put in the mountain category ( death of a loved one, a child's illness or even your own would easily fit into this area).

Throughout my life I have had my share of interruptions. Some of those were pleasant ones such as meeting and marrying my husband, giving birth, moving into our home, my grand daughter (!!!!) Then there were those that were earth shattering (death of a parent, a child with special needs, sexual abuse, chronic pain, etc). Yes, life is filled with interruptions. As I have become older (got that down easily enough... aging that is) and wiser (which doesn't come quite as easily) I have discovered that God, in His Infinite Wisdom, had thoughtfully allowed these interruptions to take place because He knew what it would take for me to depend on Him.

I'll be honest with you; prosperity and praise don't necessarily go hand in hand with me. When there are no interruptions it is when I find my need for God to not be my go-to mind set. Yes, He is author of all good in my life and I know that. However, it is when I face those interruptions in life that I depend on my Lord and Savior. Maybe some of you are less stubborn than me - I know there are many of you out there! God uses those interruptions in my life to draw me nearer to Him and to even be able to use my experience to minister to another person who has their own interruptions.

Many of my experiences have brought me to doing the very things I now love: Leading Women's Bible Study, Teaching Sunday School, Youth Mentoring, Missions, Cooking, Crafting, are just a few. That is my hope in this blog to share my heart with you doing the things I love.

James 3:17
But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere.