Cry Out to Him

Psalms 18:6 KJV

In my distress I called upon the LORD, and cried unto my God: he heard my voice out of his temple, and my cry came before him, even into his ears.

God hears you regardless of where you are or where He is. He loves you enough to pay attention and listen.

We must cry out to Him for His strength and power. We should not only cry out in distress, but also glory and thanksgiving.

Cry out to Jesus today!

The Correct Way to Use a Seam Ripper

Wow!



My mind was just blown!



I learned that I have been using a seam ripper WRONG for all these years!



In case you are like me, I wanted to show you the CORRECT way to use a seam ripper.



I see this saving me LOTS of time!

The Anchor That Holds

Throw Back Thursday

I wanted to share something with you that I needed to read again myself.

Painting My Heart

Never Leave

Psalms 31:1

<> In thee, O LORD, do I put my trust; let me never be ashamed: deliver me in thy righteousness.

Even when the world seems against you, follow God. Sometimes even close friends and family will be against you, but God will never leave you. He will strengthen you. He will sustain you. He will redeem you.

Lord, help us to focus and rely on You. May we shut out what others are saying and focus only on You and YOur ways. May You fight our battles for us as we rest in Your presence.

Contentment

Share Regardless

Acts 13:44-52 KJV 

44 And the next sabbath day came almost the whole city together to hear the word of God. 45 But when the Jews saw the multitudes, they were filled with envy, and spake against those things which were spoken by Paul, contradicting and blaspheming. 46 Then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold, and said, It was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you: but seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles. 47 For so hath the Lord commanded us, saying, I have set thee to be a light of the Gentiles, that thou shouldest be for salvation unto the ends of the earth. 48 And when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad, and glorified the word of the Lord: and as many as were ordained to eternal life believed. 49 And the word of the Lord was published throughout all the region. 50 But the Jews stirred up the devout and honourable women, and the chief men of the city, and raised persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them out of their coasts. 51 But they shook off the dust of their feet against them, and came unto Iconium. 52 And the disciples were filled with joy, and with the Holy Ghost.

God tells us that when we preach the truth, we WILL receive persecution. People are not rejecting us, but are they are rejecting the Word. We shouldn't stress about it; we should shake the dust from our feet and move on.

I know that often I take it personally, but I need to stop doing that. When people reject God's truth, then I need to stop trying to force it upon them and just move on. It may be that I have planted a seed or watered the seed. It isn't my job to make the seed grow.

Lord, help me continue to share Your Word with others. Help me put my own jealousies aside and just continue sharing You.

Choosing Joy

Encouraging Words

Acts 13:15-41 KJV

15 And after the reading of the law and the prophets the rulers of the synagogue sent unto them, saying, Ye men and brethren, if ye have any word of exhortation for the people, say on. 16 Then Paul stood up, and beckoning with his hand said, Men of Israel, and ye that fear God, give audience. 17 The God of this people of Israel chose our fathers, and exalted the people when they dwelt as strangers in the land of Egypt, and with an high arm brought he them out of it. 18 And about the time of forty years suffered he their manners in the wilderness. 19 And when he had destroyed seven nations in the land of Chanaan, he divided their land to them by lot. 20 And after that he gave unto them judges about the space of four hundred and fifty years, until Samuel the prophet. 21 And afterward they desired a king: and God gave unto them Saul the son of Cis, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, by the space of forty years. 22 And when he had removed him, he raised up unto them David to be their king; to whom also he gave testimony, and said, I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after mine own heart, which shall fulfil all my will. 23 Of this man's seed hath God according to his promise raised unto Israel a Saviour, Jesus: 24 When John had first preached before his coming the baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel. 25 And as John fulfilled his course, he said, Whom think ye that I am? I am not he. But, behold, there cometh one after me, whose shoes of his feet I am not worthy to loose. 26 Men and brethren, children of the stock of Abraham, and whosoever among you feareth God, to you is the word of this salvation sent. 27 For they that dwell at Jerusalem, and their rulers, because they knew him not, nor yet the voices of the prophets which are read every sabbath day, they have fulfilled them in condemning him. 28 And though they found no cause of death in him, yet desired they Pilate that he should be slain. 29 And when they had fulfilled all that was written of him, they took him down from the tree, and laid him in a sepulchre. 30 But God raised him from the dead: 31 And he was seen many days of them which came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are his witnesses unto the people. 32 And we declare unto you glad tidings, how that the promise which was made unto the fathers, 33 God hath fulfilled the same unto us their children, in that he hath raised up Jesus again; as it is also written in the second psalm, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee. 34 And as concerning that he raised him up from the dead, now no more to return to corruption, he said on this wise, I will give you the sure mercies of David. 35 Wherefore he saith also in another psalm, Thou shalt not suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. 36 For David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell on sleep, and was laid unto his fathers, and saw corruption: 37 But he, whom God raised again, saw no corruption. 38 Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins: 39 And by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses. 40 Beware therefore, lest that come upon you, which is spoken of in the prophets; 41 Behold, ye despisers, and wonder, and perish: for I work a work in your days, a work which ye shall in no wise believe, though a man declare it unto you.

You can take encouragement from these verses! God sent Christ, who had no sin, to die for your sins so that we may be saved! What else matters in this life?

We need to stop focusing on our "problems" and instead focus on Christ's great sacrifice for us.

Lord, may we have the proper perspective in life. I pray we will focus on Your gift and not on our "problems". Amen.

Throw Back Thursday

Marriage has been on my mind this week with celebrating our anniversary on Monday and knowing many couples who are having difficulties in their marriages. I thought it only fitting to throw back to a marriage post.

The Ten Commandments of Marriage

Saying Yes to One Thing Means Saying No to Something Else

I have been behind on catching up with some old emails. I finally had time to try to get caught up. The following are two devotionals that my mother sent me. How appropriate that I read them both on the same day because they go together.

I have learned (but needed to be reminded) that saying yes to one thing usually means I am saying no to something else. Sometimes, what I said no to is what I should have said yes to.

I pray you would read and ponder these thoughts shared by Pastor Rick Warren.

Learn to Pause and Pray Before Adding to Your Schedule

You Can Accomplish More By Doing Less

Partiality

Celebrating 18 Years Together!

It is sad that I had to go back to our last anniversary
to get a picture of us together! I'll have to make a
better effort to take more pictures!

Today, my husband and I are celebrating 18 years of marriage! While it hasn't always been easy, I wouldn't have wanted to endure them with anyone else. Even now, we wonder at the miracle that God worked by bringing us together and guiding us through the many difficult times. To say that it has always been easy or fun would be a lie. We had many tough times, and even some times where we would have divorced if we hadn't been so stubborn to stick to our statements that divorce wasn't an option, but God was gracious and brought us through those times stronger than ever.

As I ponder over how much we both have changed in the past 18 years, I have to say that it was only by God's grace that we have become the people we are today and pray that God continues to mold us and shape us into who He would have us be.

I am linking to some previous posts that I have written on our anniversaries because what they say still ring true.

17 Reasons I Love My Husband

14 Things I’ve Learned During 14 Years of Marriage

Pray for Marriage

I was awoken last night just after having a dream where I was standing in the road trying to warn people of danger ahead. I was trying to get them to slow down and be careful through the treacherous road that laid before them. When I woke, I asked God of what danger I was warning people. Immediately, a few couples came to mind. These couples are all having difficulties in their marriages.

Marriage is a sacred union. Most people enter marriage with the traditional wedding vows which are:

Do you promise to love him, comfort him, honor and keep him for better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and health and forsaking all others, be faithful only to him so long as you both shall live?

Even if couples vary from the above vows, they hold many of the same thoughts. Let's look at these vows.

"Love him"-Love is a choice which is why you promise to do it. If it was just a feeling you could fall in and out of, there isn't any way you could promise to always do it. It isn't always going to be easy, but you need to make the choice to love your spouse.

"honor him"-Again, choosing to honor isn't always going to be easy, but you promise to do it on your wedding day. How does honor look? Well, it could be by not saying negative things about your spouse to others. It could be choosing his likes over your own. It definitely is submitting to his authority and God-given role in your marriage.

"for better or worse"-Life isn't always going to be a breeze and your marriage won't survive if you only love and honor in the best of times. Again, those are choices that you have to make and make them even when times are tough. The tough times won't always stay. In fact, the tough times don't seem so tough when you do choose to love and honor and work together as a team.

"for richer or poorer, in sickness and health"- Again, life isn't always going to be easy, but we need to stand with our spouses. We need to be there for them in the good and bad times. It is easier to endure trials with the support and love of another person. "For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up."~Ecclesiastes 4:10

"forsaking all others, be faithful only to him"-Most people only think of this in terms of adultery, but it is much more than just a physical relationship with someone other than your spouse. There is what people call emotional adultery where you seek comfort or emotional intimacy with someone other than your spouse. Also, there doesn't necessarily need to be a physical relationship as just talking with someone else and fantasizing about someone else can be just as detrimental.

In addition to these vows, most people begin their marriages with a wedding where they stand in a church and vow before God to keep these vows. When you do that, you are entering a covenant with God so you aren't just promising your spouse, but God as well.

Satan hates anything that God loves which means that he hates marriage and is going to do all that he can to destroy it. He will use any of the areas mentioned above to attack. We need to be in constant prayer for not only our marriages, but the marriages of those around us. We need to stand and fight the attacks of the devil and we know that defeating him can only be done in the strength of Christ.

Please join me today praying for your marriage, praying for the marriages of your friends and
families, praying for the marriages of those who follow this blog, and for marriages in general. If you know of people who are struggling in their marriages, pray for them. If you know people who seem to have a strong marriage, still pray as they may not actually have a strong marriage or they may have some rough roads ahead. Pray that couples will lean on Christ for strength and seek to draw closer together by drawing closer to Him.

God tells us that where two or three are gathered, He will be in the midst of them. Let us join together and pray!

Dear Heavenly Father, You created the institute of marriage and made it holy. I pray for all couples. I pray they seek You personally and seek Your strength and wisdom to help them in their marriages. I pray they will make You the center of their marriages. I pray they love one another. I pray wives honor their husbands. I pray they endure through the hard times as much as they enjoy the good times. I pray for faithfulness not only to their spouses physically and emotionally, but also faithfulness to You. I pray for openness of feelings and thoughts. I pray for unity in each marriage. I pray for communication. I pray for intimacy-both physical and emotional. I pray for my own marriage in all these areas as well. Lord, may You strengthen and encourage couples in their walk with You and each other. May You be glorified in relationships that are healed and restored. I also pray that if we can be of help in any way to the marriages around us that You would show us how best to do that. Help us be the people who stand and warn others of the dangers ahead. Help us know how to advise them through the potholes they will encounter. You are a good and faithful God who only desires the best for His children and You love each and every one of us. In the name of Your Son, Jesus Christ, I pray. Amen.

Faith

Throw Back Thursday

I was looking through old posts and came across some goodies.

Delicious Gluten Free Pizza is one that caught my eye because my girls have been asking for pizza and I had actually forgotten about this recipe. It might be something I pull out for next week.

Lemon Bars are a favorite among a few people in our home. We have some lemons that need to be used up, so maybe we'll make these for a potluck.

Homemade yogurt is a recipe that I actually don't make that way anymore. It isn't that that way wasn't good, but I needed to remove the sugar from the original recipe and just make it easier overall. Now, I don't add the gelatin and I skip the sugar. After the yogurt is made, I take some out for myself and my youngest (she can't have sugar) and then I add sugar to what is left for everyone else and I sweeten ours with the sweeteners that are better for us.

I hope you are enjoying looking back at some of my older posts just like I am!

Submission Again

Kindness

My Prayer Today . . .

It is well (the story behind the famous hymn) performed by Colin Battersby

When I first heard the story behind the penning of this song, I was immediately drawn to the fact that even amidst hardships, we can still be content with the life God has given us.



Today, a friend and I were talking about the hard things in our lives and discussing how we know God is in control and can answer our prayers, but it is still hard at time to not try to figure it out for ourselves. On the way home from our visit, this song came on the radio. Needless to say, I cried through the entire song.



I knew I wanted to post the song and the story. I found this version on YouTube which incorporates the song and the story and even gives a little more information on Spafford that I had never heard before.



Please take some time to watch and listen and may God speak to your heart as you do.



God bless.

Throw Back Thursday

This post from last year actually popped up on my personal facebook feed today. I feel it is fitting to share again.

If God Be For Us

False Doctrines

10-2-16 Sermon

Pregnancy & Infant Loss Awareness Month

My thoughts and prayers are with anyone who has endured a pregnancy loss or the loss of a baby. Unfortunately, I know the deep sense of loss and the emotional pain involved myself.

Pastor Appreciation

Here are some links to ideas for Pastor Appreciation Month:

31 Day Prayer Calendar for praying for your pastor

Activities for Pastor Appreciation Month

How to pray for your pastor

Serving your pastor

10 Cents and a 1/2 Hour

My girls have been asking me to get out the fall/winter clothes for a couple of weeks. Well, I finally decided that since it wasn't going to be in the 80's again, we would start going through the boxes.

I was pleased to find that almost everyone had enough in their needed size to outfit them for fall/winter. My son needed pajamas, but I was able to get some at the consignment shop and even was able to pay for them with my credit. My second oldest is in need of some shirts, but has enough to get her through until we find some. My 5 year-old was another story.

This girl some how is attracted to a special kind of dirt that doesn't like to come out of clothes. I can wash everyone else's clothes that are covered in dirt and it will come out, but her clothes remained stained no matter how many different types of stain removal I use.

In fact, I ended up getting rid of 5 of her skirts and 7 shirts (I had more shirts for her because of the staining problems)! Considering we only keep 7 casual outfits per person, that is a large percentage of her clothes! Two of the skirts were skirts I made for her at the beginning of spring. (edited to add--only 2 nights after she got out the fall/winter clothes, she came to me with a large hole in one of her pajamas! Praise God that we have more pajamas in her size waiting in the tote!).

After going through the tote filled with her size clothing, she only had 4 outfits. We decided that a couple of outfits could be passed down from an older sister so that left her in need of only 1 more outfit. While I am sure I could get her a skirt using credit at the consignment store, I also knew that I have two 5 shelf bookshelves filled with material so I might as well make her one. She had about a dozen shirts in her size that didn't match anything else and weren't stained so I just looked for material that would match a couple of those shirts. I figured I might as well go with a heavy-duty material to withstand her abuse. I found a brown corduroy with just enough to make a skirt for her. In about a 1/2 hour, I had it cut and sewn.

We have been blessed by a number of people who have given us fabric to use. In fact, I haven't had to purchase material in at least 3 years! In addition, the elastic I used for this skirt was part of a large bag of new elastic that I purchased at the thrift store for only $2 and the thread was also given to us. My guess is that this skirt cost me about $ .10 and less than a 1/2 hour of my time!

I might get ambitious and try my hand at some shirts for my second oldest, but shirts take a bit longer to make so we'll see how much extra time I have. I do have lots of sewing ideas in the works for Christmas gifts already.

I would love to hear about any sewing projects you have done recently, are in the middle of completing, or are planning on doing!