3 Things…

Who Empowers Me?

What makes me weak? My fears…

What makes me whole? My God.
What keeps me standing? My faith.

What makes me compassionate? My example of Christ.

What makes me honest? My integrity.
What sustains my mind? My quest for knowledge. My questions.

What teaches me lessons? My mistakes.

What if I can’t go on? Not an option…
What makes me victorious? My courage [...]

Mental Fences

I’ve been dealing my own mental fences…those created by self-doubt, uncertainty, fear. Can you relate? Where have you fenced yourself in mentally in recent days or weeks? Perhaps your mental fence is procrastination, a deadening habit that keeps you stuck. Maybe yours, like mine, is related to self-doubt, and the on-going internal noise it produces [...]

Email From a Friend, Poem from A Warrior

Email From a Friend
Helen, every time I get tired or need to do something that requires effort that I don’t want to give, I think about my mom.  She has arthritis so bad that at times when she lifts her spoon up to put a bite of food in her mouth she gets stabbing, unbearable [...]

Pickle People

Recently I volunteered at our local hospital. The occasion was a celebration for the 2000 hospital employees. The celebration theme was a carnival and there were games, caricatures, a dunking booth, a rock climbing wall, and plenty of food in the serving line. It was a typically hot, July day with temperatures in the 100’s.
All [...]

How To Stop Being a Big Baby

“Any fool can criticize, condemn, and complain but it takes character and self control to be understanding and forgiving.” —Dale Carnegie

All the rationalizations do not seem to work when I try to “help” a complainer. “Help” is in quotation marks because it was/is my intention but it is not perceived as such.
It is perceived by [...]

Preparing for the Holiday

There is a mighty cloud of witnesses watching you. They are looking for something in you that is worth passing along to the next generation.
They aren’t listening for words; they are looking to see what you do.
Are you aware of this Google search inside your soul? You are being watched. There is a mighty cloud [...]

Beauty Out Of Ashes

Are you dwelling in the ashes and dust right now? Do you feel
like Job when he said in Job 30:19, “He throws me into the mud,
and I am reduced to dust and ashes?” Are you in a desert place?
Count it all joy because that means that God is preparing you. He
is getting you ready [...]

PayDay~~Spiritual Paychecks

If we can force ourselves to go to work when we don’t
want to in order to get a pay check, then we can force ourselves to press further into God and get our spiritual paycheck. Yes we will do it. We will wrestle from God the blessings He has for our families. We will pray [...]

When we say, “We are Christians”

When we say, “We are Christians,” We are not shouting, “We’ve been saved.”
We are whispering, “We get lost! That’s why we chose this way.”
When we say, “We are Christians,” we don’t speak with human pride
We’re confessing that we stumble-needing God to be our guide.
When we say, “We are Christians,” we are not trying to be strong.
We are professing that we are weak [...]

Monday Quote

We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures.~~Thornton Wilder

The Only Way

 
 
 
 
“What exactly does God want us to do? The people asked.
Jesus answered, ‘God wants you to have faith in the one he sent.’” John 6:28-29
Jesus says to believe in the One that God sent.
Our sins are too great for us to do enough good works to balance the scales or wipe them out. Our [...]

BEFORE I WAS A MOM:

Before I was a Mom
I made and ate hot meals.
I had unstained clothing.
I had quiet conversations on the phone.
Before I was a Mom,
I slept as late as I wanted
I never tripped over toys
I never forgot words of lullabies.

I’m a Child of God

As we try and find a way to deal with all the “stuff” thrown at us everyday, let’s all try to keep in mind that we are part of the heavenly “Royal Family”. As children of God we are heirs to the glory God is preparing for us even now.

Romans 8:16-18 
The Spirit himself testifies [...]

Happy 2009

Here we are at the start of a new year. We hope everyone is excited to see what God has in store for us this year. We can’t wait to experience a year full of God’s glory.
2008 was a tough year for us, and we are thankful God’s mercy got us through it. We learned a lot, and we grew [...]

More of You Lord

More of You Lord – It’s time to give it all over to God and stop relying on SELF. I thnk we could all agree that we are not nearly as capable as God.
 
“I can handle anything life throws at me by myself. I don’t need anyone’s help”
“I have a great career and I worked [...]

One Nation Under You – A Prayer For This Country

One Nation Under You
By Jim Ramsey
 
 
Rain mercy on this nation God
Though most Your love deny
Not everyone can see Your truth
On self they do rely
 
This country started long ago
One nation under You
The faith that built this land so strong
Has somehow gone askew
 
The evil one has gained much ground
Our government we doubt
We pray our leaders hear your [...]

I’m Free

I’m Free
By Jim Ramsey
 
I’m free I’m free
My debt the Lord did pay
I’m free I’m free
God’s light will show the way
 
I’m free I’m free
God sent His only son
I’m free I’m free
The victory’s been won
 
I’m free I’m free
Satan has no hold on me
I’m free I’m free
By Christ’s authority
 
I’m free I’m free
Shout the message everyday
I’m free I’m free
God [...]

The Joy of Being Attacked by Satan

Over the last few weeks my beautuful wife and I have had a continuing conversation about something that we cant seem to fully understand.
Why does life seem like a neverending series of crises for some people, and a walk in a rose filled park for others?
It can be said that the people walking through the [...]

Daily Vitamin, 3-4-09: Risk…The Fertilizer For Our Fruit

I have heard it said that faith is going to the edge of everything you know, and taking one more step. Why do most of us shutter at taking that one risky step? We can easily travel to the edge and look out at the unknown, but taking that one risky step of faith seems impossible.
God has provided [...]

Pink Vitamin February 14: Be Not A Slave to Your Own Past

 ”Be not the slave of your own past. Plunge into the sublime seas, dive deep and swim far, so you shall come back with self-respect, with new power, with an advanced experience that shall explain and overlook the old.” -Ralph Waldo Emerson
I copied this from the Word Ferret blog at http://elizadashwood.wordpress.com/  and I thought it [...]

Pink Vitamin February 4, 2008: The No-Complaint Zone

The No-Complaint Zone
Last year, the Rev. Will Bowen of Kansas City, Mo. gave a sermon challenging listeners not to complain for 21 consecutive days. He says 21 days is the length of time it takes to form — or break — a habit. He handed out purple bracelets as a reminder for them.Bowen encouraged people [...]

1-27 Daily Vitamin: I just took down our Christmas tree.

 I just took down our Christmas tree. Really. A few minutes ago the last of the ornaments descended from their perch overlooking our living room. Previous Christmases visitors should know that the tree was quite a bit bigger this year since Jim and I liberated a tall, proud spruce from my mom’s “attic of holiday [...]

Daily Vitamin – 1/23/08

There is a lot of talk these days about the “Law of Attraction.” The most common definition goes something like this…
“Individuals experience physical and mental manifestations corresponding to their predominant thoughts, feelings, words, and actions; and that they thereby have the ability to control the reality of their lives through thought alone.” (Thanks Wikipedia)
I know this [...]

Pink Vitamin October 25, 2007

We are still energized by the beauty of fall leaves…for a couple of California kid transplants, this is seriously great! 
Because of Grace…Transformed lives, like changing fall leaves, do not escape God’s nurturing attention.
2 Corinthians 5:17: If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.